When I saw the Eee PC, I wanted a laptop again. With it’s small size and wifi capability, these “netbooks” were my idea of what mobile computing should be. Even now, I think I would only consider a “larger than netbook” computer if it were taking the place of a desktop. The surf was my first first Linux device, and it served 95% of my computing needs; but in the end, I really needed a Windows device that I could install my test generators on.
Monthly Archives: May 2011
My Gadget History #8 Asus Eee PC Surf 4G
My Gadget History #7 Palm TX
The most incredible PDA I ever owned was the Palm TX. It looked and felt great. It had wifi and an SD card slot. I puchased the TX and a wireless keyboard directly from Palm days before the company discontinued selling the device. I had researched the TX enough to know it had an achilles heel-the touch screen. I liked to use Grafitti to input my info, but the screen on this device was so crumby that I chose to use the on-screen keyboard. Resistive touch…RIP.
My Gadget History #6 Sharp ZR-5800 Zaurus
This should have been listed before my first smartphone.
When I had all the major Palm software websites memorized, and had downloaded all the programs that I had ever wanted, I started checking out Ebay for my next gadget. I went “old school” and inexpensive with my next purchase, the Zaurus, which I got on Ebay for $30. I loved having a keyboard, and was actually able to touch type on it. The Zaurus used 2 AA batteries, and since my digital camera also used AAs, I invested in some rechargable batteries and a charger.
Like the Palm devices, the Zaurus had to be synced with a PC regularly (if the batteries died before a sync, new info was lost).
I loved the Zaurus, the construction felt solid and it had all the features I wanted. I used it for quite a while, but when flash memory became more common and affordable, it was time to start shopping for my next gadget.
