Notepad computers for Cruising........

[noblepa]

Has anyone put their netbook in a cabin safe on a ship or hotel room?

I got a Dell mini 10 about 2 weeks ago. I plan to take it on my travels to access e-mail, keep a daily log and post to a blog I am setting up.

 

I will probably use the mini to download photos and to dump bad photos.

 

Thanks for any info on Safes and mini computers.

 

MSEM

 

PS Greece has a lot of free or almost free Wi-Fi. You may need to buy a coffee or soda for the password.

 

I doubt if my Acer Aspire One would fit in a cabin safe. However, it does incorporate a provision for a standard laptop cable lock. Here's one at OfficeMax.com http://www.officemax.com/catalog/sku.jsp?productId=ARS22188&history=2gwt1zwb|prodPage~15^freeText~laptop+cable+lock^paramValue~true^refine~1^region~1^param~return_skus^return_skus~Y

 

You simply loop the cable around a table leg or other immovable object, insert the little metal tab into the receptacle on the laptop and lock it. Just about all laptops have provision for this.

 

Paul

[ger_77]

BTW, to ger_77, my Aspire One came with a miniature mouse, in addition to the trackpad on the keyboard. AFAIK, that is standard Acer issue. Did you possibly get one of the refurbished ones with a 120GB disk instead of the 160GB disk?

 

Hello Paul, I checked my Aspire One and it doesn't come with a mouse. It is a new one, not refurbished, and has a 160GB storage. Mine did come with a neat little pleather pouch to carry it in though, so I didn't have to go out and buy one. I have what I call a micro mouse 3"long x 1.5" wide that works very well with my netbook. Both pieces fit nicely into the little pouch for travel. I can't wait until our cruise in October to use it in transit and onboard.

 

Smooth Sailing! :):):)

[mamaofami]

I returned the carrying case I got from Best Buy for the aser one because DH felt it didn't have enough room to carry the charger and the mini mouse it came with. He bought a different case that you can store the computer in and use it while it's in the case. There's a separate section for the attachments.

[mimisandy]

My DH has an ACER and travels everywhere with it. In fact, he just ordered a PINK one yesterday for our Granddaughter that will be 7. With a case for protection, it was $320. I think he bought it on Amazondotcom.

[jcrandle]

Well, after all of the comments on the ultra-portability of the netbooks, I took the plunge last week. I opted for the Lenovo 4231AFU which has a 160 gig hard drive and one gig of main storage and the 6 cell battery for extended life. I have an older IBM/Lenovo thinkpad that I used for travel and home. I just received the netbook today, and am beginning the customization and migration of programs and data from my current computer. I am already impressed with the performance, which seems to be much faster than my three year old full size laptop. I'm still adusting to the smaller keyboard (at home I use a full size keyboard with numeric keypad and mouse with my laptop rather than the more limited laptop keyboard and trackpoint.

 

I am also impressed with the light weight of the system (the battery pack weighs about as much as the laptop. I am realy looking forward to shedding 7 or 8 pounds of carry-on.

[marle7]

 

I am also impressed with the light weight of the system (the battery pack weighs about as much as the laptop. I am realy looking forward to shedding 7 or 8 pounds of carry-on.

 

I can't tell you what a difference this made to me, going through security last week. It is so light and portable, that I had no trouble with it, and I used to carry an Acer 18.4 inch screen laptop with me everywhere!

 

I had a conversation today with a Westjet agent about carry ons. I asked if I could have a laptop, carryon and a purse. She said as long as two of the items could fit under the seat, I was good to go. I looked at my Dell mini and my purse,and thought ,NO Problem!

 

I love this thing!

[ger_77]

I had a conversation today with a Westjet agent about carry ons. I asked if I could have a laptop, carryon and a purse. She said as long as two of the items could fit under the seat, I was good to go. I looked at my Dell mini and my purse,and thought ,NO Problem!!

 

I'm looking at my purse thinking I won't have to worry about an 3rd carry-on because this little puppy fits in my purse. I would never have considered taking our big laptop with us because it was so cumbersome, but I'm anxious for our next cruise so I can bring my Acer with me!

