I recently went on an overseas vacation, and I wanted to bring my laptop since I knew we’d be in hotels with free WiFi but didn’t want to carry all that extra bulk while we schlepped from city to city. So I picked up a netbook before I left, and throughout the trip I was pleasantly surprised by how lightweight and convenient it was. Even so, as soon as I had my netbook in my hands I had to do a few things to make sure I was getting the most out of it. Learn my tips for optimizing your netbook when youread more.
* Charge the battery correctly before you use it the first time. Most netbooks have great battery life so you want to make sure you check the owner’s manual to get the most from yours.
* Upgrade the RAM. The RAM on most netbooks are 1GB, which can mean painfully slow page loading or inability to multitask. You should pick up a RAM card that’s at least 2GB at the same time you buy your netbook and switch out
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A lot of schools are working to put technology in the hands of their students. Queen of Apostles School in Pewaukee has jumped in with both feet – making sure each student in grades five through eight has a personal netbook.
Queen of Apostles appears to be one of the first parochialschools in the area to take such a step at the middle school level.
“These are digital natives, these children; they grow up developing skills at a very young age,” said Kathleen Cepelka, superintendent of schools for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. “We want to be sure that those skills are developed appropriately.”
The school also will install 24 new computers in its computer lab for all grades to use. The cost of the netbooks is covered by an umbrella technology fee that all students have to pay, Principal Laurence Patterson said.
Students will keep the same netbooks with them for four years and then, when they graduate and move on to high school, they own the netbooks and can use them how they’d like. The school will buy a new batch every year for the incoming fifth-grade class.
“It’s going to be such an advantage when they do reach high school,” parent Wendee Puccetti said. “They’re going to be really well prepared.”
Queen of Apostles isn’t the only school with laptops in the classroom. Pewaukee Public Schools recently implemented laptops for seventh- through 10th-graders, and other high schools in the Milwaukee Archdiocese have similar technology programs.
Parochial high schools, such as St. Thomas More, have implemented student laptop programs. At Thomas More, students use their laptops for such things as virtual dissections and drafting assignments using AutoCAD, technology director Pat Hasek said.
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Texas A&M University-Texarkana gave away 170 minicomputers Wednesday to freshmen and transfer students who qualified for various scholarships during an event at Eagle Hall.
University president Dr. C.B. Rathburn welcomed the group.
“We are excited about having you here. We are excited about the new tradition at this university—that is you,” Rathburn said.
He encouraged the collegians to join student organizations, many of which had representatives at various tables around the room.
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ould 2010 be Linux’ breakout year? Linux is already making huge waves in mobile computing, with the rise of the Android operating system, the momentum behind Meego, a bevy of Linux-powered netbooks, and an army of Linux-toting tablets on the horizon. With Web-based computing becoming the norm, flexible and robust Linux could finally become the OS of choice for device manufacturers.
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ANYONE who has ever had to lug around a notebook computer for any length of time will tell you, size (and weight) matter. The average notebook with a 14- to 15-inch screen weighs in at around 3kg, and this is not counting the accessories such as power pack and notebook cooler.
Of course, some weigh more (my two-and-a-half-year-old Acer logs in at 3.2kg) and some far less (1.8kg – almost half as light!).
Yet, stuff everything into the laptop bag which, of course adds to the weight and you would be hauling around about 5kg on top of your handbag/slingbag and any other stuff you need for work.
If you travel around a lot with your notebook, by mid-day, your 3kg notebook probably feels like it weighs a tonne.
Technological solutions are called for, and the best bet – still – for work-on-the-go is the netbook.
Yes, iPads are way cooler with a bigger, better screen but keep in mind they are more suited for leisure activities such as surfing, reading and playing some games.
The limited memory means you can’t install many work applications, and the lack of support for flash limits some of the sites you can visit.
Plus, the touchscreen keyboard is not very usable if you are trying to type out your stories in a hurry.
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Netbooks are popular for their small size and light weight. They allow users to perform basic computing tasks, such as web browsing and word processing, on the go. However, this portability comes at a price. Most netbooks are lacking in RAM,storage space, and processing power. They typically don’t come with optical drives, either. The following accessories address those shortcomings and improve the computing experience.
Random Access Memory (RAM)
Most netbooks come with a single gigabyte of RAM. Typically, this isn’t enough memory for streaming video or multi-tasking. Luckily, most netbooks have a slot for an extra RAM module. The additional RAM will make a noticeable impact on a netbook’s performance. Applications will start sooner, windows will open faster, and web pages will download quicker. All in all, an additional RAM module is a great buy.
