To support my restless wandering about and to ensure I actually have a respectable showing this Nov., my fiancee has offered to buy me a netbook. I have only a Linux desktop at present, and both that and my work computer have split ergonomical keyboards. I'd love a netbook in the abstract, but don't want her to waste her money if it doesn't solve a specific need of mine.
I'm aware of someone having done theirs on a Blackberry previously. Has anyone done the majority of their novel on a netbook and not required surgery after? Did the portability outweigh the wrist fatigue?
Thanks in advance!
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36,289 / 50,000
Nov 1, 2009 - 14 02
I recently bought myself a cute little black netbook for my writing/noveling adventures, and although I have not completed an entire novel on it yet, I write on it for hours every day and have suffered no injury so far. = ) In fact, the keys of the keyboard are actually larger than the ones on my older, much heftier and sizable laptop: that's because the keys on the netbooks go all the way to the edges. It's all about how well the space it covers can be used on these things, and they do it well.
There are two other things about netbooks that are particularly convenient in the NaNo frenzy:
1) it's incredibly light and really easy to carry around (no wrist fatigue there). The average one is under three pounds.
2) the battery power on these things seems to average about 6 hours without a charger. The charger itself is very easy to carry around.
Some drawbacks
1) The power cord isn't very long, so if you get one, you have to sit close to an outlet.
2) The screen is quite small (10" wide and about half as tall). It's not hard to get used to, but you might have to fiddle with type size to see things well.
3) It's easy to hunch over one of these things because the screen is small and sometimes doesn't tilt as far back as you want it to (depends on how tall the chair is you're sitting on and where the netbook's resting). If you have to worry about injury, it's going to be in your back.
Overall, I found the benefits far outweighed the minor troubles (particularly on portability and battery life), but I'll let you make the decision. Hope this has been useful to you. = )
41,093 / 50,000
Nov 1, 2009 - 20 14
I've got an Asus EEE that's probably about the same size as a netbook. Havent done NAno on it before this year, but have written some pretty long papers without too much pain! The little ones are so convenient, it's much easier to carry around than my dinosaur IBM.
----------Nano 05: Without A Past- ! 52K
Nano 06: So Much More Than Gold and Finding Alaska- ! 115K!
Nano 07: Made To Be Broken and Jersey Heart - 93K!
Nano 08: Cowboy Boots and City Roots-- 53K
Nano 09: ???
40,300 / 50,000
Nov 2, 2009 - 04 11
Thanks very much for the insight. I'm leaning that way. I'll keep my eyes open for a good deal!
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