My laptop died, and it's killed my ability to get any writing done. My old laptop also weighed close to 10 lbs, which greatly interfered with me taking it anywhere else to write with even when it was working.
So, I'm looking at buying a new laptop. I want something lighter, and I refuse to run Windows Vista. I'm looking at basically two models: the
Lenovo IdeaPad S10, and the
Lenovo 3000 N200.
The differences: the Ideapad is a "notebook", smaller than a full-size laptop, weighs around 3lbs. No CD/DVD drive. Keyboard is smaller than usual. The 3000 N200 is a full-size laptop, weighs 6 1/2 lbs, has the CD/DVD and all that comes with a regular laptop. Battery on Ideapad lasts two to three times as long. I could put linux on either if I wanted to, but both currently come with XP which is not especially objectionable. Price difference is about $120, which is for the purposes of this purchase fairly insignificant. Both are reasonable in terms of hard drive, cpu speed, i/o, etc.; since all I want to be able to do is run Word, I don't need massive power. The lighter weight of the notebook really appeals to me, but realistically even the 3000 N200 is significantly lighter than my old dead Dell. (Dell also makes a mini but it appears to be distinctly inferior.)
So, the question I don't have an answer to is, if I got the Ideapad, would I be more encouraged to take it places and write? Or would I regret not having all the other bells & whistles of the regular laptop? Anyone out there in FLland using a mini laptop for writing or other tasks and want to weigh in on how useful they've found it?