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Netbook and mobile Internet access device vendors are betting on e-learning in Kenya to boost sales.
As the government and schools embrace digital content, vendors of lighweight inexpensive laptops are teaming up with software developers to bundle content with Internet devices, in the hope of luring more buyers.
Metasys and MiD companies launched new devices two months ago targeting these new users.
Metasys rolled out mini laptops (Classmate PCs) designed for learners while MiD and CyberSchool introduced iPad lookalike Internet devices, targeting the low-end market.
Manufacturers say the devices allow users to load online education content or use them to access material through the Internet.
Mr Palaf Chanda, the chief architect and group executive officer of CyberSchool says the device costs Sh15,000, but the price is likely to come down with increased sales.
“Previously we concentrated on digitising learning content and school syllabus especially for science subjects, but there was need for mobile Internet devices that the students could carry away from school,” said Mr Chanda.
Research has shown that students using digitised curriculum in sciences tend to perform better.
Metasys has partnered with Kenya Institute of Education to roll out e-learning in a number of schools.
It launched a computer using the Lynx operating system dubbed MeeGO.
Mr Paulo Macaiel, the CEO of Metasys said the Classmate PCs are designed for young people.
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The term “disruptive,” a common buzzword in tech journalism, is typically used to describe something that jars people out of existing ways of doing things, and provides them with both new ways to do the old things and new things to do. Weather-beaten as the expression might be, it fits when talking about two products that took personal computing by storm over the past couple of years: the iPad and the netbook.
There has been a lot of talk about whether the iPad will take the place of the netbook — or, in fact, whether it will eat into the market share for more mainstream desktop and laptop computers. Netbooks have already formed a market of their own alongside and apart from other PCs. But the iPad has a long way to go before it becomes a netbook killer — if only because it has created a space all its own.
New tech for old
In the abstract, both netbooks and the iPad are nothing new — there were small laptops and tablets available long before either of these more recent devices appeared on the market. But what made all the difference was the degree of fit and polish brought to the new products.
For example, current technology made it possible to offer far better communications capabilities than before. The ubiquity of high-speed wireless networking, via both current Wi-Fi and cellular networks, made it much easier for people to take those devices along with them and not be limited by what was actually on the hard drive.
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, and unique feature sets – but do they have anything to offer an already saturated netbook market?
The Samsung NF310 is the top of the range model and comes with either an Intel Atom dual core N550 processor or a single core Atom N455. The NF210 has the same CPU choices, but comes with an attractive glossy lid. Their baby brother – the NF110 – comes with a slower Intel Atom N475 processor, and also has a cheaper plastic finish.
All three NF variations are nice looking netbooks, and their curvy chassis design seems to be their biggest stand-out feature and one of their biggest selling points. The design features a light clamshell case that comes in both black and ivory, and looks very curvy and stylish indeed.
The 10.1 inch screen on all models is a fairly standard affair, with the NF310 having a great resolution of 1366 x 768, and the NF210 and NF110 offering an average 1024 x 600. This is one of the biggest differences between these three netbooks, and with a 10.1 inch display that extra screen real estate really does make a difference.
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KOREAN OUTFIT Samsung has unveiled a series of “shark” NF and SF laptops and netbooks.
The Samsung team has been beavering away on shark-themed designs for its new laptops and ultra-portable netbooks. Both sets of machines have been given a fin effect design.
The Samsung SF Series comes in three flavours with the SF310, SF410, SF510 models on 13.3-inch, 14-inch and 15.6-inch chassis, respectively. All boast a glossy ivory front with a matte black finish on the inside. Samsung claims the new coat is scratch resistant and all models now sport chiclet keyboards.
samsung-sf-series-laptop
Samsung has bundled hybrid graphics into all models so punters can switch between the Intel GPU and a Nvidia GPU. It claims the battery life is 7.5 hours and Samsung also reckons they can be juiced back up in two to three hours thanks to its Express Charging Mode.
The NF series also has three models with the NF310, NF210 and NF110 all designed as netbook versions of the SF range. These all use a dual-core Intel Atom N550 chip and DDR3 memory but Samsung didn’t say how much is in each model.
The NF310 has a 1366×768 widescreen display with a 16:9 aspect ratio and Samsung said the NF210 can knock out 14 hours of battery life on a 6-cell battery.
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