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

[fridayeyes]

I was at Best Buy yesterday and looked at several of the netbooks. They were cute but unfortunately they were all Windows based. As a Mac person, it's definitely a no go.

 

Basically I seldom travel with a lap top and when I do it's an old Mac Pro from 2002, which works fine for web browsing and email. It weighs in somewhere around 5 pounds and I carry it in the computer compartment of my camera bag. The bag, with camera gear and lap top is heavy, so I can see the advantage of a netbook.

 

Usually I just use my iPod Touch for email and light web browsing. Has anyone had experience using this on a HAL cruise?

 

Hi, Codger,

 

You might want to Google how to make a "Hackintosh". I haven't done it myself, but my understanding is that people have been able to put a Mac OS on non-Mac machines.

 

So if the netbook idea appeals, it can be done.

 

Cheers,

 

Friday

[Stakeout]

I just ordered my 10.1 Acer from Costco. They are now including a mouse and case. I don't know if the case is any good but it was included for nothing extra. I hope it is delivered soon. Instead of purchasing MicroSoft Office I will be downloading Open Office. It is free and is compatible with Microsoft Office. I use it on my other desktop.

 

that's the one I was looking at ..it's the so-called bonus one at Costco... for $350 you get the case and mouse..instead of the regular 349.99 price w/o them.... also tomorrow starts the sale on the Iomega CD/DVD RW USB drive 64.99 instead of 84.99... most places sell it for 89-125.. it was in the latest costco.com coupon book that I got the other day...

[Stakeout]

geez.. if no one has or can find Wordpad or Word or Works-Word Processor or are skittish about using an unknown Word on their PC.. then just open up your regular email program that you probably are familiar with.. I use T-Bird.. most others use Outlook Eggspress( hay it's Easter remember).. Create a new email... just use the body-text part to write the email.. then go online ---copy/paste that into your webmail.. and send it... it's the easiest way to do it if you already have an icon for your email program on your desktop...

 

and it'll save a lot of minutes by doing it the copy/paste way offline

[Rosieo]

I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of my new netbook, the Acer 10.1. I just checked Costco's site and it says it hasn't been shipped yet. I think I will need to upgrade the RAM to 2GB. However, I don't know which one to purchase. Has anyone upgraded thiers and which RAM did you use?

[Stakeout]

I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of my new netbook, the Acer 10.1. I just checked Costco's site and it says it hasn't been shipped yet. I think I will need to upgrade the RAM to 2GB. However, I don't know which one to purchase. Has anyone upgraded thiers and which RAM did you use?

 

easiest way if you want to check it yourself.. after you get the Netbook

( I just ordered that same model today from Costco also--was notified it's in Step 2-- Sent to Fulfillment-- not shipped yet)... go to the Crucial site at http://www.crucial.com and either run the Scanner tool --gotta do it in Internet Explorer--won't work in Firefox I found that out when I tried it last year upgrading two older PC's I have... or use their drop down... the Scanner is the best way though... you can either buy from them direct or go shopping on your own after it tells you what type/size of RAM is okay to use and the max it can take..

[pms4104]

I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of my new netbook, the Acer 10.1. I just checked Costco's site and it says it hasn't been shipped yet. I think I will need to upgrade the RAM to 2GB. However, I don't know which one to purchase. Has anyone upgraded thiers and which RAM did you use?

Will adding RAM void your warranty?

[Rosieo]

Thanks Stakeout, I'll do that when it arrives. I have been checking all day today to see if it has been shipped and no luck today! I hope it doesn't take to long. I am off of work all this week and have the time to play around with it. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

[pms4104]

The terms of the Microsoft license allow 1 copy of a program to be used on 1 computer. The acer, as do all copies of windows, already has a copy of wordpad and notepad. These would be adequate for your "cut n paste" use aboard ship. Open Office is a free alternative (I also use it but on LInux), and can be easily downloaded for the acer if you uninstall the Word 2003 which was installed for you.

 

Rich

Depends ... when I bought the new Office Suite, I got one specifically for use on 3 computers.

[Rosieo]

Will adding RAM void your warranty?

 

I hope not but I really don't know. I'll have to find out first before I do anything. I am thinking I need it to do some photo editing using Picasa.

