Computing On the Go

[ptek]

I'm considering in buying a netbook, not too expensive, just for maximize my free time and do some computing while taking the bus/any other public transportation in my way to home, or even blogging.

Ubuntu or other linux distribution seems my favorite choice, although only recently I started using it. Among the various IDEs I tend to prefer Eclipse.

I'm wondering if I will have problems with the limited resolution of the display of most netbooks. Eclipse seems to like generous resolutions and Ubuntu itself uses large UI elements.
Is it possible to create some sort of minimalistic theme for Ubuntu or customize it so that using Eclipse would be viable on most netbook displays?

[ptek]

Thank you Franko. I'll ask for thread move then.
------
(Thanks also to the moderator who nicely moved it)

[ptek]

There are plenty of options when it comes to lightweight minimalistic window managers on Linux. You might want to look at Xfce (try out Xubuntu for example). PuppyLinux and Damn Small Linux are other (very) lightweight distros.

Yep I already knew Xfce some long years ago. It is surely lighter on resources than the most popular window managers but I'm concerned about maximizing the display space. I guess it's a matter of experiment with it, even before buying a netbook. On the other hand, 10 inches displays are not a good choice for small widgets; I guess it's a matter of balancing what I want and what will I get.

[ptek]

Options like XFCE work too. I've been using openbox a lot lately and love it, though its a bit more old school

Didn't knew about openbox. I'll check it ASAP.

[ptek]

Personally I think it's way cheaper and better to get a used notebook, max ram, get a new battery @ ebay and put a good SSD. I would NEVER EVER get an ATOM based computer. ATOM sucks really hard!!!!

I would prefer a netbook for its smaller size. I don't pretend to do extensive development, only small projects, so I guess performance will not be a big issue.

Why do you say Atom sucks? Are you refering to performance or any other reason?

[ptek]

Netbooks are for poofs.  Get yourself a laptop with a full keyboard and an 18" screen and a backpack and then take it out on the bus while elbowing people in the head and face just to post "I just got on a bus" on Facebook.

That's what a real man would do.

Don't forget to take a car power adaper on a 50' cable and plug it into the bus driver's cigarette lighter socket and then trail in down the walkway so that 70 year old ladies trip over it and break a hip.

LOL. And may I add, do not use an IDE. Use a plain text editor

[ptek]

I think you'll find using eclipse on a netbook with it's tiny screen, gimped keyboard, minuscule trackpad and wimpy atom cpu to be a crappy and suboptimal experience. There are truckloads of full fledged mini laptops that would be way more suitable for such purposes that compete with netbooks on price. I'd look there first.

You might be right. I need something small both on size and weight. I will look first to mini laptops as long the price is similar.

[ptek]

The new Fedora has had a nice update. Gnome 3 looks nice on a small screen and seems to suit the size well in terms of use of the space. Gnome 3 seems rather user friendly and has some nice inbuilt features. It certainly feels nice for a newcomer to Linux. The only issue I had was with some of the drivers to do with the graphics card. Other than that it seemed nice.

Thanks for the hint on Gnome 3 and Fedora. So it runs well on your brother's netbook? Just for getting an idea of the specs involved, what is the machine?

[ptek]

Hello again,

Although at the end buying a mini-notebook was more appealing to me than a netbook I had trouble in finding any at a good price considering what I wanted to spend, so I took the risk and went for a cheaper netbook. I got a Asus Eee 1015PEM and I'm quite satisfied with it.

I should say that I only got relieved after installing Ubuntu on it. Windows 7 Starter is simply too much for the machine and it crawls miserably. Ubuntu feels about 5x-8x faster and surpriseling enough the major developing tools runs pretty fast (even Elipse!). For sure, it's even a lot more faster than running ubuntu on a virtual machine at my fast core duo 2.40Ghz Toshiba A10.

I guess it's a viable option for whom want something small sized and able to do more than surfing the web. The keyboard is pretty nice and the touch pad surface feels comfortable. My only complain is still the weight but then event the more expensive alternatives weights the same and only tablets are lighter.

It doen't run AROS, still :S