practical netbookery

I've had my Asus 1000HE since March '09 and the Asus 901 since July '09. I'm a hands on, practical user. I like to play with the plastic/metal parts and mix/match the software.

A big practical advantage for me are the bottom doors of the two computers. I can remove the door and have access to both the storage module/HDD and RAM.

For the 901 I have a Lowepro zipped neoprene case to hold six SD cards and one pci-e storage module. One SD card holds pictures from my camera, a second is a 4GB Linux boot SD card, a couple are 16GB apps SD cards and in the large slot in the back is a 32GB pci-e storage module that I swap in and out with the 16GB stock unit. I hope to get a couple more SD cards soon.

For the 1KHE I have a 500GB HDD and a 64GB SSD, both wrapped in a plasticky shell connected externally by a SATA to USB adaptor. I can swap them around with the default 160GB 2.5" HDD that came with the computer.

This setup allows me to try out all sorts of ideas without messing up my computers. When I write something, I have tested/done it.

Trying something at home is not the same as trying something on the road although if you can't do it at home you won't be able to do it on the road. I travel a lot so I get to experience netbook use in a variety of taxi, bus, train, airplane, waiting, coffee shop situations alone and around others.

I've owned early Asus models, a MSI Wind model, an Acer Aspire One model and my ever present MacBook/Touch. I use three different mobile phones due to telco restrictions in other countries so I get to see how my use merges with them.

The 1KHE is very practical. The 901 only a little less so. That's for me and the way I work.

I'm sure you have good uses for your netbook too. I'd like to hear some ideas that make the netbook great for you.

[ThisIsNot]

Well, I used my HP netbook in a new way last week. I was on campus when the new Avatar trailer came out. I was able to download the trailer and watch it on full 1080p without issues. It was nice being able to watch a trailer right as it was coming out and in HD no less. I am also using my netbook in my classes to access online material right as the profs are telling us to. I would use it for note taking but these are engineering classes, I am not that fast when it comes to the equation editor in Microsoft Word.

Doing both of those was new to me as I have never had a 1080p capable netbook and my earlier models were too noisy to use while in class.