Have Netbook Will Travel

Excuse me for saying this, but if you travel and do not have a Netbook, you are a dumb ass. I was a dumb ass and didn't even know it until this week. I am no longer a dumb ass.

As you might surmise, I took the Softless Netbook on the road this week. I went to Mountain View for the 140tc conference (the Twitter Conference). My experience was a positive one, both at 140tc and with the Netbook.

I boarded American Airlines Monday evening, heading to DFW, then on to San Jose. On the DFW leg I sat in 9D, an aisle seat in coach. Since the flight is only 30 minutes in duration, about 55 minutes gate to gate, I didn't even bother to pull the Netbook out. Historiaclly getting the laptop out is such an event, I now know the Netbook is a breeze to get out, boot, use and put away. Hell, 15 minutes is enough time.

On the second leg, I was in 21D, an exit aisle. I feel guilty taking up so much room when I did not really need it. There were plenty of people struggling with their MacBook, Lattitude or ThinkPad while the person in front of them leaned their seat back into the computer user's lap. What a cool feeling. I did not have to worry that the seat in front of me would come back and mash my screen into small pieces.

I listened to my iTunes library while I worked on the Blog for my work site, and a few other work items. The battery lasted the entire trip (2.5 hours). Even betterwas I got the opportunity to show off to the guy sitting next to me, explaining how I was using an offline document from Google Docs. He didn't come out and say it, but I could tell he was impressed.

It would not be fair not to mention the one downside to the trip. While I was at the 140tc, the wireless service there sucked. It was not even slow, it was non-existent. My colleague and I struggled to stay connected. It was worse the second day.

I noticed that a lot of people had 3G broadband cards and they were Tweeting away. I am now the proud user of a T-Mobile USB Modem. It works perfectly. I would recommended one of these to anyone that has or is thinking about buying a Netbook. There are also NetBook models from HP and Dell that have broadband access built in. That is convinent but would also mean you are locked into the carrier. The only option I have seen so far is Verizon.

I also need to have full disclosure here. I carried my laptop with me. I was a little concerned I would need something on it, so I stuck it in my carry on at the last minute. I never opened it. Lesson learned.