artbegotti wrote:Seriously considering getting one, but I've still got a few concerns. First off, the keyboard, which is apparetly 89% of the normal size... I stopped by the one at Walmart and tried typing out a quick sentence or two, and it did feel a bit tight. Doable, but tight.
I find it eminently usable, but if you've actually typed on one and aren't so sure, -shrugs-. Can't help you there.
Second, I keep hearing that this is 7-able, but I'm a little confused over prices. Someone mentioned $30 earlier (or maybe that was just for RAM), but checking the Microsoft website says $120+. Am I missing some less expensive loophole?
If you are a college student, Microsoft will sell you an upgrade version of Windows 7 Home for $30. (And some colleges may even be able to hook you up for less. I know mine used to have all the Microsoft operating systems available free to computer program students.)If not, it's $120.
Third, the lack of Office software concerns me a bit. I apologize for the somewhat naive question, but if I can dig up my '07 installation disks, would I be able to install it on this as well, or since the serial number was already used, will it not work?
It does come with a trial version of Office '07 Home and Student edition, as well as Microsoft Works. You might be able to use your serial to activate it, I have no idea, never having owned Office. You could also check out OpenOffice, which is free, mostly compatible, and can be downloaded straight onto the netbook. I almost never need office software at home, so that's what I'd use for the rare occasion I do.
Fourth, I just realized while typing the above, I'd probably have to do do the installation from a flash drive. There are tutorials online for that, right?
If you just want to install something from disk every now and then, you can copy the installation files to a flash drive and install that way, yes. I know there are tutorials for doing that with Windows (although Microsoft now has a tool to automatically load Windows 7 setup onto a flash drive from an ISO file). Might be ones for Office.
If you're going to be doing a lot of installing or want to be able to do things like play DVDs, you might just want to invest in a USB DVD drive.