|
|
4 Mar 2008
|
|
Gold Member
Veteran HUBBer
|
|
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: London, England
Posts: 706
|
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by tedmagnum
Very Nice...
You gonna buy one, install windows and mapsource on it and give us a full and in depth review ???
Ill be picking one up pretty soon and your review would be helpful
|
Definately going to get one - it was the final thing I was waiting for.
Review - oh yeah!
Installing windows... perhaps not...
m
|
4 Mar 2008
|
|
Gold Member
Veteran HUBBer
|
|
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: London, England
Posts: 706
|
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by Alexlebrit
Sorry I had to be the first on here to make the 9" joke. The thing is though for 300 squids I could go get a proper laptop with a huge HD, a DVD burner, and Windows Vista at Carrefour. So while the EeePC 900 has the plus point of being more compact and not having an HD to bugger up, I'm not certain that for me would be enough to push myself towards it instead of the competition WHEN they're the same price. The great thing about the EeePC 7" that I've got is that it's so rinky-dinky small AND it was so cheap.
|
Oi tart - I think you'll find I did the 9 inch joke first... 9 inches of fun!
Anyway.. yes at £300 you can certainly buy a standard laptop with a massive HD and a DVD burner. But it'll be a cheap HD and DVD burner and I certainly wouldn't want to trust it on the road - it's only £70/80 more and it's just as small as the 7'' - in fact it's exactly the same size as the 7''.
So for me.... it has to be the fact it's tiny tiny tiny, has a flash HD and is cheap.
m
|
4 Mar 2008
|
|
Registered Users
Veteran HUBBer
|
|
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: West London
Posts: 920
|
|
Possibly yes, but I can nip in to Carrefour tomorrow and get you a nice Acer with DVD, 120Gb HD, Vista, Bluetooth, Wifi and 14 inches (ooer) for €349, which at todays rate works out at £267.50 (and postage to the UK would be about £30) now that's actually cheaper than the EeePC 900, and you have to admit you get a lot more for your money.
I was seriously tempted by it when I bought my EeePC as it was only €50 more (EeePC works out more expensive than the UK), but that €50 saving PLUS the small size sold it to me.
The question is would your insurance cover the Acer being shaken apart?
EDIT: Question for others with an EeePC, does yours have a Windows button on the Keypad? Mine does.
__________________
Happiness has 125 cc
|
4 Mar 2008
|
|
Gold Member
Veteran HUBBer
|
|
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: London, England
Posts: 706
|
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by Alexlebrit
Possibly yes, but I can nip in to Carrefour tomorrow and get you a nice Acer with DVD, 120Gb HD, Vista, Bluetooth, Wifi and 14 inches (ooer) for €349, which at todays rate works out at £267.50 (and postage to the UK would be about £30) now that's actually cheaper than the EeePC 900, and you have to admit you get a lot more for your money.
I was seriously tempted by it when I bought my EeePC as it was only €50 more (EeePC works out more expensive than the UK), but that €50 saving PLUS the small size sold it to me.
The question is would your insurance cover the Acer being shaken apart?
EDIT: Question for others with an EeePC, does yours have a Windows button on the Keypad? Mine does.
|
My insurance certainly wouldn't - well they didn't last time when I told them how it was broken - next time I'll just say I dropped it.
But the Acer is too big! It may be cheaper, it may have more (the Asus has wi-fi too!) but it's just so much smaller and easier to lug around.... also... Vista.... isn't selling it to me... really...
If I was buying a laptop for at home, for light use around the house, then there's no doubt - it would be the Acer everytime - but this is for the bike - it's not my primary machine - I don't want a fully featured laptop with DVD burner and 120gb HD... what I want is a laptop that's small, but big enough to comfortably use, a HD that wont get shaken apart, something I can upload my images to the net on, and something with a whole OS smaller than Microsoft Word is on Vista!
You're still a tart too.
|
5 Mar 2008
|
Gold Member
Veteran HUBBer
|
|
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Philadelphia, US
Posts: 646
|
|
ThinkPad Worth A Look
I'll iterate my point from a prior post...
The ASUS is interesting, the Acer is cheap...but the data(pics, journals, etc.) is priceless. When you're on the road, no matter what you paid for the laptop...you DON'T want it to have issues.
Invest in something that has been thouroughly tested!
IBM Archives: IBM ThinkPads in space
Its worth a consideration and for the price(even used)...compelling.
|
5 Mar 2008
|
|
Gold Member
Veteran HUBBer
|
|
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: London, England
Posts: 706
|
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by MotoEdde
|
You're quite right they're definitely worth a look, I've only ever seen a thinkpad destroyed by direct impact rather than vibration etc.... and to be frank... Space travel is somewhat different to the rigours of motorcycle travel, once you're over the initial take off, what's the vibration? That is after all what destroys the HD.
m
|
6 Mar 2008
|
Gold Member
Veteran HUBBer
|
|
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Philadelphia, US
Posts: 646
|
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by mattcbf600
Space travel is somewhat different to the rigours of motorcycle travel, once you're over the initial take off, what's the vibration? That is after all what destroys the HD.
m
|
You have re-entry virbations...and there are other hazards...
