Are Netbooks a Good Field Tool? May 13, 2010
Netbooks as Field Tools for IT Professionals - First Look
Forgive me if I don’t come across as your normal IT product reviewer - because I’m definitely not. But I am an IT professional and therefore the netbook has caught my eye as a potential tool for IT professionals in the field who frequently have to travel and visit client sites to perform work.
Take it from someone who has lost more than one oversized laptop screen to the carelessness of a taxi driver or shuttle bus driver handling the luggage, the size of these units both stress me and intrigue me. Two of my kids have ASUS Eee series netbooks, but I can never get my hands on them to test them out, so I was very excited when both Dell and Acer agreed to send me models to run through the paces in the field.
I’m definitely more interested in reviewing them over the long haul for their effectiveness as field tools for consultants, project managers, and just about any other IT profession that causes you to leave your desk or home office once in awhile. I’m also interested in examining how these mini notebooks can serve small business owners who are looking to save on equipment costs. However, since they both arrived today, I’ll give you my first impression of them now though all I’ve really done so far is load some software. More detailed looks at how these units perform in the field will be forthcoming.
The netbooks I received have nearly identical specifications. The Dell Inspiron Mini 10 is running Windows 7 Starter, has a 160 GB hard drive, 1 GB of RAM, operates on the Intel Atom N450 processor, has a 10.1″ screen, and so far appears to offer an estimated 6 hours of battery life.
The Acer Aspire One AO532h netbook model I received offers identical specs except for one difference - a 250 GB hard drive. I would gladly trade hard drive space for RAM any day, but most netbook models come standard with 1GB so that’s what I like to check out anyway.
My first impression - without actually comparing the units yet - is this:
- I like the size - they’re easy to carry around without the fear of hitting them on something
- The keyboard is smaller - both are 92% of full sized keyboards, I believe - and that takes some getting used to
- Their touchpads are nice - though one thing I’ve noticed on both of these models as well as the ASUS models my kids have is that the buttons require more force to click than on any normal sized laptop I’ve ever used and I’m not sure why that is the case … maybe they loosen over time
- This is my first real look at Windows 7 and I’m not sure I like it yet (I’ve been using Mac OS about 98% of the time for the past year so that’s not a fair take at this point)
I’ll be loading more software, utilizing these netbooks for meetings, notes, managing project schedules, and taking them on the go. So keep checking back here for updates on how the process is progressing. I may even be adding more models to the review process.
