[olug] OT: Netbook options

[Christopher Cashell]

On Sun, Jan 3, 2010 at 8:49 AM,  <webtrekker at cox.net> wrote:
> I'm looking help on what my options are for a netbook.  The situation is I am heading to Ethiopia in 12 days to adopt our newest family member and don't want to lug my laptop due to weight and size, but would like have a way to transfer pics from my camera memory card to a secondary device (netbook hd or external hd).

Do you need to actually access the pictures during the trip?  If not,
$100 will buy quite a bit of storage space in memory cards these days.
 Depending on what your camera takes, I've seen 8GB SD cards for
around $20-$25 at numerous places, even local stores (Best Buy,
MegaMart, etc).  That'll give you 64GB+, which will hold a lot of
pictures (unless you're using a digital SLR and shooting in RAW, in
which case you'll be hard pressed to find a flash-based option).

A former co-worker of mine was in a similar situation when taking a
long vacation, and was trying to find the best way to deal with
pictures.  Among the options we came up with, when discussing it, were
buying extra memory cards, taking a laptop, buying a netbook, buying
an mp3 player that has lots of storage and an SD slot (his camera used
SD cards), or finding a way to get his iPod to talk to an SD card.  In
the end, he ended up buying a bunch of extra SD cards, and it worked
out pretty well for him.

If you are wanting to go the Netbook route, You'll be hard pressed to
find one for much under $250 unless you get something refurbished or
used.  The sweet spot for them seems to be in the $300-$350 range, and
the bulk of them tend to fall there.  As an argument in favor of a
netbook, I have a Samsung NC10 Netbook myself, and I love it.  One of
the handiest and best purchases I've made.  I tend to take it with me
all the time, and I love having it available.

> Patrick

--
Christopher