19 Jul – My old Dell laptop has been a thorn in my side for months on end. It is now six and a half years old and equipped with a crappy processor.  I did not ask much of it. I expect to be able to browse the Internet, use Skype with video flawlessly, view pictures, and type documents. Occasionally I want to stream a short video. By the time I had had enough, Skype would no longer function for more than a couple of minutes at a time and my webcam was useless. Sean and I had resorted to using a popular communication software used by online gamers. All of this was a much greater source of stress and time drain, for both Sean and I, than I realized at the time.

In March I began hunting for a new laptop. I could have purchased one here from a respectable computer store for slightly more than I would have paid at home. I had two concerns: invoking the warranty should I have a problem and dealing with a Russian interface, permanently. I quickly ruled out this option.

As luck would have it, Sean’s mother and brother were planning to visit Kazakhstan in May. His mom very graciously agreed to bring me a new laptop.

The options

I spent hours online perusing the options offered by HP, Lenovo, and other companies. Sean was pushing for a Lenovo. I could not decide between a netbook and a notebook. Could I survive without an optical drive? How portable did I want this laptop to be, considering the Dell weighs in at around seven pounds? If I chose a netbook, would the small screen size be tough on my already poor eyesight? How did I feel about a 16:10 screen, or should I search for one with a traditional 16:9 screen? That extra vertical screen space could be critical for work.

The options were endless. I even made a spreadsheet listing my priorities and how the most appealing laptops fared. Sean helped me research processors. It was a grueling process.

In the end, with just a hint of reluctance, I chose one of the largest netbooks available, the HP Mini 311. Sean was shocked until I explained my thought process. I ultimately decided portability was extremely important and this one was an acceptable compromise on the screen size. I would live without an optical drive or buy an external if necessary. I read many, many positive online reviews of this netbook and was quite pleased with the configuration offered on this model, no customization needed.

The verdict

Thank you to Mrs. Reibert, I received my new Mini just over a month ago. Compared to the Dell it is a godsend. In its own right, it is just awesome. The smaller screen has taken some getting used to. Yet it is so light and versatile and performs nearly flawlessly. My only complaint (which I read about repeatedly in reviews of this netbook) is the track pad; it is so sensitive that it is difficult to type without bumping it with a wrist and causing the cursor to fly to another part of the document. A couple of days ago I mostly resolved that issue when I downloaded a program called TouchFreeze. I have had very few problems typing ever since.

Life is good! Skype (with video) works wonderfully, I can simultaneously stream AND watch online videos, the speakers are unexpectedly great, and watching movies is more pleasing than one could expect on a 11.6″ screen. I am very happy with my decision. Thank you again, Mrs. Reibert!!!

Ironically, about ten days ago Sean’s laptop (also a Dell and older than mine) nearly crashed. He finally discerned that one of his sticks of memory was bad–the far larger one at 512MB. (The other, original stick is only 128MB.) I had purchased a 512MB stick of memory for mine a few years ago. He popped it into his laptop and all was well once again.

Now my Dell is down to 128MB of memory. This is a problem. I had already decided to donate my old Dell to a small town library where my friend Meriah works. They have no computer now and need it to perform only basic functions such as word processing. She has a local friend who works on computers and he said he could fix it up for her. Soon the old Dell will be fully functioning again, to the best of its ability, and housed in a small Kazakhstani library.

Here is another ironic tidbit. As I already mentioned, Sean was quite surprised I decided to purchase a netbook. While he was troubleshooting his own problems last week, we were researching new laptops for him. It took only a couple of hours one evening for him to pick out a 12″ Eee PC that he may purchase while he is in the States in December. This, after he commented repeatedly on my small screen!