time for a new {laptop, netbook, tablet...}

[cellio]

My trusty iBook has died and the Apple Genius declared a hard-drive failure. Apple no longer sells those, though I could go looking for a third-party solution and that's not off the table yet. But maybe it's time to move to a machine that can support an OS newer than 10.4 and a Firefox newer than 3.6, so I'm considering other options too.

This is very much a secondary machine, for traveling, going to a class or meeting where I want computing power and not just paper, using in parts of the house other than my desk, and occasionally for taking to work if I need access to personal computing during the work day. I don't do a lot of that last, but it's happened. The iBook was also useful to me during a multi-day DSL outage; I could at least take the laptop to the library or bookstore for access. So I use the machine sporadically, but when I do use it it's important enough that I don't want to do without.

Apple's current laptop offerings are too pricy for me -- I'm sure they'd be great machines if I used my laptop all the time, but that's not my use case. It looks like used or refurbished Macbooks (just plain Macbook, the laptop Apple sold until 2010) could be an option; if you have experience with those, please tell me what gotchas lurk there.

I'm talking about Macs because that's what I have on my desk at home and some consistency of user experience (and software) is useful. (Among things, having the Soncino talmud/etc collection on my hard disk is useful. I bought that for Mac; I don't want to rebuy for Windows.) I'm willing to consider Windows options but I don't know that space yet.

Alternatively, tablets are appealing -- more portable and "instant-on" and just generally more convenient. I've used Dani's iPad and it's very nice. Just one problem: they don't seem to be designed for composing text documents and that's an important use case for me. For example, I often compose blog posts or other documents offline and then post/email/share them later. This calls for a text editor and access to the file system. If one is internet-connected then solutions might exist (SSH to a Unix shell was suggested to me recently), but we can't assume a network connection. (I actually don't know if there's an SSH application for the iPad.)

(The other problem with tablets is the keyboard, but there exist add-ons for that. And ok, a third problem is that everything these days seems to have a glossy display and I much prefer matte, but I think I'm doomed there.)

Dani commented that what I really want is a Linux tablet. Yeah, now that you mention it... is anybody working on that? Can Android tablets meet my needs? Which ones should I be paying attention to? (~10" screen rather than 7" required.)

So I'll be doing my Google research, but I'm also interested in hearing opinions from y'all. Thanks.

Comments

[talvinamarich.livejournal.com]

A browse of the App Store via iTunes show a few hits for "SSH".

[cellio]

Thanks!

[http://users.livejournal.com/merle_/]

I know Windows is not your cup of tea, unless you want to pour it on the computer, but the Lenovo 12" Thinkpads weigh in just under 4lbs and.. well, I own four. It's my laptop of choice. My current one is a souped-up X220. That said you have to know Windows and disable all of the AVmalware that comes with it. The form factor, the happy button that just sends light down onto the keyboard, the lightness, the 7+hrs battery life. Well.

Tablets like mobiles have decent hacks to get you things but it feels a few years behind to me. I used to despise laptops but seem to have fallen in bed with them, and their power is close to a desktop now.

Anyhow. Just my two Euros. Yeah, I've been watching the market. ;-)

[cellio]

Thanks for the recommendation! For this kind of application I'm not necessarily anti-Windows -- anti-Vista to be sure and I'm a little suspicious of 7, but I could come around. I've gone over to Mac OS for my main computer, but I'm open to options for a portable device. Though, as I mentioned, I'd kind of like to be able to install the one piece of Mac software that I care about. I'll only get that on a Mac laptop, though, not a table of any kind nor a Windows laptop, so I might lose out on that anyway.

[http://users.livejournal.com/merle_/]

Definitely be anti-Vista. One computer I bought had it and I still feel like I should pay the $hundreds to upgrade it. I use it as a burner laptop just for getting content, figuring if it becomes corrupt not much is lost.

Agreed about the software. Unfortunately I have software I want from Win, OSX, and Ubuntu, none of which (sigh) exist on any of the other platforms. So I just end up with a ton of computers, and a definite need for a nice quiet NAS.

[mrpeck.livejournal.com]

I bought my MacBook refurbished from Apple's website 2 years ago. It comes with a full year warranty, IIRC, so they'll fix any problems. The only problem I've had in two years was a case issue that was recalled on that particular model anyhow.

[cellio]

Oh, I hadn't realized I could buy from them; I thought I'd have to go third-part, eBay, etc. Thanks!

[mrpeck.livejournal.com]

The refurbished items are kind of hidden in plain sight. Follow the left hand column of the Apple Store page almost to the bottom. Also, sometimes Apple employees have discounts on top of the refurbished prices.

[ralphmelton.livejournal.com]

I would be happy to give you discounts. (My iPad discounts are spoken for this year, but my Macintosh discounts are untouched.)

As others have mentioned, there are several Dropbox options for getting text on and off. I personally use Evernote (not a Dropbox option) for getting text on and off the iPad easily; I compose LJ entries with a mix of iPad and Macintosh.

[cellio]

Thank you! Do your discounts apply to refurbished items too, or only to new ones?

