The Vojax Blog

As the result of another great Slick Deal, I am now the proud new owner of a Dell Mini 10v netbook and “ba ba ba ba ba, I’m loving it.”

Several things about it make me feel this way:

First, the price. I got it for about $230 shipped and taxed, which for a machine with a 160GB hard drive is a fricking steal. Even at full price of $299 + junk, netbooks are looking more and more the savvy choice for anyone who does not absolutely need a super powerful machine, which these days given the move to cloud computing is most of us.

Second, the seemingly vastly lower weight, noise and heat the thing puts out. I own two other Dell laptops, both of which are a pain to carry on long trips and both of which will be lucky to leave you with any skin on your thighs after an hour or so of using them. The netbook really is quiet/cool, even with the regular hard disk (they are available with solid state which should be even quieter/cooler).

My only dislike is to do with using it for extended periods. The not-great touchpad, which is fine for clicking between web-pages for a few minutes, but if you want any accuracy/consistency you need to use an external mouse. Also the keyboard is hard to use for heavy typing when perched on your lap due to lack of a large wrist-rest, which is pretty much unavoidable with a small device. However, sitting at a desk or table it is fine.

I’m a total convert and from this point on would really find it hard to justify the extra expense of a full-size laptop, and would really recommend others to consider doing the same.