so the dell vostro a90 went on sale a couple days after my work mac bit the dust. i don't really belive in signs from dieties, but after realizing how much personal stuff i left on my work machine, i figured i should get a new machine.. quick!
i started thinking about the dell mini-9 as people were reporting good success with converting them to hackintoshes. at one time the idea of a small cheap machine running MacOS X intrigued me, and i figured if i ever wanted to do it, i should have a system with a good chance of being macified and functional at the same time.
but then i realized how little i cared about which desktop operating system i actually ran. i use google apps for writing docs and tracking projects and ideas. about the only apps i can't get on ubunntu or wintel is OmniGraffle and VoodooPad. but ahh... OmniGraffle is so nice. wintel users, you just don't what you're missing.
so anyway. here i am with a new netbook. it cost less than $300 and weighs not much more than a couple of pounds. it does the instant on thing pretty well, which is surprising 'cause the last time i had something nice to say about a system's "resume from sleep" behavior, i was saying it about my old TRS-80 model 100.
so here's the good and the bad about the vostro a90.
bad:
1. i can't run the second life client on the darn'd thing to save my life. this is embarassing; i work at linden research and i have a machine that doesn't do SL. i anticipate several late nights with a debugger ahead.
2. i can't get the thing to bluetooth pair with my android g1. at least this one's not my fault.
3. you have to speak with dell to order one.
good:
1. wow. this thing is light!
2. pretty darn'd cheap!
3. silent and cool.
note that i didn't make any great claims about the keyboard; good or bad. if your're used to a full sized desktop keyboard, you won't like this one. if you're used to a Psion Revo, this is a step up. it also has the annoying habit of randomly pasting my paste buffer in whatever document i'm currently editing.
so... all in all a nice little addition to my tech life. if, like me, you have small fingers and are willing to trade screen real estate for moderate improvements on battery life and serious improvements on weight. you may be interested in something like this.