My point in a prior post is that the HD is the most suceptible piece of the laptop. BUT over the years, 2.5" HDs have gotten MUCH more durable. The Travelstar(originally made by IBM before IBM sold their HD division to Hitachi) has been the most durable of that form factor and is standard equipment in the ThinkPads.
Its is the preferred laptop by corporate users in sales, IT, etc.; who don't care how much things cost as long as they don't break down...when you don't own it, you don't care as long as it doesn't let you down.
Same is true for MC travellers except they have to pay for it...in this situation, the weight, durability and simplicity are probably the three biggest factors in laptop choice. In this regard, the ThinkPad is about the easiest to take apart if something were to go wrong...but in the weight department it might be 2-4lbs more than other options...
|
6 Mar 2008
|
Registered Users
Veteran HUBBer
|
|
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Denmark - Copenhagen
Posts: 305
|
|
I have been using the Asus EEE for 3 months on the road now. I have lots of off roading and it still works perfectly.
I would never choose anything else. The PRICE combined with and SIZE and WEIGHT make at one of a kind, and simply the best IMHO.
__________________
Peter Kongsbak
South East Asia, USA, Central and South America and Scandinavia.
|
6 Mar 2008
|
|
Gold Member
Veteran HUBBer
|
|
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: London, England
Posts: 706
|
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by peter-denmark
I have been using the Asus EEE for 3 months on the road now. I have lots of off roading and it still works perfectly.
I would never choose anything else. The PRICE combined with and SIZE and WEIGHT make at one of a kind, and simply the best IMHO.
|
That's the thing isn't it - I've just looked at when I started this thread - it was July last year!
Things have really moved on, but we're all still weighing up those things.
Price
Size
Weight
Build (quality)
Software
is there anything else?
Perhaps I should knock up a comparison table for all the laptops we've looked at on this thread? May be helpful - as everyone looks for something different.
Edde - not having a go at the thinkpad at all - personally it's not for me because I am deliberately taking the decision to not take a fully featured laptop on the road with me, but to take a second dedicated machine that will be 'good enough' for what I do on the road.
If I were to take a full on laptop on the road though, my choice would be the current Apple Macbook - totally indestructible - and tested in the worlds roughest places. Junior schools!
But I do appreciate Mac OS isn't for everyone (even though you can now run MapSource on it) and in that case the IBM would be the first machine I'd consider with a HD in it.
m
|
6 Mar 2008
|
Registered Users
Veteran HUBBer
|
|
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Cornwall, in the far southwest of England, UK
Posts: 597
|
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by MotoEdde
My point in a prior post is that the HD is the most suceptible piece of the laptop. BUT over the years, 2.5" HDs have gotten MUCH more durable.
|
True that laptops' HDs are more durable nowadays. During last summer, '07: (1) I dropped my up-and-running Acer Travelmate 3012 from saddle height .. with no consequences; and (2) I hit a road-wide cattle grid while riding too fast .. probably. The result: well, my top box just bounced right off its mounting rack and tumbled-on down the asphalt road behind me at around 70 mph [113 km/h]. Top box was written off .. see pics below. Fortunately all of its contents - including my laptop - survived completely undamaged. The Acer is truly a robust piece of kit.
|
6 Mar 2008
|
|
Registered Users
Veteran HUBBer
|
|
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: West London
Posts: 920
|
|
Well my only reason for mentioning the Acer was the price comparison, and what you get for it. As far as I'm concerned a £200 7" EeePC is perfect, and of course being that bit cheaper makes it all the more interesting.
Nine inches? Who needs them, it's not the size after all....
__________________
Happiness has 125 cc
|
12 Mar 2008
|
|
Gold Member
Veteran HUBBer
|
|
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: London, England
Posts: 706
|
|
|
27 Mar 2008
|
Registered Users
New on the HUBB
|
|
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Bath UK
Posts: 13
|
|
Just wanted to say that this has been a fantastic thread to read! So useful. A friend recommended the EEE to me as a cheap alternative to getting a laptop for home use but i didnt do anything about it but now I am planning a RTW im seriously considering getting one! I have been wondering about taking a laptop or some storage device for photos and was a bit lost with what would be the best course of action.
The EEE really does seem to be the best thing for a big trip that will involve off road stuff. This site is a most excellent resource.
|
28 Mar 2008
|
|
Contributing Member
Veteran HUBBer
|
|
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Wirral, England.
