Netbook: Step up for me, but not for everyone

 

I bought an Acer D260 Netbook to replace my Palm Pilot. I have the Tungsten E2 and it has served me well for several years. But I use it to take notes when covering meetings in my job as a newspaper editor.

I had purchased the Palm wireless keyboard on sale for $10 at Staples. Again, it served my needs but eventually it just wore out.

So, I was faced with the question, Do we buy a second notebook or do I get a Netbook?

My birthday was coming up and my wife asked me what i wanted, so, we went to Walmart and soon the Acer was in the car, heading home with us.

I really like everything about it. The 10-inch screen is good for my purposes. The keyboard is actually a pretty good size. The only time I have any problem is retraining my fingers to use the smaller Netbook keys after using the full size Dell desktop keyboard in the office.

I have ready many good reviews of Acer products and the criticism of Netbooks in general (small screens, limited power to run multiple programs, small keyboards, etc.) seem to stem from people who expect to use their Netbooks in place of a full size laptop or desktop computer. I wouldn’t suggest that.

Oh, I can edit video (using Movie Maker – the Acer came with Windows 7 starter edition), listen to my old time radio shows, and write and edit news stories. I even edit pdf files of newspaper pages at home before the paper goes to press.

So, I would definitely recommend the Acer D260 Netbook. Just don’t plan to use it to replace your other computer unless your needs are very limited.