Sylvania G Netbook
Alright, by now you might be noticing that I love ultra-mobile laptops and it's true. I love the idea of being able to carry a laptop in the glovebox of my car or like my Asus EEE, can be carried in my wife's purse if we're going somewhere that I might need it. I suppose I could carry a "man's bag", and carry it myself!
Anyway, I spotted the Sylvania G Netbook while out at a store the other day. Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought that Sylvania made lightbulbs?? How a company can go from making lightbulbs to computers is not known, but it appears that they pulled it off.
Much like the Asus EEE PC, the Sylvania G Netbook is a very small laptop that comes loaded with all the features that you would want to have to get you online. One thing about the Netbook vs. say the Asus 2gb Surf, which is what I have is that is comes with a little more power and options. For about $100 more than I paid for my Asus Surf, you get double the RAM (1GB) and a 30GB Hard Drive, vs. 2GB in the Surf. For me, storage capacity is not an issue because I carry a 2GB USB Disk and I just don't need storage space on a portable computer. I use my home computer as my "main" computer and store important files on it. The portable computer is more of a luxury for me and makes traveling easier.
I was glad to see that Sylvania did give it a little more power since sometimes I do find the Asus 2GB Surf struggling. The Sylvania Netbook comes with gOS, which is Linux which has been touched up by Google to add some great features. I am a big fan of Linux on a small computer in general because it works better on systems that are a little slower than mainstream laptops and offers much better value than Windows.
One disappointing thing about the Netbook is the screen size. Before I bought my Asus EEE, I didn't know much about it and just bought it. Unfortunately the screen width is only 800 , which means for many websites, I have to scroll sideways. This is only for some websites and not for all of them. It's not really a big deal, but I would prefer a computer that was 1024 wide. The Sylvania, at 7 inches wide is also 800.
From a value standpoint, for under $500 and with a 30GB Hard Drive and 1GB of RAM, I would say that the Sylvania G Netbook is a winner. Here's a review from CNET that you might enjoy.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXerXjWQ-y4