Netbooks Versus Laptops

I encountered the following article, felt that readers might find it to be timely and have re-published it (with permission) below. I myself have been considering whether the advantages of a Netbook might influence my next purchase, so I know there are others out there who probably feel the same way. Consider carefully, though, before you make that leap into new technology...

Netbooks Versus Laptops - What You Need to Know Before You Buy, Pros and Cons

Author: Christophe Catesson

Netbooks - What you need to know before you buy Comparing laptops and notebooks, pros and cons

Are the days of the Laptop numbered?

As the world becomes a smaller place, the Internet grows ever larger and more resourceful. Today, we cannot survive without the Internet at our disposal for a very long time. Hence, vast arrays of handheld solutions which promise Internet access are available. While all of them have their uses, Internet on handheld devices is hardly as rich and resourceful as that on a full-fledged PC. Mobile browsers come with limited support, especially for features like embedded video and animation, thus leaving your web experience half-baked. In today's age of extensive mobility, even the much vaulted laptop looks like a lumbering giant. The solution? Enter the Netbook world.

As of today, Netbooks are little more than ultraportable laptops. As the name suggests, it is best suited for surfing the net on the go along with other lightweight allied tasks. It is not fundamentally designed to be a multimedia center or an office workstation and most Netbooks reflect that.

Screen size for Netbooks is generally 8-9 inches. Screen resolution varies according to make and model and is available up to a respectable 1024x600. While the smaller form factor has definite portability advantages, the smaller keyboard and touchpad area can be a real pain for people with large hands. Connectivity in Netbooks is paramount and hence it generally comes with a whole array of USB connectors, an Ethernet connection and the latest available wireless technology. External display devices maybe supported through DVI/S-Video. Optical drives are optionally available.

Under the hood, the processor for Netbooks needs to be a frugal drinker of electricity. As of today, three different platforms are available. The reliable but ageing VIA C7D (HP 2133 miniNote), the popular Intel Atom processor, and the mixed-bag options offered by AMD (Sempron 2100+, Turion64 or the puny Geode LX800). Memory typically comes in the 512MB-2GB range. Storage may be in the form of a SSD (solid state drive) or a simple hard drive. While SSD's are faster, compact and consume less power, they also add a lot to the price tag of Netbooks. As a compromise, some vendors ship their units with a limited capacity (2-4 GB) flash memory which usually contains the operating system, and a standard hard drive for storage.

In terms of software on your Netbook, you can go for Windows XP or Linux. Linux distributions like Ubuntu 8.10 are an excellent choice as they work very well out of the box. Windows Vista performance is generally poor as they require more power.

A checklist while getting Netbooks can be as follows:-

• Power efficiency- The Atom offers the best bet, but the 945 chipset it ships with is old. The newer US15 chipset is expected to be out soon. Keep a lookout
• Memory- 512MB maybe adequate but you are better off with 1GB+
• Video - Look out for the upcoming Ion(Atom+ GeForce 9400) platform for NVidia with HD Playback capabilities
• Hard Drive -SSD's offer performance and efficiency at higher prices
• Price- can be bought within $500 in general

Most major brands like Dell, HP, Compaq and Acer have Netbooks in their lineup. The ASUS Eee Pc, the first one launched, is also a decent choice. What you have to decide is whether you actually need a Netbook. While it offers portability, a rich web experience and lightweight computing capabilities, it is not really a replacement for a laptop or a phone and in general have failed to find a market niche till date.

About the Author:
For more similar articles, visit http://www.bestlaptopsreviews.com, and read about Laptop and notebook reviews and ratings, most popular laptops , industry news, forums.

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com - Netbooks Versus Laptops - What You Need to Know Before You Buy, Pros and Cons

Article: The Hazards of Facebook

I've told you before about the usefulness of the social networking phenomena called Facebook. I still believe that it is a useful tool and serves to give people more of a sense of connectedness. However, there are hazards you need to be aware of when using this software.

First, being connected is good, but master the art of using security and privacy settings. Another post will go into more detail about the mechanics of this, but the understanding the reasons for doing so are important. If you have been using Facebook for long you will know that your list of 'friends' can grow quite long. One associate of mine has over 400 'friends'. These can be immediate family, close relatives, work associates, church people and people who know people whom you know (AKA strangers!). You do not necessarily want everyone in each of these groups knowing everything about your life. Learn how to handle the privacy settings to limit access to your information.

