I have had about ten laptops over the years. My first one, if you could call it a laptop, was an Atari Portfolio (1992) which I still have and it still works. I've only bought three laptops new and the rest have been given to me as retired machines by work, friends, and/or family. Here are a few things you need to know before you read this review:

• I'm a long time Linux user
• I am NOT a hardcore 3D gamer
• I don't use any high end vertical apps like CAD or video editing
• I'm a technical user who doesn't mind a certain amount of hacking

What is a Netbook?

According to the wikipedia page:

A netbook is a small portable laptop computer designed for wireless communication and access to the Internet... primarily designed for web browsing and e-mailing, netbooks rely heavily on the Internet for remote access to web-based applications and are targeted increasingly at cloud computing users who require a less powerful client computer. Netbooks typically run either Windows XP or Linux operating systems rather than more resource-intensive operating systems like Windows Vista. The devices range in size from below 5 inches to over 13, typically weigh 2 to 3 pounds (~1 kg) and are often significantly cheaper than general purpose laptops

Netbooks have been out for a couple of years now and the Asus Eee PC 700 series with a 900MHz Intel Celeron M processor underclocked to 630MHz is generally perceived to be what started the trend with inspiration from the OLPC Project. The current crop of netbooks (circa June 2009), regardless of the manufacturer, are all very similar:

• 1.6 GHz Intel Atom processor
• 1GB of RAM
• 10.1 inch screen with 1024x600 resolution
• 160 GB hard disk
• Windows XP

Linux used to ship on most netbooks especially those with smaller SSD (Solid State Drive) storage but it seems that the volume sellers all have hard disks and Windows XP pre-installed. This is mostly due to significant price breaks Microsoft has given netbook makers on Windows XP and the market seeming to move toward traditional hard drives for their increased storage capacity over SSD storage.

Introduction

Another year another Linuxfest Northwest. 2009 was the 10th anniversary and the organizers went out of their way to make the event even more special this year. This was my third year in attendance and my second year as a presenter. If you aren't familiar with LFNW, let me provide a brief overview that I'll mostly steal from the report from last year.

LFNW is an annual free, two-day event held at Bellingham Technical College in Bellingham, Washington on the last weekend in April. It has become a hub of Linux activity in the Northwest with several of the Washington area Linux Users Groups supporting it. Visitors seem to come from all over the country especially those places that don't have a Linux conference anywhere near them.

Larry Cafiero gave a presentation entitled, "Fedora First: An Introduction" at the Linuxfest Northwest 2009 conference in Bellingham, WA.

Unfortunately he had some trouble with the laptop to projector hookup and as a result his he doesn't display his slides in the video.

To view the video, click on the full story or the thumbnail image on the right.

Clint Savage gave a presentation entitled, "Fedora Remix" at the Linuxfest Northwest 2009 conference in Bellingham, WA. A PDF of his slides has been added as an attachment.

To view the video, click on the full story or the thumbnail image on the right.

Wayne Tedder (aka Death Guppy) gave a presentation entitled, "3D Open Source Game Art Primer Using Blender" at the Linuxfest Northwest 2009 conference in Bellingham, WA.

To view the video, click on the full story or the thumbnail image on the right.

Jesse Keating gave a presentation entitled, "Fedora 11 Sneak Peek" at the Linuxfest Northwest 2009 conference in Bellingham, WA. A PDF of his slides has been added as an attachment.

To view the video, click on the full story or the thumbnail image on the right.

Bryan Lunduke from Jupiter Broadcasting gave a presentation entitled, "Why Desktop Linux sucks and what can be done to fix it" at the Linuxfest Northwest 2009 conference in Bellingham, WA. A PDF of his slides has been added as an attachment.

To view the video, click on the full story or the thumbnail image on the right.

Andrew Niemantsverdriet from Rocky Mountain College gave a presentation entitled, "Proxmox to Virtualize Infrastructure" at Linuxfest Northwest 2009 in Bellingham, WA. A PDF of his slides has been added as an attachment.

To view the video, click on the full story or the thumbnail image on the right.

Jakob Perry from Asemblon, Inc. gave a presentation entitled, "SoGO / Postfix / LDAP / Cyrus / Maia: A real and free Exchange killer" at the Linuxfest Northwest 2009 conference in Bellingham, WA.

To view the video, click on the full story or the thumbnail image on the right.

Tom Eastep gave a presentation entitled, "Getting Started with IPv6" at the Linuxfest Northwest 2009 conference in Bellingham, WA. Unfortunately my video camera battery died with about 10 minutes left of his presentation... so the last 10 minutes are missing. Sorry.

To view the video, click on the full story or the thumbnail image on the right.