Minis proving popuar again

No, not the car. Nor the skirt. Much loved as they may be by girls and boys respectively, it's the mini notebook that I mean. That's lost half my readers but those that remain may remember that I have been going on about how great the little ASUS notebook seems to be. I haven't tried one yet but the whole idea of something light and small that is ready to use like almost instantly is very appealing.




Now everyone is talking about them and RM have got in on the act, promoting them heavily in schools which is bound to reach parents before long. Current range and pricing details here. You need to wait until April for the Windows version with 8GB memory and 1GB RAM but the Linux options are the ones that spin along and are cheaper. Details here.

Almost everyone seems to be impressed, with only screen size (800x480) being criticised but for a unit of about A5 size that's part of the deal really. It's not a games machine or going to compete with some dual processor 17" wide screen laptop with a state of the art video card and the Linux version won't connect via Bluetooth. Some users appear to have arranged extra GBs of memory which helps Windows speed and this would allow you to download and install familiar applications if you can't live without them. However, it's intended to provide quick internet browsing, access to text processing, spreadsheets, presentations and with an inbuilt web cam and microphone is ready to communicate with.

I find it hard to believe that no-one else is in on this act. There simply have to be a whole load of development work going on in other brands' offices and hopefully factories too. All I need to decide is whether to get an ASUS now or wait and see what the competition comes up with. And if you need an excuse, just say you're getting one for the children! But I predict that get one you or they almost certainly will before long.