 

Smooth Sailing! :):):)

[noblepa]

Hello Paul, I checked my Aspire One and it doesn't come with a mouse. It is a new one, not refurbished, and has a 160GB storage. Mine did come with a neat little pleather pouch to carry it in though, so I didn't have to go out and buy one. I have what I call a micro mouse 3"long x 1.5" wide that works very well with my netbook. Both pieces fit nicely into the little pouch for travel. I can't wait until our cruise in October to use it in transit and onboard.

 

Smooth Sailing! :):):)

 

That's odd. It must a different packaging, or something. I bought mine from CompUSA.com, but the mouse came inside the box with the computer and it has Acer molded into the plastic, so it does not appear to be something that CompUSA added on. I certainly didn't pay extra for it.

 

OTOH, mine did not come with a pouch or bag of any kind. The computer itself was wrapped in a cheap felt pouch, but it is no good for carrying the computer. We bought a cheap carrying case and put the computer inside the felt pouch inside the bag.

 

Paul

[RVNFUN2]

After reading all the posts I decided to also purchase the Acer Aspire. I am not great with computers and I just can not seem to get the internet set up. I am not sure if the WIFI was working so I am going direct to comcast and still nothing. I do not have the switch for WIFI on. Can one of you techies help me get this up and running? Everyone is having so much fun. I really love the size

Thanks

Kathy

[richwmn]

After reading all the posts I decided to also purchase the Acer Aspire. I am not great with computers and I just can not seem to get the internet set up. I am not sure if the WIFI was working so I am going direct to comcast and still nothing. I do not have the switch for WIFI on. Can one of you techies help me get this up and running? Everyone is having so much fun. I really love the size

Thanks

Kathy

Couple of questions for you

1. which model Acer did you get?

2. When you say "direct to comcast" do you mean disconnecting the cable from your desktop and connecting it to the acer?

3. Do you have wifi set up in your home?

 

Rich

[LAFFNVEGAS]

You know I have been following this thread since Sail first started it and had been wanting one too. I cannot tell you how many hours I have spent on the internet reading about net books.

Then this past week I had narrowed it down to two the Asus 10 inch and the MSI Wind. But I had only seen the Asus that a cruiser on the Oosterdam had in February so Tom and I spent the whole day Saturday going to every possible store that would carry the Net book computers. Surprisingly there are not that many but have relooking at the Acer and Asus and the MSI we ended up wanting the MSI Wind 10 inch screen. I of course had to order it on line because even though we could see it at Best Buy they had sold out of it :( So I ended up buying on line and they claim I will have it by the 7th or 8th next week. So we shall see. I know that it will be drastically lighter than my very heavy large 4 year old lap top. :D

[wilsonqbc]

the msi did actually get a tad better review than the Acer aspire 1

the fan doesnt run all the time on msi , I myself picked up the 10" 160g aspire,

at Costco, 2 year guarantee, 399 now in canada, was 449 , just a charm to use the old friendly XP,

BTW I am pretty sure it should fit in a ships safe,

they have just launched a new model today 03/31 in Germany, but they are

a lot more expensive,

[fridayeyes]

I have an Asus N10J-A1 and I adore it. 1.6 atom processor, 160 MB hard, 2 gigs RAM and the switchable graphics card. Came with its own case.

 

I get my gear from either Tiger Direct or NewEgg (dotcom). At New Egg, check out the Specials section, then look under Open Box. These are items that have been opened and sent back. If you're comfortable with that, you can save significant $$$. They update the Open Box secion between 8 and 10 pm PST, so start checking around 8 pm to see if there's anything new. If you see something you like, grab it; they go fast.

 

I had to wait through about a week of checking to get my N10 but it was worth the wait. They normally retail at $699 and I got mine for about $480. I like to play the odd computer game, so that's why I wanted the graphics card.

 

For the tech wonks among you, I'm considering swapping out the harddrive for something that has at least 320 MB at 7200 rpm, and I may try overclocking. The little Atom is supposed to be highly stable up into the 2.0 - 2.2 range.

 

Cheers,

 

Friday

[topspot]

For those of you that have not yet purchased a netbook, the new version of Windows (thus far named Windows7) could reduce the price of netbooks for the upcoming holiday season.

