The iPod Touch or A Netbook? Ultimate Productivity on the Go…

About 6 months ago, I received my brand new 32GB Ipod Touch. It completely revolutionized my life in terms of the productivity capabilities built into such a small device. More specifically, there wasn’t anything overwhelmingly new in terms of what the iPod (or iPhone) could deliver, but instead, it was the implementation, accessibility, and connectivity of it all. The things that could be found in the app store was an eye-opener for myself and scores of others out there, and it lead to the seeking out of further enhancement of my other devices.

Fast forward and I’m now clearly looking for more. There are still a number of limitations of the iPod Touch that are capping my mobile productivity potential. Attempts have been made to fill this gap with the Blackberry (see here – link to Blackberry as laptop replacement) but it hasn’t been overly successful to date. With that in mind, I recently purchased my first netbook: An Acer Aspire One (AAO150) 8.9″ Intel Atom based netbook.

Aspire One AAO150

Acer Aspire One

The netbook uses a traditional 160GB harddrive and has the now standard 1GB of RAM, USB ports, VGA output and an upgraded 6-cell battery (the thing lasts for 5 1/2 hours based on early tests!). It comes with a pre-installed version of XP and I’ve added a USB boot disk for xPud, a stripped down linux OS for quick access to internet and a few basics on the go. There’s not much more to get into here as, aside from the diminuitive size, it essentially resembles a typical laptop in terms of use and functionality. Oh but the size is phenomenal! Easy to carry, the psychology of using this is much different from your standard 14″ – 17″ laptop as there’s a convenience in size and weight that brings it closer to the appeal of the smartphone than a computer. With that said, it got me thinking about the similarities and differences between this and the Touch, and had me asking whether or not the benefits make it worthwhile adding yet another device into the rotation.

The Comparison

Size: Clearly, the Touch wins out based on it being fully pocketable. There’s also no additional action required to get it to use versus having to pop open the screen on the netbook. This does limit usage in certain situations like on a crowded subway, standing and waiting at a bus stop and so on. Nothing new here. As for the netbook, the 8.9″ screen takes some getting used to, and some of you may prefer the 800 x 600 resolution over the higher 1024 x 600 standard to make the font size bigger.

Keyboard: The keyboard will be another thing to consider. I tested out the Asus Eee PC 900HA and compared to that one, this keyboard is large and spacious. However, you’ll still have to make an adjustment when coming from a regular sized on larger laptops and stand alone keyboards. The biggest issues I’ve been having so far are with the peripheral keys like the shorter SHIFT key and the more narrow ENTER key. Of course, there are far bigger fish to fry when comparing to the iPod. There’s actually no comparison as I’m fairly error-prone with it even in landscape mode. On top of that, running music in the background will slow things down enough that a tiny lag is created and can cause keys to be missed. I definitely have to run all text through a spell check before making it final. Even with a hard keyboard like the one found on the HTC Touch Pro, it’s a different action with the thumb presses. It’s just not as efficient no matter how nice the keypad is. One day we’ll test this theory against the Blackberry Bold, which is said to have one of the best keypads out there.

Function: Wow, this is slowly becoming a comparison of the obvious, but the netbook wins out for it’s fully functioning Windows XP OS. You can do anything with it – photo-editing, office documents, torrents if you were so inclined, etc. This is a significant area of weakness with the Touch. It can do all of these things, but with severe limitations. Partly due to device memory, and partly due to ergonomics. So what are the specific processes that can’t be substituted effectively?

1. Text editing. I’m about to download Documents to Go for the Touch, but in reviews that I have read so far, there are some memory lags that make the application slow. This will change with the new supped up iPhone 3GS, but at the moment, is a main concern. Your thoughts are about flow, and if there’s a break to that, you won’t be nearly as effective. Conversely, I’m just thinking typing right now on the netbook, and haven’t felt limited by the technology. Instead, things are as it should be, with the biggest restriction being the formulation of thought to paper.
2. Evernote. Yes, the Ipod Touch evernote application is the absolute best one out there, but it suffers from the same issues with text editing above, and also flexibility that the desktop app allows for. I use this for everything, including blog drafts and so am served well by having the best tool out there.
3. Web Browsing. As we wait for embedded flash for the Touch, the browsing experiencing will still always be limited. The text can be hard to read on the small screen and the wifi has actually throttled down with the new 3.0 OS. I can’t tell you how annoying that spinning load icon is – everything just takes longer. Again, will the 3GS be better? Full control of the wireless card power makes the connection with the netbook absolutely brilliant. No complaints with browsing either, as I use Firefox and F11 to give me full screen viewing on the 8.9″ screen. I’m sure this will be subjective to others, so you should try it instore first to see if it’s tolerable for you.
4. File Storage. Not talking about internally, but the ability to move files in and out of the device and even use a USB thumb drive for backup and making things portable. The iPod of course connects to iTunes and can be backed up there, and application such as Air Sharing and others can help you set it up for file transfers. But nothing beats the ease of use of having standard USB ports, of which there are 3 on this particular netbook. It also has a storage expansion slot for using an SD card as a separate solid state drive.
5. Multi-tasking. Can’t do it properly on the Touch. ‘Nuff said.

Netbook and iPod Touch...on the kitchen counter...

