Castellini on Computers - Computer help for beginners » netbook

Rick Answers his Email Videocast – 053

Rick — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 02:50:27 +0000

The summer has kept me busy and I let a few too many question stack up (remember that you can make a small donation when asking your question to get priority). I answered all the questions you asked the last 2 weeks in these two videos. The first video contains questions from Doris, Henry, Andrew, Jean, [...]

Google entering the Operating System world with Chrome OS

Rick — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 04:05:23 +0000

Before I left for my monthly users group meeting this morning, I caught a quick glimpse of Google’s announcement to enter the world of operating systems on Twitter. Most folks in the tech business figured it would be a natural leap for Google to work towards their own operating system, especially after the release of [...]

An unfortunate event – Linux losing to Microsoft

Rick — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 23:00:36 +0000

Netbooks are the class of laptops that have screens measuring from 7″ to 10″, have no CD or DVD-ROM and use a specially designed low power processor. Initially, these small and inexpensive laptops were released with different versions of Linux on them and they ran fast and ran well. Microsoft saw a huge potential loss [...]

Apple Netbook Rumors

Rick — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 03:59:21 +0000

Rumors about an Apple netbook (super small laptop) have been swirling for at least six months. This CNN article claims to have sources that confirm a more definite possibility of an actual Apple netbook release in the upcoming months. We’ll see what happens. If they charge more than $400 for it, will even the Apple fan [...]

Acer Aspire One Netbook

Rick — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 21:45:26 +0000

Today, I had my first opportunity to get some hands-on time with Acer's entry into the netbook craze, the Acer Aspire One. The young lady I helped bought a blue Aspire One on Black Friday for just over $300. Sporting a 120GB hard drive, an extremely nice 8.9" screen, 1 GB of RAM, and Windows XP, this little unit was very impressive to look at and use. After some discussion with me, she decided that she didn't want to leave the Windows XP on it and have to maintain security updates, anti-spyware software, anti-virus software, etc. She planned on using the netbook for traveling mostly and some email, Internet, and downloading her digital photos from time to time on it.

I decided to try installing Ubuntu's new Netbook Remix (UNR) operating system for her. After doing some research, I discovered that before

Netbooks are NOT made for Windows XP or Vista

Rick — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 22:50:18 +0000

One year ago, ASUS started a fire storm of new computers that now go by the name of netbooks with the release of their EeePC. I wrote about this subject just a few months ago, but with the holidays approaching and netbooks are high on gift giver's radar screens so I want to explore netbooks a little more in depth.

Netbooks make attractive gift giving ideas for a few reasons:

They are inexpensive; usually cost less than $400.
They are extremely portable (2-3 pounds).
They are cute.

Here are some facts you need to know about netbooks:

Lazy computer users

Rick — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 22:37:25 +0000

Over the past few days, the tech news sites and blogs have carried a story centered on a quote from a NetBook (tiny laptop) manufacturer stating that the company receives 4X the returns of Linux based systems versus Windows systems. The more often I saw this headline and read the articles, the more irritated I became.

Computers are still in their infancy compared to much of the technology we use today. Americans have had indoor plumbing for 75 years, electricity for almost 100 years, telephones for almost 100 years, televisions for 50+ years, and radios for 70 years. Computers, however, have been around just over 15 years en masse, and even today they only exist in about 70% of American households.

My point is that computer technology has not matured enough to

New Dell Mini laptops

Rick — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 23:21:44 +0000

Dell has joined Everex, Acer, HP, Sony, and the ground breaking Asus Eee PC in the arena of the netbook. Netbooks are small laptops with a screen of 9" or smaller and a weight of less than 2.5 pounds. They all run on either a form of Linux or Windows XP. The Dell Inspiron Mini (click the picture above to buy or read more about them) is Dell's entry into this increasingly crowded and popular market. Remember that these netbooks are not for everyone, but they fill a niche for frequent travelers, train or bus commuters, and computer users who want an inexpensive yet capable second computer.

Asus started a whole new trend

Rick — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 23:29:02 +0000

I just returned from visiting my brother and his new baby and traveled, again, with only my phone and my Asus Eee PC. As usual, the little laptop did not disappoint. I was able to keep up with email, work with my spreadsheets and word processing documents and do other web research as well. All from a little marvel that cost less than $400 and weighs less than 2 pounds.