<p>No, I didn’t say * trekkies*;)</p>
<p>When looking up software that would allow me to turn voice into text, I ran into info about these small laptops
<a href=“http://eeepc.asus.com/[/url]”>http://eeepc.asus.com/</a>
which sound great.
I am looking for something that is very portable- I use Mac OS & have a macbookpro ( not the newest) but it is a little more than I want to haul around every day.</p>
<p>Because of arthritis/dyslexia,( my handwriting is so bad- I can’t read it the next day- arthritis gives me an excuse!) I would rather type notes than write by hand & while I do have a PDA & am getting a portable keyboard for it, something with a tiny bit larger screen would be nice.
( & I would rather run the Mac OS, but not spend thousands if I don’t have to)
and then I saw this
[url=<a href=“http://eeemac.blogspot.com/2009/01/light-up-apple-logo-mod-for-eee-901.html]eee”>http://eeemac.blogspot.com/2009/01/light-up-apple-logo-mod-for-eee-901.html]eee</a> Mac journey: Light up apple logo mod for the EEE 901<a href=“I%20just%20happen%20to%20have%20one%20or%20two%20clamshell%20laptops%20lying%20around%20someplace”>/url</a>
I love how crafty doesn’t just mean decoupaging your dining room table.</p>
<p>Anyone use one of these computers?</p>
<p>I have not heard good things about voice recognition software, unfortunately. While I am not familiar with the exact system you mentioned, I have a friend who has tried just about everything and has not been satisfied. Perhaps others have had a better experience. My sister looked into this for our elderly mother, and was disappointed in what she learned.</p>
<p>For my birthday this year, I got the HP net book from Costco. </p>
<p>Something along these lines. </p>
<p>[HP®</a> Official Store — Buy an HP Mini 1000 XP edition series notebook PC from HP](<a href=“http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/computer_can_series.do?storeName=computer_store&category=notebooks&a1=Category&v1=Mini&series_name=mini1000xp_series]HP®”>http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/computer_can_series.do?storeName=computer_store&category=notebooks&a1=Category&v1=Mini&series_name=mini1000xp_series)</p>
<p>I love it. One of the “problems” with these tiny computers is that the keys on the keyboard can be chiclet size. Not all people are comfortable with it. One of the selling points of the HP is that the size of the keys is more like a normal laptop.</p>
<p>I suppose it would fit into my purse, if I got a shoulder bag. It doesn’t have a CD player, it doesn’t come with Office. It doesn’t have gobs of storage space. Its processor isn’t lightning fast. You could use the same money and get a lot better desktop, but the netbook is cute and portable–small, but not too small.</p>
<p>I use it to go on the internet while my D or H ties up the computer downstairs. We don’t have a wireless router (need to do that sometime soon), but my little netbook seems to be able to pick up the neighbor’s signal just fine.</p>
<p>I’d check out the trade off between size and functionality for you.</p>
<p>Several of my friends, and my boyfriend, have bought EEEs. Mostly I have seen my boyfriend’s reactions.</p>
<p>He <em>really</em> hates the operating system that comes with it. I don’t know what is up with the thing, but it crashes constantly. I think he’s planning to install Ubuntu on it or something. He’s a bit disconcerted by how small the screen is, since he’s not used to the images that he’s viewing on his computer being so small, but it’s not a major problem. He got one of the larger models (which are still tiny!) because the keys on the smaller ones can be hard to use, <em>especially</em> for anyone with hand/wrist problems, and seems to be okay with the size.</p>
<p>One of his roommates also bought one. She accidentally dropped it down the stairs and it was absolutely fine, no damage at all, which speaks pretty well to the thing’s durability. ;)</p>
<p>I don’t know anything about the voice recognition software, but voice recognition software is never exactly perfect.</p>
<p>There was a review in the WSJ a month or so ago about the netbooks. I think they sound good. You do need to watch what operating system you get, and don’t expect the same performance as a larger laptop. H (a techie) thinks there are good ones out there.</p>
<p>The HP one that I have has Windows XP and doesn’t seem to crash.</p>
<p>Well, actually I guess the eee pc, would be for D, when she goes overseas ( she apparently is trying to hit up all the continents before she turns 21, so far she has been on two besides north america and she is barely 18), so she can still send emails, but wouldn’t have to haul her expensive and heavy laptop around.</p>
<p>I am looking for a decent digital voice recorder for myself- one that plays well with Macs, that I can use to take notes in the field & record lectures. That is probably my priority over voice recognition software- although that would be nice.</p>
<p>My prof just got Dragon software, which I hadn’t heard of, but sounds like it has a good reputation- they make macspeech for macs, but don’t make the product that you can use on your ipod anymore.
( he has a macbook pro for his personal computer- but the school just has PCs in the lab)
If I could find a small microphone that worked with ipod- that would be perfect.
( and then I could continue on my quest for a decent/affordable set of headphones- why do ipods even come with those things?)</p>
<p>Im also dying to try Ubuntu, I stayed at the same hotel where they were having a conference last year- and thought at first that they were one of those bands like Ladysmith Black Mamzambo 
</p>
<p>^^EK, your music tastes are so eclectic!</p>
<p>^^EK, your music tastes are so eclectic!</p>
<p>Well- the Ubuntu that Jessiehl was talking about I don’t think play the djembe. Although they were both in Portland.
[Ubuntu</a> Drummers-Home](<a href=“http://ubuntu-drummers.com/]Ubuntu”>http://ubuntu-drummers.com/)
Apparently my initial impression wasn’t far off- Ubuntu is a Zulu word.</p>
<p>But the conference I crashed was for open-source software developers.
[Ubuntu</a> - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubuntu]Ubuntu”>Ubuntu - Wikipedia)
The next anticipated update is expected in April & will be called Jaunty Jackalope
;)</p>