Conclusion

As I wrap this up, I’m noticing a minor twinge in my left index finger near the knuckle. I would suspect it’s my hand getting used to the smaller sized keyboard. It’s definitely not perfect, but a reasonable compromise between size and function, and puts it ahead of the iPod Touch as the ultimate productivity travel companion. A couple more iterations of the iPhone/Touch and we could have a proper battle on our hands, but that won’t happen unless we get: 1) bluetooth or wired external keyboard expansion, 2) more memory (yes, probably even more than what’s on the 3GS), and further enhancements to the OS. So basically, until Apple makes a “Transformer” version of their iPod, there will always be room for a netbook in your gadget bag.

I would be interested to hear your thoughts – maybe a differing opinion – as I’m sure this is a topic of conversation of a lot of interest for people right now (if you don’t believe me, google it…).

PSp

The Blackberry As A Laptop Replacement?

The other day, I posted about using file manager pro to handle email attachments on my blackberry. I also alluded to the fact that the need for this application came from my having forgotten my laptop at home for the first time in 2 years. It got me thinking, however, about how to manage entire days with only my blackberry in tow. So here’s the master list of what I would consider essential applications to best mimic the activities conducted throughout the day on my laptop:

1. Documents to Go: second only to emails, I spend a good part of my day creating and reviewing presentations, balancing budgets on a spreadsheet, and keying up agendas for meetings I am running. Now it’s difficult to manage the advanced functions of MS Office like excel pivot tables and the vast array of presentation formatting, but the basics are manageable in a pinch.

2. File Manager Pro: like I mentioned in my previous post, you will definitely need a way to manage your files if you want to use your berry like a laptop. Organizing your attachments and being able to unzip files you get from your colleagues is a deal maker.

3. Opera Mini: wikipedia is your friend. So is dictionary.com and about a dozen other reference sites (industry-specific or non). Back in 1999, I remember the organization I worked for was in the midst of a major initiative to set up a knowledge web. Well guess what? That knowledge web is the world wide web. I don’t care what you’re looking for: 9 times out of 10 you can’t beat the web for information. We are all just information traders these days.

So what’s missing?

1. Visio. I haven’t actually looked hard enough yet, but nothing has crossed my screen indicating that a handheld version of microsoft’s flow/mapping software exists at the moment. I use this often enough for it to be a problem if I intend to go more than a day or two without my laptop.

2. Printing. Ok, I noticed an application out there that’s supposed to allow you to print directly from your blackberry via Bluetooth, but that isn’t quite as useful if you don’t actually have your laptop to connect to the printer through. Nice idea for home use though.

3. Remote Desktop. This will allow you to get to your laptop if you are so fortunate as to have left it on and connected at home. Also closely related to this, there’s access to files on your corporate shared drive. I think this is built into BES 5.0, but I don’t know what my company is running (sorry – this is a relatively new Blackberry and I haven’t done my homework).

So why even try?

To be honest, I had a great day last week without my laptop. Every meeting I went to, I brought a pen and notebook. In between meetings, I got caught up on emails (on the blackberry, of course) and even spent some time getting caught up with my team in person, speaking to one another like proper human beings. It’s difficult to manage on a daily basis, but once in a while, it can be refreshing to go laptop free.

PSp

scu86tnh5i
Technorati Profile

Managing Files on your Blackberry – File Manager Pro

Let me start by announcing that I am officially retiring the Samsung Jack as my primary device. I was issued a Blackberry Curve 8330 by my company with full BES capabilities, which renders my Jack obsolete. This will require a separate post to discuss at length, but a segway was necessary to bring us to the reason for this particular post – what do you do when you forget to bring your laptop to work?

This is exactly what happened the other day – working from home in the morning, with my laptop plugged in and on the phone, I ran out of the house to catch the next train and brought with me absolutely nothing…except my blackberry. I managed the day ok due to the fact that i spend 96% of my time in meetings anyway, but there was one thing lacking in using the blackberry as a temporary laptop replacement: the ability to work with zip file attachments.

File Manager Pro

Here’s an excerpt from the developer’s website (www.terramobility.com):

**********

File Manager Pro

Version 1.1

Intuitively simple. Powerfully advanced.

Introducing the new file and Zip archive manager for BlackBerry. Now you can quickly and easily manage all the files and folders on your device.

• All standard operations on file and folders, including recursive copies, moves and deletes.

• Create, extract and append to Zip archives.

• Select and operate on multiple files and folders simultaneously.

• Modify file attributes and sort file lists by name, size, date or type.

• Favorites list for fast access to folders.

**********

This is a relatively new application for the Blackberry that allows you to manage your on-device files. To quote the developer’s description, this application offers advanced features like selecting multiple files, sorting files by date, type or size, and letting users make a Favorites list for fast access to frequently used folders. More importantly, it allows you to zip and unzip files which you can then edit or view in Documents to Go or other office application.

I tried this one out a while back on the Pearl when it was in beta; it worked as advertised but was a bit slow in it’s operation (probably the device, but worth mentioning just in case). Well, I’m happy to report that this application is blazing fast in it’s operation on the Curve. The field test went smoothly: moving and deleting files, and unziping attachments were executed without a hitch.

This isn’t much of a review, I know, but is meant to be more of the start of a running list of software that will help make your blackberry a suitable understudy to your computer or laptop.

Note: And in case you were wondering what the WinMo counterpart would be, there’s none better than Resco Explorer…