Second, when dealing with church people (and sometimes family, too) you might find out a lot about other people's lives. Sometimes you don't want to know that much. Recently I have been dealing with some people who I found were leading double lives, one as pious church-goers, and the second as full-on party people with an offensive sense of humor. Some of the things they were getting into made it onto my 'Wall', which caused questions about the company I was keeping. When confronted about it, they grew hostile. Sometimes it is better to distance yourself from such people.

In another instance I joined a legitimate group on Facebook dealing with ministry. However, the kind of ministry this group was involved in offended the sensibilities of someone else I knew. I was told I was "obviously backsliding" because no real Christian would be involved in such a ministry.

Third, Facebook and other social networking sites can take up large amounts of time better spent in other activities. They can suck up your day and leave you wondering what you did. Limit your time to something reasonable and stick to it.

The lesson here is that social networking sites are tools. Like any tool they can be used for good or ill. Be aware of the pitfalls and avoid them as best you can.

.

Article: Beware the Banner!

My wife said I had to write this, and she is (of course) correct!

We as pastors and techies in the church are always trying to get things for cheap or free. There is nothing wrong with that and it is a form of good stewardship. Why pay for it if someone is giving it away? Well, the answer for that question is, "There is no such thing as a free lunch". Simply put, there is always a cost. Someone is always trying to entice you to do something and get money from you, one way or another even if it is not immediately obvious. In the world of the Web, this often translates to advertising dollars.

"Pay-per-click" is one such scheme. Every time you see an ad on the web and click on it, someone makes a quick half-penny or so. Add up all those fractions of a penny, and someone just made a nice paycheck. Not so bad, right? Just keep an eye on 'em!

In our first church I set up our website with a free service provider. The site looked good and was a good place to send people who wanted to know more. The site started with an 'enhanced' account with no banner ads for 3 months, which I promptly forgot about. After the three months, with no payments, it reverted to the 'free, banner-supported' format. One day I got a call from one of our church members who went on the website and wanted to know why we were running banners for casinos and gambling! I have heard even worse stories, from people who ended up running a website with banner ads for porn sites. Not the kind of image you want to portray.

Check your free website provider and see how they determine what banner ads might be run on your site. It might be worth the $3 a month to buy the 'banner-free' option.

Just a word to the wise....


.

Article: Using "Groups" software effectively

Groups? Groups! What is a Group, anyway, and why should I use one?

Simply speaking, a Group is an online software product that allows people with a common interest to communicate and coordinate activities of one kind or another. What kind of activities? Anything from disease management (colitis and crohns at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/colitiscrohns/), freecycling (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Franklin_County_Freecycle/), sports (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Red_Sox_Chat) or church events (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/smallchurches/). You'll notice that each of the groups I've highlighted here comes from the Yahoo!Groups site. There are others, notably Google, but this is the one I choose most often to use.

The benefits to the group using this software is quite extensive. Here are some of the features that you can utilize.

• Calendar function with email reminders
• Archived discussion threads
• Ability to post photo albums
• Email distribution list management (mail one note to the site, which then distributes it to all members)
• Simple flat file database capability...maintain address books, etc.
• Ability to store useful files and documents
• Generate polls and surveys

Sound good? So what can you realistically use this for in your church? There are dozens of ways a church can use this kind of software, from connecting with other denominational churches in your area to connecting youth group members to scheduling Bible Quiz tournaments to facilitating communication on boards and committees. An easy project with immediate benefits is to start an email prayer chain. Within a matter of minutes you can construct the basics needed and invite your congregants who have email to join.

Another easy project would be to use the email distribution capability to send out eNewsletters for your church members with email. The obvious limitation here is that anyone participating MUST have an email address. So even though you might send out newsletters via a Group, you'll probably still send some out in paper format.

A missions trip could connect all the participants with deadlines noted on the calendar and reminders sent out, along with needed paperwork stored on the Yahoo server. That way no one would lose the information needed and be hunting for it at the last minute. A centralized repository would eliminate all of that.