Posts: 5,670
|
|
Just letting you know that the 512mb version of the Eee is widley available in Brazil for 340 quid. Pre loaded with XP !!
__________________
Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.
|
29 Mar 2008
|
Contributing Member
New on the HUBB
|
|
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: staffs
Posts: 6
|
|
Epc 900
Guys..im sure its somewhere here on the forum....can this gizmo charge up off a cigerette lighter socket?
Cheers
Steve
|
Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 8 (0 Registered Users and/or Members and 8 guests)
|
|
Posting Rules
|
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
HTML code is Off
|
|
|
|
Next HU Events
ALL Dates subject to change.
2024:
- California: April 18-21
- Virginia: April 25-28
- Germany Summer: May 9-12
- Québec: May 17-19
- Bulgaria Mini: July 5-7
- CanWest: July 11-14
- Switzerland: August 15-18
- Ecuador: August 23-25
- Romania: August 30-Sept 1
- Austria: September 12-15
- France: September 20-22
- Germany Autumn: Oct 31-Nov 3
2025 Confirmed Events:
- Virginia: April 24-27 2025
- Queensland is back! May 2-4 2025
- Germany Summer: May 29-June 1 2025
- CanWest: July 10-13 2025
- Switzerland: Date TBC
- Ecuador: Date TBC
- Romania: Date TBC
- Austria: Sept. 11-15
- California: September 18-21
- France: September 19-21 2025
- Germany Autumn: Oct 30-Nov 2 2025
Add yourself to the Updates List for each event!
Questions about an event? Ask here
See all event details
Check the RAW segments; Grant, your HU host is on every month!
Episodes below to listen to while you, err, pretend to do something or other...
2020 Edition of Chris Scott's Adventure Motorcycling Handbook.
"Ultimate global guide for red-blooded bikers planning overseas exploration. Covers choice & preparation of best bike, shipping overseas, baggage design, riding techniques, travel health, visas, documentation, safety and useful addresses." Recommended. (Grant)
Ripcord Rescue Travel Insurance™ combines into a single integrated program the best evacuation and rescue with the premier travel insurance coverages designed for adventurers.
Led by special operations veterans, Stanford Medicine affiliated physicians, paramedics and other travel experts, Ripcord is perfect for adventure seekers, climbers, skiers, sports enthusiasts, hunters, international travelers, humanitarian efforts, expeditions and more.
Ripcord travel protection is now available for ALL nationalities, and travel is covered on motorcycles of all sizes!
What others say about HU...
"This site is the BIBLE for international bike travelers." Greg, Australia
"Thank you! The web site, The travels, The insight, The inspiration, Everything, just thanks." Colin, UK
"My friend and I are planning a trip from Singapore to England... We found (the HU) site invaluable as an aid to planning and have based a lot of our purchases (bikes, riding gear, etc.) on what we have learned from this site." Phil, Australia
"I for one always had an adventurous spirit, but you and Susan lit the fire for my trip and I'll be forever grateful for what you two do to inspire others to just do it." Brent, USA
"Your website is a mecca of valuable information and the (video) series is informative, entertaining, and inspiring!" Jennifer, Canada
"Your worldwide organisation and events are the Go To places to for all serious touring and aspiring touring bikers." Trevor, South Africa
"This is the answer to all my questions." Haydn, Australia
"Keep going the excellent work you are doing for Horizons Unlimited - I love it!" Thomas, Germany
Lots more comments here!
Diaries of a compulsive traveller
by Graham Field
Book, eBook, Audiobook
"A compelling, honest, inspiring and entertaining writing style with a built-in feel-good factor" Get them NOW from the authors' website and Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, Amazon.co.uk.
Back Road Map Books and Backroad GPS Maps for all of Canada - a must have!
New to Horizons Unlimited?
New to motorcycle travelling? New to the HU site? Confused? Too many options? It's really very simple - just 4 easy steps!
Horizons Unlimited was founded in 1997 by Grant and Susan Johnson following their journey around the world on a BMW R80G/S.
Read more about Grant & Susan's story
Membership - help keep us going!
Horizons Unlimited is not a big multi-national company, just two people who love motorcycle travel and have grown what started as a hobby in 1997 into a full time job (usually 8-10 hours per day and 7 days a week) and a labour of love. To keep it going and a roof over our heads, we run events all over the world with the help of volunteers; we sell inspirational and informative DVDs; we have a few selected advertisers; and we make a small amount from memberships.
You don't have to be a Member to come to an HU meeting, access the website, or ask questions on the HUBB. What you get for your membership contribution is our sincere gratitude, good karma and knowing that you're helping to keep the motorcycle travel dream alive. Contributing Members and Gold Members do get additional features on the HUBB. Here's a list of all the Member benefits on the HUBB.
|
|
|