Fitting the battle of life

Well, it’s half the price of the eee, has half the memory and does indeed run Linux. The only question is, why is it so butt ugly? The One just isn’t the one for me, I’m afraid.

Admittedly, it’s not aimed at the everyday consumer (it’s being unveiled at an education show, for goodness’ sake), but the way it looks (check the link) just does nothing for me. In terms of design the eee is respectable, and the Cloudbook’s slightly odd gap between keyboard and screen makes it at least stand out a little bit, but this one is just a brick with a capital b. So Brick. With a little flimsy keyboard attached. How it will even open without toppling over is beyond me.

Oh well, at least it runs Linux, I suppose. Although I might blog later about why its design is a problem. Depends how much I can concentrate on Chaucer.

Well, like many, I would rather like an Asus eee pc. Not just because it runs Linux and is cheap - because my main laptop now only gets about an hour’s battery life, which of course is pants. A new battery from Dell would be approaching half the cost of the eee, and this laptop (15.4-incher) isn’t exactly ultra-portable. Even with Ubuntu it takes a little time to load up, poor thing, and for note-taking in lectures and society meetings I’d want something I can turn on and off quickly.

I think, having made a budget for this term’s major spending, I might be able to afford one. Might. This worries me somewhat. It means I’m likely to buy one.