After having field stripped my laptop and unsuccessfully attempting to silence a probable bad bearing in my Fujitsu Lifebook, i ordered a replacement fan for around $60.
Mind you, the noise isn't horrible. It's a drone the varies in pitch as the fan revs up and down. It's most noticeable late at night, when i'm using my laptop to charge up some USB stuff. Still, it's annoying as hell, particularly when you're trying to sleep.
i also realized that the headphone jack recently broke meaning that i no longer have a left channel when i plug in. i have an old USB sound jack that can solve that problem, but again, it's annoying.
It's annoying because the laptop isn't yet two years old and it's already starting to crap out. i'll get a few years out of it still, no worries, but it's already in maintenance mode. Compare that with my desktop box that cost me less and which i've owned longer, and i'm starting to not exactly see the value of getting a high end box anymore. Heck, i'm not seeing the value of getting a middle end box like i've had in the past.
Consider that this past weekend, i bought a replacement system for my in-laws that was half the price of my last laptop, but had a battery and weight ratio that put mine to shame, was silent, and it was a low end box. i was seriously thinking about buying one of these for myself.
Mind you, i generally consider the laptop to be mobile me. i don't use it for anything particularly high end (well, except if i need to run some processor greedy windows app or game or something), but for the most part, i just use it to get online and bring up remote apps, usually while traveling. So, perhaps, a light, cheap-o 12" jobber is exactly what i need for wandering about. Something with a 6-8 hour battery would be rather nice rather than having to bring a bag full of cords to haul to any extended meeting. i just don't want to spend a helluva lot for a computer that's only really going to last for a year or two.
Perhaps that's the ultimate appeal about cheap-ass netbooks. It's not that they're crappy, they're just closer to disposable.
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DaveP2009-10-05 03:58:56I've been using 12" or 13" Mac laptops for years for many of those reasons. They're not quite as cheap, but the battery life has been respectable, and being the same size as a letter pad of paper means there's lot of things to carry them in that aren't necessarily "laptop bags." Plus, when traveling, size matters.