 

"Microsoft still hasn't nailed down all the specifics about its much talked about Windows 7 Starter Edition, but it looks like the company is all too happy to talk up a few of the potential side effects of the OS variant, including the promise of some actual $200 netbooks by this coming holiday season"

[RVNFUN2]

I have the acer aspire 1. I did disconnect my home computer and wired it to the acer. Still could not get anything. I had no problem getting windows xp into the sytem just can not get into internet. We did have wifi but I am not sure that is working right so it has been disconnected until I figure this out

thanks

Kathy

[richwmn]

I have the acer aspire 1. I did disconnect my home computer and wired it to the acer. Still could not get anything. I had no problem getting windows xp into the sytem just can not get into internet. We did have wifi but I am not sure that is working right so it has been disconnected until I figure this out

thanks

Kathy

Most (all?) cable modems need to be powered down then powered back up when the attached equipment is changed. That could be why you are not getting a connection when you connect the acer. Try that and see what you get.

 

Also, that system is available with Windows and Linux, which did you get?

 

Rich

[RVNFUN2]

:mad:

I have windows. I fixed the wireless and it says that it is connected to the wireless. I still can not get the internet exp.. up. My old laptop was set up by circuit city so all I had to do is to turn it on. I am getting very fustrated since everyone else is having lots of fun. I just do not know what else to do. I even went back to recovery and started all over again. I did state that it could not recognize the wireless.

Please any help you can give would be great because if I can not get this up I will have to return it and I really do not want to do that. It is such a good size for traveling

Thanks again

[wilsonqbc]

Try going into Control Panel, click on that then select internet connection,

then it should search for your wireless, and all networks in range will show up.

when you see yours whatever you named it, it will ask you for your password, if you have put one in previously.

 

you have to enter your password once in the 1st box, then if I remember again in the second box to confirm it.

 

if you have never entered a password, it is the default password of the router, which you should have in your documents with the router. but that I am not sure about. you can google default password for your model, they are all the same usually

 

As a last resort

if you are using the default password that came with the router, it is best to reset it, there is a little button on the back that you have to press with a small object such as a paper clip.

 

But then you will have to set up any other computer that use this router.

you name your network, name of your choice

and enter a password of at least 6 or 8 letters and usually 1 digit is required somtimes.

 

Its a bit of a pain but that is how it is done

[wilsonqbc]

the wifi is on but maybe not seeing your network until you do the above

 

 

If you are directly connected the internet cable in the acer.

not using the wireless.

its the same, Control Panel, Internet.

 

if you are using cable thats pretty well all there is to do,

 

but if you are on phone line dsl, you need to put in your user id that your internet provider gave you and then your password that they gave you. or the one you are using you have to log in

[Cruzin Terri]

I had to sign on to my network and add the Acer to the network. Then it worked fine. Make sure you have the MAC address on the underside of the Acer to add in if the network doesn't pick it up.

Terri

[RVNFUN2]

Thanks for all your help. I will try it when I get back home. If not my daughter knows someone who has an Acer and I will be going there in a couple weeks, so I will try to get him to show me.

Kathy

[GoldieJ]

Well, this is a popular and ongoing subject, isn't it?

 

My 10"/6-celled battery Acer was delivered from Costco just a few days ago. I also bought their Belkin router to communicate with our cable-based PC. Set up was so easy ... sort of knew what to expect thanks to all the knowledgeable comments and advice on this thread. Thanks to all of you. What a smart group of people!

 

I ordered it online but yesterday while visiting Costco.... I noticed this Acer was the featured electronic item as you walked in the store. It was attracting a lot of attention. These little netbooks are getting very popular.

 

If you want to know something..... ask the cruisecritic peeps!

[1particularharbor]

We are considering buying the below Acer ...for those that are experienced with using these on the ships ..let me know what I would need to do with this one to make it work with the ships internet service....will I need any type adapter to use to recharge the battery etc...

 

Also, would I need to adjust anything to make it work with my at&t wireless at home and use in other w-fi free zones etc.

 

Thanks for your help in advance

 

1ph

 

 

 

 

 

Think convenient and compact with the Acer Aspire One 10.1" LCD, 160GB HDD, 1GB RAM Laptop Computer. The thin, lightweight design makes it ultra portable, while the integrated wireless network keeps you connected without the hassle of wires. This bundle also boasts a variety of resourceful software that helps make your life easier, more organized and more fun. Savor all these features and take computing to go with this noteworthy little notebook.