[pms4104]

I hope not but I really don't know. I'll have to find out first before I do anything. I am thinking I need it to do some photo editing using Picasa.

I would contact customer service for your computer ... my thought would be that you would be voiding the warranty by opening up the unit and adding memory. If you experience any problems during the warranty period, you surely would want to be covered. My husband has a collection of amateur radios and, when he wants to do anything to the factory configs, he waits til the warranty is up just to be safe.

[richwmn]

Depends ... when I bought the new Office Suite, I got one specifically for use on 3 computers.

Someone else told me about that but I haven't seen one for sale. How much extra did you pay for the additional licenses? In any case, that would be for one [individual | company] to use, not for a techie to give multiple customers.

Rich

[pms4104]

Someone else told me about that but I haven't seen one for sale. How much extra did you pay for the additional licenses? In any case, that would be for one [individual | company] to use, not for a techie to give multiple customers.

Rich

I bought the Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007 software ... Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote. Does not include Outlook, but I use Windows Live Mail, so I don't miss the Outlook software. I think the package was something like $125 when I bought it a year and a half ago ... it's been advertised lately in the $100 range. Indeed, licensed for 3 computers and not for use in any commercial, nonprofit or revenue-generating business activities. On the packaging, which I still have, there is a comparison of the various Office Suites, and it appears that only the Home and Student Suite has the 3-computer license. Nice to be able to use the suite on both of our laptops.

[MainelyCruiser]

I purchased an Acer Aspire One last August when they were first introduced. From Best Buy, I paid $349 (no tax - bought it in NH). The price is now $299.

 

Having lived with it for eight months, I love it, and it is perfect for travel. The keyboard is solid and I have no trouble changing from it to my desk top or full size laptop. Loads of memory (which can be increased). It boots up very fast. You get used to a smaller display (and can increase the text size easily). The only downside is limited battery life - about 1 3/4 hours.

 

At this price, you cannot go wrong, especially if you want one for travel. XP is trouble free and well supported - just download OpenOffice for free rather than pay for Microsoft Office and you will have everything you need for little money spent.

[fridayeyes]

Will adding RAM void your warranty?

 

Adding RAM will not void your warranty.

 

CAVEAT: Read your warranty carefully. I have seen one or two in my lifetime where adding a chip to the external, user-accessible slot is fine, but opening the thing up to swap the internal chip has to be done by a technician.

 

Either way, though, placing or changing a chip in the external slot yourself is fine.

[Rosieo]

My Acer 10.1 just arrived about an hour ago. I am typing on it right now. Internet hooked up very easily. Now I am working on making it mine, getting rid of the junk it comes preloaded with! Internet is snappy, I am loving it!

[sail7seas]

Curious what junk you are taking out of your Acer. I need to get rid of things I'm sure I'll never use. Why slow it down and waste storage.

 

Enjoy your new toy. Hope you have lots of fun with it.

[Rosieo]

So far I got rid of Microsoft Office Trial, McAfee (put on AVG instead), a google toolbar, and eSobi. I did put on Firefox, will put on OpenOffice and Picassa but haven't got around to that yet. There are a few other things I may get rid of too. I don't like clutter, don't like having things I will never use.

[LoyHAL]

After reading all these posts, I ordered an Acer. It should be here tomorrow. Can't wait to start 'playing' with it!

 

Thanks to all for the great comments and advice!

Now, just to get to September for a cruise. :D

 

LoyHAL

[sail7seas]

LoyHal.... Congratuations on ordering an Acer. Hope you enjoy yours as much as I love mine.

 

 

 

So far I got rid of Microsoft Office Trial, McAfee (put on AVG instead), a google toolbar, and eSobi. I did put on Firefox, will put on OpenOffice and Picassa but haven't got around to that yet. There are a few other things I may get rid of too. I don't like clutter, don't like having things I will never use.

 

Thanks, Rosieo.

I got rid of McAfee also and put in Norton; a google toolbar as well.

I'll need to put a photo program.

[mescat4]

refurbished from Dell for $239. Appears relatively easy to increase memory and SSD. Should be here in a week. There is also an active users forum on the net supporting it. What sold me was the extremely small footprint and light weight as we are cruising to Alaska on a b2b in June on Statendam after spending a week in Seattle. I hope I'm not disappoionted.