Apple stopped selling the MacBooks I'm interested in in February. (Plain old MacBook -- not Pro, not Air.) I assume that you don't have access to any remaining new machines, right? I.e., if I want to buy one, I'm looking at used/refurbished?

Thanks for the Evernote info. (The world of tablet software is new to me and I appreciate the pointers.)

[ralphmelton.livejournal.com]

I get discounts on refurbs, but they're unpredictable; I can't tell you how muc discount I have without looking at a specific model.
Perhaps we should get together some time to talk about MacBook prices and/or iPad solutions.

[spiritdancer]

On the glossy screen thing: the aftermarket screen protector I added to my Nook cut the glare considerably. It's not quite a matte finish, but pretty close. I'm fairly certain most any tablet devise will have something similar available. Oh, and I found it worth my time (and aggtavation) to have the fellow at B&N apply it for me (they do a lot of protector applications, and know the tricks to avoid dust, air bubbles, etc).

[cellio]

Ooh, that sounds useful. Thanks! (And I'm totally willing to ask the guys who do this all the time to make finicky adjustments for me. I didn't put my own screen protector on my phone, either. :-) )

[hrj.livejournal.com]

If you're seriously considering an iPad and balking at potential difficulties for text documents, consider the QuickOffice app, which provides limited text/Word/Excel/PPT creation/editing ability. You can save files either on the device or in the cloud (now that iDisk is gone I've switched to a free Dropbox account), and you can easily e-mail the files from your device as well. The one major caveat is that performing interim saves while working consists of exit-save-reopen, which is really awkward for large files.

My Kalamazoo blog posts this year were all written on my iPad using QuickOffice and then cut-and-pasted into LJ. Oh, and you'll want to get a keyboard case if this is a major function for you.

[cellio]

Thanks! I remembered you writing from K'zoo on an iPad with external keyboard to what seemed like good effect, but I wasn't sure whether you were posting "live" (in the browser) or composing offline. Good to know that that works reasonably. (And yes, if I get a tablet I'll also be getting a keyboard.)

[zachkessin.livejournal.com]

You should know that the Air and the Pro Retna are not up-gradable. The Memory is soldered onto the motherboard at the factory.

(I was thinking about getting one as I rather need a mac these days)

[cellio]

Ooh, good to know. (Not so much for the upgrade directly -- I'm unlikely to go digging around in a laptop -- but it does mean that if any part fails, it all does.)

[mbarr.livejournal.com]

2) prompt is a great SSH app for the iPad.
3) Don't use it for text editing.

4) Dropbox quickly becomes your friend for file work- there are a tone of editors for test that save to dropbox, and use it as your transfer option.

4. there's likely an LJ app, haven't really tried it. also, wordpress.

If you want to type a lot, keyboards may work better for you, but a bluetooth keyboard works decently well w/ the iPad. I don't use mine almost ever at this point, though, as I'm not an actual writer. Normal emails and such are all just fine without it.

[cellio]

Thanks! (Was there a "1"?)

Does Dropbox have an offline mode? (Save locally, then when online move there for transfer?) I haven't used it.

[mbarr.livejournal.com]

yes, but dropbox as a transfer point itsn't quite the same as the dropbox app.

all the apps can use dropbox a central file share / directory, but not the local one - just the remote one.

The editor apps would have the local / offline mode, and then save up to dropbox when you had a connection, i think.

[alienor.livejournal.com]

I have a netbook (which several years ago was considerably cheaper than tablets are today; but I don't know what the prices run now or what you're considering) that works well for my needs (portable, long battery life, wifi).

The problem I have with it is that it's an 11" screen and a 1024x600 resolution. Many webpages are just unusable (menus falling off the edge of the screen). A tablet would probably autodirect you to the mobile version of the site, so you wouldn't have that problem. But, perhaps netbooks have higher resolution screens now?

Some folks also report having a hard time switching to the smaller keyboard of a netbook. I can type on it, go to work and type on a regular keyboard and a weather proof (rubber) keyboard, then come home and type on a gaming keyboard. It's never been an issue for me, but it's something else to consider.

Netbooks seem to be going out of style now. I bought mine in 2009 and don't feel like I need to upgrade it (ever) to do basic websurfing/email/writing (so the 2010 Mac should be more than adequate, I'd think).

[cellio]

Thanks!

Oh yeah, I knew I was forgetting something. I am definitely not interested in the funky newfangled widescreen shape on anything smaller than a desktop monitor (and really, I'd rather skip it there too). 1024x600? Ugh. In my universe web pages are still fundamentally vertical, and text documents certainly are.

[alienor.livejournal.com]

My phone (android) tries to use it's sensors to figure out which way I'm looking at it when showing me web pages, and that's pretty annoying (shaking the phone when it's wrong). There's an option to default to always the wide view, but not an option to default to the vertical view. An always on vertical view wouldn't be desirable for a phone, anyway, since some web pages are unreadable on a phone screen vertically (at any reasonable font size).

I don't know if you'd have that problem on an android tablet. If you want, I could ask my mom how her tablet behaves.