How much does it cost? (I can hear you asking this one.) Obviously, most churches can't afford alot of extra outlay. The good news is that many of these providers cover their costs through on-site banner ads, so there is no cost to the user. All you have to do to be able to use Yahoo!Groups is to sign up for a Yahoo account. This opens up the whole suite of software to you. The people who join your group do NOT have to have a Yahoo ID, just a valid email address.

So what are you waiting for? Give it a try!

.

Article: The Virtual Office

“Virtual Office”? What’s that? A new game or maybe a competing product for Microsoft’s Office? No, but it is a technology concept many pastors are becoming more familiar with.

It used to be that a pastor had an office at the church and was able to arrange appointments and meetings by having people drop in. Nowadays, especially with the prevalence of the bivocational pastor and shared spaces, pastors find that they must be able to work in some unusual locations. Perhaps they are meeting with someone at the local McDonalds, or in StarBucks. Maybe there is a public library close at hand or even a rest stop along a highway. So they have to carry their offices around with them, so to speak.

The first time I really remember encountering this concept was in the late 1990’s at a conference in New Hampshire. The guest speaker was Rev. Ralph Moore, of Hope Chapel in Hawaii, a prominent authority in Churchplanting. I had the privilege of sitting with him at lunch and he explained to us that he was never absent from his pulpit on Sunday, but that he used a PDA to write his sermons while on the road. He would email the completed text to his secretary in Hawaii, who would print it out for him, When he arrived back in his office a the end of the week it was sitting on his desk waiting for him.

What does it take to do ministry today? What tools do you need? How much space does it take up and how difficult is it to set up and take down? In my situation I have an old AST soft-sided laptop case which has the following items in it.

My PDA, a Palm Tungsten. The Infrared Wireless Keyboard for the PDA. Extra AA batteries and device chargers. My cell phone and Bluetooth earphone . A hymnal and my Bible. A notepad, business cards, pencils and a pen. A small selection of cards, envelopes and stamps. There you have it. An office which weighs under 5 pounds, fits in a small laptop case, is quick to set up and quick to take down.

The typical tools a pastor might use are growing smaller and more convenient. This has ‘saved my bacon’ more than once. On one particular occasion I was bringing our teens on a Saturday to a Bible Quizzing Tournament about 45 minutes away, and was intending to swing by home and work on finalizing arrangements for Sunday, then coming back to pick them up. Upon reaching our destination we literally had a blizzard, and I knew that my plans were not going to work. I had my virtual office with me and all my files loaded, so I found a quiet corner and got to work. By the time our tournament was done, all my work was completed and I just had to go home and print off a few documents.

Some of the newer tools are becoming even more useful and more powerful. Netbooks are increasing in popularity (more on these later), allowing easy connection to the internet through WiFi, a built-in keyboard and more laptop-like power and speed. Laptops themselves are smaller and more powerful. All-in-one handheld devices like the Blackberry are evolving into more useful platforms. WiFi hotspots are, in some areas, almost universally available to allow easy connections.

Do you have a ‘virtual office’? What do you see as being necessary to life on the road?

Review: "www.Handheldministry.org"

Title: "www.Handheldministry.org"
Format: Website
Website: http://www.handheldministry.org/index.html

Site offering tips, tricks and ideas for using a handheld device in ministry.

PROS
In-depth reviews for what is available.
Good tips, tricks and ideas.


CONS
Website appears to be badly out of date. Most information is rather old.

SUMMARY
I would give this one an 5.0 out of 10.0. There are alot of great tips and ideas here which are applicable despite the age of the material. However, the site is out of date and no new reviews appear to be forthcoming. Visit this site, glean what you can from it and move on.


.

Review: "Bible Reader" for PalmOS

Title: "Bible Reader"
Author: AsaiSoft Limited
Format; Electronic download
Website: http://www.AsaiSoft.com

PDA Bible version for PalmOS

PROS

Download is free
Easy to use
Various commentaries and translations are available

CONS

Hard to find; company website has disappeared.


SUMMARY
I would give this one an 8.5 out of 10.0. As one person said, just having the capability of carrying your Bible on an SD card or in active memory on a PDA is almost worth the cost of the PDA! This is an excellent Bible program, the main disadvantage is that it is now a hard-to-find commodity.


.