Why I need a 3G iPhone and a cheap sub-notebook

Stan Beer
Wednesday, 05 March 2008 08:12

Business IT - Technology

Watching all the journalists struggle with their clunky notebooks, while the journalist who was busily tapping away on the keyboard of his little Eee PC with 7 inch screen had an almost permanent smile transfixed on his face, I realised that the current generation of notebooks are simply too big and too heavy.

This was further reinforced when a demo model of the new Lenovo u110 with its 11 inch screen and weighing in at just over 1kg was passed around. For my money, the Eee PC is just a little bit small and it's good to hear that a slightly larger 8.9 inch screen model is on the way. As far as form factor goes, the Lenovo u110 is just about perfect. The big downside, however, is the AUD$3000 price tag which is way too much for the average self-funded road warrior.

When I think about what I use a notebook for when I'm on the road - web access, word processing, a bit of spreadsheet work, skype and emails - the Eee PC would probably do the job. What I really need, however, is something just a little bigger but with a reasonable price tag. Asus' new 8.9 inch model is supposedly six months away. It can't come a moment too soon and ditto for the 3G iPhone.