Jimiz.net – Jim Becher on the web

It is amazing the number of netbooks and small form factor laptops that were showcased at CES. I am a full supporter of Laptops. I have gone through the process of eliminating as many PC’s in our house as possible and replacing with Laptops. My current need is to replace my wife’s laptop, in this purchase process I have been looking to get a 13inch machine.

I have not found a need to have a larger Laptop and it seems that the constraints of a larger pc are not worth the hassle. If I need more screen real-estate I can just hook up to a secondary monitor.

The leading players in the 13inch laptop market are Asus, HP, Lenovo, and Mac. I have ruled out a Mac due to cost and needs. Each of these laptops have exceptional battery life, which is one of the critical items on my list.

HP dm3-1130us: (HP site)

Thinkpad Edge: (Lenovo Site)

Asus UL30A-X5 : (amazon link)

I have read and heard great reviews of each. In one conversation the HP model was called a MAC killer (I don’t know about that). Since batter life is a critical item, the ThinkPad and ASUS are at the top of the list. Though the thinkpad can be configured with an AMD processor, it appears that the Intel chips have better battery life. I am not against AMD, I just want a longer run time. Those of you who know me, will understand the fact that I love thinkpads. They have the trackpoint and are durable as hell.

The only issue with going out and purchasing the ThinkPad is the cost. The intel version runs about 700 Plus.

Anyone have thoughts, suggestions, reviews?

Was checking twitter and one of the people I follow had a link to a sweet laptop bag. I followed the site to see some laptop bag goodness.

They make some sweet bags – http://www.booqbags.com/

I’ve been testing mailbrowser (MailBrowser.com)

It is a gmail (browser plugin) that allows you to search / file / lookup contacts based on interaction. Similar to Xobni for outlook.

I have used Xobni for outlook before and had performance issues. I will update on the usage of this new little plugin

I have recently started to listen to more podcasts. When training for the Chicago Marathon back in 05 I listened to a lot of podcasts.

Here are some that I subscribe to

• 5 live world football
• Hak5.org
• Tekzilla
• Dave Ramsey

What else is interesting that I should be listening to?

I am very lucky to purchase computers. I have a macbook, netbook, toshiba laptop (wife), and my trusty T61 thinkpad. I have realized that I use each device for a specific task. Excluding my wife’s laptop I have found that the macbook and netbook are interchangeable. The small form factor MacBook makes it as handy as the netbook.

Because of this I am thinking a purchase to replace both would be in order. A 13/14 inch laptop that I would use for more travel and development.

The Asus UL30 or the IBM Thinkpad Edge are pretty tempting.