Well, I purchased a new laptop last week. Even though the one I was issues is doing fine, I wanted something more. Three reasons were:
1. Corpororate IT has my big laptop security configured in a way that limits some of the things I want to do on it.

2. The big laptop weighs 15 lbs. It is a CAD grade machine.

3. I wanted to be able to use it on the internet wherever I went, within reason.

Enter the new Acer Aspire One micro laptop. I did some shopping around and read the reviews, and settled on getting one from Radio Shack configured for 3G and Wi-Fi ops. Admittedly, I could've put a 3G card on the big laptop, but that only solved one of my problems. I do not like hodding the extra 15 lbs around every day on the commute. The little Aspire One weighs in at 2 lbs. Yes, there are compromises, but the trade off is well worth it. I also don't have to deal with the corporate IT limits either, which prohibit any sort of IM functionality and allow corporate to spy on my usage and files any time they want.


The Aspire One from Radio Shack comes with 1 gig of ram, Windows XP SP3 loaded, and All the other basic software that makes it work. There are also the usual trial versions of McAffee and Office pre-loaded with a 30 day expiration. It also has a 160 gig HDD and a 9" SVGA-X TFT screen. The keyboard is 3/4 size, so it takes a bit of geting used to. However the mouse pad has some cool scroll and zoom features that are quite handy. Here's the link:

Radio Shack Acer Aspire One

My price on the unit out the door was $50 with a two year AT&T 3G service agreement at $60 a month. That is competitive with what I was going to have to pay monthly for the external 3G on my big laptop anyways, so that was a wash. However, adding the 3G allows me to access the internet while riding the train to and from work, and at speeds high enough to watch You Tube videos and watch news video from the local channels, so far without any pausing effect. That is exactly what I wanted. In addition, since I have a sim card installed in the unit, I can also SMS text the wife and kids, so from an emergency comms perspective I am now able to place a regular voice call by cellphone, email, text, VoIP, IM, etc from anywhere I can get 3G coverage, which is considerable.

I do need to get an external CD drive (USB) so I can load external programs that I can't download off the internet yet. I also should probably upgrade to the 6 cell battery pack, with an advertised nominal run time of about 6 hours. The 3 cell pack is good for about 2.5 hours the way I use it. Other than that, this little unit is going to remain part of my EDC for the foreseeable future. It sure was nice walking out of the store with a new laptop in my hands for around $80 after all was said and done.

For anyone with commuting computer needs like mine, I hghly recommend this littl unit.