Netbook technical advice please?

[Vivianne Draper]

So I'm thinking about getting a netbook. Basically I want this to take to my clients office instead of my laptop so I can take good notes and edit formal docs on the fly.

My question has to do with the OS and open office conversion to MS office. It will cost me more than the damned netbook to put Win7 and MS office on it. So I'm thinking about using linux and open office. But eventually I'll have to put these docs on my work computer which is windows xp and ms office. So how terrible is the conversion and how hard is it to deal with linux and open office?

[Morgaine Alter]

hmm I cant offer advice on the tech side but, I have one from when they first came out an eee pc I think it was called.
The keyboard sucks major, test those out before you buy. I hardly use it ever because of that. The middle keys hardly take any pushing and just bend under pressure.
There was one that Lenevo(sp?) made that caught my eye and was a better quality however, the cost was high.

[Lucifer Baphomet]

Open office can produce documents in all MSOffice formats.

It shouldn't be a problem.

[Kristian]

Don't get too fancy with your formatting is my only piece of advice. OO and Office can interoperate, but formatting is not always preserved well.

[Phoenix Psaltery]

Another possibility is to use Google Docs (assuming you'd have access to a wi-fi connection), but OpenOffice is a very good solution.

P2

[Vivianne Draper]

Another possibility is to use Google Docs (assuming you'd have access to a wi-fi connection), but OpenOffice is a very good solution.

P2


yeah i probably won't be able to get online while at the client's office. this is a thing for *my* ease of use -- its not dictated by my company or client. I'm just tired of having to take comprehensive notes by hand and not being able to pull up pics or documentation when I'm stuck in a meeting and need them to explain something.

I weighed spending my own money on this vs. being pissed that my company won't provide and then decided to view it as buying an expensive pair of work shoes that were comfortable and didn't hurt my feet at the end of the day. This will lessen my frustration and make me better at my job and I think the expense is worth it. I will just need to be able to put stuff on a thumb drive and get it to my work computer when I return to the office.

And of course the office uses Windows and MS Office.

[JohnnyVann]

Sounds like a perfect question to ask Bams!






:sofa:

[kita_dawg]

Mulch recently forced me to buy him a Nook Color.

He promptly rooted it and installed the honeycomb Android tablet operating system.

We LOVE it. For what we paid, vs. the price of similarly powerful tablets, we got a STEAL. It is much better suited for what he needs at work, and far more responsive, portable, and WAY more battery efficient than a laptop.

I tried poking him to post all the info about what he did, but he won't budge. If you are interested, poke him, and I am sure he will share ;)

[Uncle Fester]

Vivianne if you dont mind a touch screen keyboard Kita has a point.
the nook color is the best bang for the buck.

There is also the new eeeTransformer netbook that is android based and a tablet and netbook in one package. It is a LOT more than most netbooks but what it does vs the price IMO is worth it.

http://www.asuseeepad.net/eee-pad-transformer.php
r5xW3NhdjqI

[Phoenix Psaltery]

Incidentally, a lot of netbooks come with Win7 already.

[Vivianne Draper]

Incidentally, a lot of netbooks come with Win7 already.


actually they come with Win 7 STARTER. I have no idea what that is. But now I'm looking for one with Win XP because that works better with Open Office.

Fester I need a real keyboard. One of the main reasons I want this is to type notes and I type a lot easier on a real keyboard.

[Uncle Fester]

actually they come with Win 7 STARTER. I have no idea what that is. But now I'm looking for one with Win XP because that works better with Open Office.

Fester I need a real keyboard. One of the main reasons I want this is to type notes and I type a lot easier on a real keyboard.

Take serious look at the eee Transformer Vivianne.
I originally thought it was more expensive.
The pricing I seen today is significantly less.

I think its about 600 with the keyboard.
The versatility of it is pretty awesome.

Vivianne have you ever used a bluetooth keyboard?
With that I believe you can pair it to the Nook color and and have a hard keyboard to type on. That is kinda pain tho.

Whatever you decide on I would try to stay with a brand like asus or leveno for the netbooks they seem to be more cutting edge and get much better reviews.

[Uncle Fester]

$399 plus 150 for the keyboard dock, which also add battery life to the tablet, confirmed.
Should be available end of the month.
http://joannastern.com/2011/04/yes-asus-transformer-coming-at-the-end-of-this-month-399-for-16gb-150-for-the-keyboard/

[Vivianne Draper]

sorry Fester but I hate those newfangled touch things. Pretty much they just piss me off. I used a friend's Ipad on afternoon and was ready to throw the damn thing in the trash by the end of the day. besides I can get a netbook with a keyboard an XP included for 200 bucks. But thank you for the help.

[Morgaine Alter]

Asus was to have a release of a windows 7 based tablet come out, that is the kind of tablet I think would be worth it, computer based not android/ipad style.
However as an owner of 3 Asus products the customer service is the worst in the world, fair warning.

The iPad I have is meh, I dont use it now its the kids. Good for netflix movies and apps games. Pretty insane for them to have a 500 toy, not needed. grrr

The only thing I did like is the screen on the tablets, they feel much larger then they are when you look at them, the netbook is very small and can be annoying.

:(

Just keep in mind of the net-books keypad is pretty bad thou and test them out.

[Morgaine Alter]

Gateway (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Gateway+-+Netbook+/+Intel%26%23174%3B+Pentium%26%23174%3B+Processor+/+11.6%22+Display+/+3GB+Memory+/+320GB+Hard+Drive+-+Velvet+Blue/2209137.p?id=1218314738567&skuId=2209137) (always has been good computers for me in the past)

sony (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Sony+-+VAIO+Mini+Netbook+/+Intel%26%23174%3B+Atom%26%238482%3B+Processor+/+10.1%22+Display+/+1GB+Memory+/+250GB+Hard+Drive+-+White/1002942.p?id=1218207313276&skuId=1002942)is nice

[Morgaine Alter]

a CNet (http://reviews.cnet.com/best-netbooks/) Review for ya!