 

Acer Aspire One 10.1" LCD, 160GB HDD, 1GB RAM Laptop Key Specifications:

 

Processor: Intel Atom Processor N270

Memory: 1024MB DDR2 533MHz SDRAM Single Channel Memory

Hard Drive: 160GB 5400RPM SATA

Operating System: Microsoft Windows XP Home

LCD Monitor: 10.1" WSVGA Acer CrystalBrite Display (1024 x 600)

Media Card Reader: 6-in-1 digital media manager - Secure Digital (SD), Memory Stick (MS), Memory Stick Pro (MS-PRO), MultiMedia Card (MMC), Reduced-Size MultiMedia Card (RS-MMC) and XD-Picture Card (XD)

Other Differentiator: 0.3 integrated crystal eye webcam and flash drive with 18 pre-loaded software programs

Additional Product Specifications:

 

System Bus: 533MHz; 1.60GHz

Cache Memory: 512KBx2 L2

Graphics: Integrated Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950

Video Memory: Up to 224MB

Mouse: Integrated touchpad

Speakers: High Definition Audio support with 2 built-in stereo speakers

Ports: (3) USB 2.0, (1) VGA connector, (1) RJ45-Ethernet, (1) AC adapter connector, (1) Kensington Lock Slot, (1) Microphone-in jack, (1) Headphone/Speaker/Line-out jack

Wireless Network Adapter: Acer InviLink 802.11b/g Wi-Fi CERTIFIED

Color: Ruby red

Measures approx. 10.2"L x 7.3"W x 1.3"H

Weighs 2.95 lbs.

Model #: AOD 150-1920

ETL/ZG5 listed

 

Comes with a manufacturer's 2-year limited warranty

Accessories Include:

 

Flash drive with loaded PC Essentials software

USB mouse

6-cell Lithium-ion battery

Power cord

Power adapter

User guide

Pre-Installed Software:

 

Acer eRecovery Management

Acer Launch Manager

Adobe Reader

McAfee Internet Security Suite

Microsoft Office Trial 2007

PC Essentials Software on Flash Drive:

 

Aquazone 2 Oceans of the World, Cook N with Betty Crocker, Family Tree Heritage, Home and Business Lawyer 2008, Hoyle Casino Games 2008, Hoyle Enchanted Puzzles, Hoyle Miami Beach Solitaire, Jeopardy Deluxe, Morpheus Photo Animation Suite, Quicken Willmaker Plus 2009, Serif Draw Plus X2, Serif Page Plus X2, Serif Panorama Plus 3, Serif Photo Plus X2, Serif Web Plus X2, Stuffit Deluxe 12, Suduko Unlimited 1000 and Sunbird Calendar

[sail7seas]

I used my fun Acer on Eurodam several weeks ago and I did nothing more than turn it on. I got the prompt on the screen to purchase an internet package from HAL, did so and I was set.

 

Packages are $55 for 100 minutes and $100 for 250 minutes. Each has a one time start up charge of $3.95.

 

I used my Acer in Neptune Lounge, in my cabin and at aft pool. It was fabulous. Travels so light and easy.

When you board, you can go to the Explorations Cafe and take one of the 'instruction sheets' that are always on the tables to answer your basic questions.

 

 

 

[1particularharbor]

Sounds wonderful ...we are going to be sailing for about 30+ days ....and I have "high hopes" of preparing a blog offline with pictures and just do the old copy/paste it online ...with the cost of the internet minutes hope to save a bit of money doing it this way ...do you have experience doing this?

 

thanks for responding :)

 

1ph

 

 

I used my fun Acer on Eurodam several weeks ago and I did nothing more than turn it on. I got the prompt on the screen to purchase an internet package from HAL, did so and I was set.

 

Packages are $55 for 100 minutes and $100 for 250 minutes. Each has a one time start up charge of $3.95.

 

I used my Acer in Neptune Lounge, in my cabin and at aft pool. It was fabulous. Travels so light and easy.

When you board, you can go to the Explorations Cafe and take one of the 'instruction sheets' that are always on the tables to answer your basic questions.