[serendipity1499]

Sail, thanks for starting this thread..I've been following it for several months & have finally convinced DH it would be a fun thing to have..I've downloaded some of the info & suggestions mentioned on this thread & DH is very interested in getting one..

Realize that many of you either have, or are considering the Acer Aspire One 8.9 but we're considering the Acer Aspire one 10.1..

 

Both B.J's price & Amazon's price is the same $349.00.. Checked out Best Buy.com but they don't have it on-line..Does anyone know if the store would have it, if it's not on-line?

Would appreciate hearing from those of you who have the Acer Aspire one 10.1....Amazon is also selling a 2GB 667 Mhz Memory along with the case for all three for $389.08..Is this worth adding to the basic netbook?...

Most likely won't use it for the Internet when we're aboard ship, but figured we could use it other times... It would be good for downloading pictures, playing a few games, plus can use the simple word programs..Guess you could call it an expensive toy..:D

We checked it out in BJ.s & it looks very good to us... I'll always have a difficult time with any laptop, since my PC at home has an ergonomic key board...When I get on DH's PC. or any standard keyboard I have a hard time finding the keys...;) But I'll get used to it..

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated..Thanks loads..

Cheers..:)Betty

[sail7seas]

Make sure you get the 6 cell batter, Betty. IMO the extra battery life makes a big difference.

 

I'm very happy with my 8.9". My goal was to go small. I didn't want bigger. I happened to be in Staples today and got a new carry bag. I had one from Best Buy that I had to stuff the mouse and modem into but this new one is better. Just a tad larger but suits me better. Cost $24.99 and for me was worth it. I'll give the other one away. It worked absolutely fine for our Eurodam cruise but I like this was is just a tad larger.

 

Anyone want the other case? I'm happy to mail it to you. Used Once!

 

 

 

[wemissthesmallships]

Hello.

 

I've been lurking on cruisecritic for years now. This is my first post. Thank you Sail for starting this thread. I've been reading it from your first post and last week purchased an Acer Aspire with the 10.1" screen. I bought mine from Radio Shack because I could handle it and check it out before I bought it. I LOVE IT!!! My 2nd choice would have been the 10.1" HP netbook.

 

I wanted to chime in here because after doing extensive research I discovered that some of these 10.1" Acer's have a 6 cell battery that runs 8 hours and some have a 6 cell battery that runs 5.5 hours. Apparently there was a shortage of the 8 hour 6 cell batteries. I made sure I had the 8 hour one before I bought it. The model number on the 8 hour battery is UM08B52 and it also says, 59Wh, 5800mAh.

 

Set up was really easy and I had it connected to our wireless network in 5 minutes with no problems. The web cam works great.

 

PAST CRUISES

 

Carnival x 3 = Mardi Gras, Festival and Tropicale

Sitmar x 2 = Fairsea and Fairwind

Royal Caribbean x 5 = 3 Nordic Prince, Song of America and Song of Norway

Premier x 1 = Oceanic

Costa x 4 = Romantica, 1 Atlantica, 2 Victoria

Princess x 9 = Island Princess (old one) Crown Princess (old one) Sky Princess, Regal Princess, Star Princess, Island Princess (new one), Sun Princess, Coral Princess, Crown Princess (new one)

Celebrity x 8 = Horizon (2), Zenith, Summit (2), Century (2), Constellation

Holland America x 10 = Maasdam (3), Westerdam (3), Zaandam (2), Volendam, Noordam

[mamaofami]

I also got another case. Actually, I got it before I used the one from Best Buy because I didn't like the way the mouse and charger had to sort of be stuffed in. It's made by Targus and says it's a netbook portable mini notebook case.

Tomorrow's New York Times (I get it on Saturday) has an article on lighter lap tops that specifically mentions the Acer Aspire one. Someone had it on an airplane and when she took it out to use it, the flight attendants stopped serving drinks and all came over to look at it.

[sail7seas]

WeMiss...... So happy this thread has been helpful. I never dreamed when I started it how many folks would be interested and would share and participate in it.

 

 

Carol..... :D The carry bag I bought today is Targus. :D