Price of Internet on the ships? Do they have pre-paid plans? Going without a laptop..

[critterchick]

I agree with the poster who said to get a netbook. They are available for as little as $200 if you look carefully. I travel with mine and it's been fantastic. My air travel "purse" is a fancy diaper bag. The netbook fits in it's little sleeve perfectly with room to spare. Mine weighs about 2.5 pounds. If the airport security doesn't ask, I don't volunteer that I have a computer. When they X-ray the purse they think it's a DVD player because of the size. Much speedier getting through security. I did get a little mouse as the tiny touch pad was a problem.

 

I've used my netbook on Voyager of the Seas twice and in European and American hotels. No problems.

 

I have an Acer netbook and it's very easy to whip it out and put it in a tray. I guess I'd rather not have security ask questions as I'm going through, but to each his/her own.

 

I don't recommend the Acer, by the way. We had a problem with not being able to open it to a comfortable angle because a cable would stretch too far and we'd get the blue screen of death. When I Googled the problem, I found out that it's a common one, and people who tried to use their warranties were not satisfied with the result. We did get it fixed through a local shop, which no doubt voided the warranty. Now we're happy with it, but ended up paying an extra $75 for it because of the repair work.

 

Mine does not have a DVD drive so I buy movies on iTunes. So far I've only watched one of them, though - I always find something else to do.:p

 

To the OP, I'm glad you've reconsidered - I love having that little thing with me! We used to take the 15.4" Toshiba with us, and when you add the charger, it was really heavy!

[Hamburg Avon Lady]

:( We were on the Mariner of the Seas this past January ---- the internet service was HORRIBLE and extremely EXPENSIVE.

 

You are much better off using the internet cafes at the ports you will visit. The cost in Uruguay was $ .06 per minute compared to the $ .55

per minute on the ship. (Yes, you can buy internet packages, which I did but still spent wayyyyyyyyyyy too much $$$$ ).

 

But again, the biggest differend is the SPEED. :mad::mad:

 

I am pretty new at the computer stuff and this was very frustrating for me.

[Terpnut]

:( We were on the Mariner of the Seas this past January ---- the internet service was HORRIBLE and extremely EXPENSIVE.

 

You are much better off using the internet cafes at the ports you will visit. The cost in Uruguay was $ .06 per minute compared to the $ .55

per minute on the ship. (Yes, you can buy internet packages, which I did but still spent wayyyyyyyyyyy too much $$$$ ).

 

But again, the biggest differend is the SPEED. :mad::mad:

 

I am pretty new at the computer stuff and this was very frustrating for me.

The slow internet speeds are a known given but this can be mitigated by avoiding peak internet usage times while onboard.

 

Relying on internet cafes in port has several drawbacks:

 

1. What do you do on sea days?

2. What if you can't find an internet cafe in port?

3. And do you want to spend your valuable port time sitting on a computer?

 

If you learn how to work off-line with your own computer and connect only during non-peak usage times, you can minimize internet usage and minimize the frustrations of the ship's slow connection.

[mikeerdas]

Thanks for all the help. Been reading a technology-related productivity book called "Upgrade Your Life" that has several tips for working offline. Great book in general. Someone mentioned not being able to save anything to/from the Internet cafe machines on the ships.

 

If you use something like "Google Docs", you can do word processing, spreadsheets, etc, and everything gets saved online. I'm still choosing the NetBook solution--why not get a "free" computer out of the deal if the cost would ultimately be the same or similar. The book I mentioned also discusses these "cloud computing" MS-Office-like applications. Great book that I can't recommend highly enough to anyone who likes technology and wants to be more productive.

 

Dragging a 15.4" laptop around? Dear God No! I find myself reluctant to bring our 15.4" laptop to domestic hotels where we drive-in. Still too much of a pain, let alone trying to lug one on planes, trains, and buses.

 

So what other brands of NetBooks have people bought and been satisfied with? Preferably ones I can get from local U.S. retailers, e.g. Walmart, Target, BestBuy, and CompUSA.

 

Also discovered the apartment we're renting post-cruise in Paris has free wifi, so that's another "win" on buying the NetBook.

[madforcruising]

Thanks for all the help. Been reading a technology-related productivity book called "Upgrade Your Life" that has several tips for working offline. Great book in general. Someone mentioned not being able to save anything to/from the Internet cafe machines on the ships.

 

If you use something like "Google Docs", you can do word processing, spreadsheets, etc, and everything gets saved online. I'm still choosing the NetBook solution--why not get a "free" computer out of the deal if the cost would ultimately be the same or similar. The book I mentioned also discusses these "cloud computing" MS-Office-like applications. Great book that I can't recommend highly enough to anyone who likes technology and wants to be more productive.

 

Dragging a 15.4" laptop around? Dear God No! I find myself reluctant to bring our 15.4" laptop to domestic hotels where we drive-in. Still too much of a pain, let alone trying to lug one on planes, trains, and buses.

 

So what other brands of NetBooks have people bought and been satisfied with? Preferably ones I can get from local U.S. retailers, e.g. Walmart, Target, BestBuy, and CompUSA.

 

Also discovered the apartment we're renting post-cruise in Paris has free wifi, so that's another "win" on buying the NetBook.

 

I said this and what I meant is not saving stuff online, but on the computer onboard or any private hardware device. Of course you can save stuff online, but then again you have to be online to work on it while you are burning money. ;)

[Terpnut]

Thanks for all the help. Been reading a technology-related productivity book called "Upgrade Your Life" that has several tips for working offline. Great book in general. Someone mentioned not being able to save anything to/from the Internet cafe machines on the ships.

 

If you use something like "Google Docs", you can do word processing, spreadsheets, etc, and everything gets saved online. I'm still choosing the NetBook solution--why not get a "free" computer out of the deal if the cost would ultimately be the same or similar. The book I mentioned also discusses these "cloud computing" MS-Office-like applications. Great book that I can't recommend highly enough to anyone who likes technology and wants to be more productive.

 

Dragging a 15.4" laptop around? Dear God No! I find myself reluctant to bring our 15.4" laptop to domestic hotels where we drive-in. Still too much of a pain, let alone trying to lug one on planes, trains, and buses.

 

So what other brands of NetBooks have people bought and been satisfied with? Preferably ones I can get from local U.S. retailers, e.g. Walmart, Target, BestBuy, and CompUSA.

 

Also discovered the apartment we're renting post-cruise in Paris has free wifi, so that's another "win" on buying the NetBook.

Having used both high-end 15" notebook and a cheapo 10" netbook extensively myself, I want to say that there are many times you will wish you had that bigger and better notebook. Depending on what you are actually doing, the superior keyboard, built-in mouse/touchpad, bigger and higher resolution screen, better graphics performance and capabilities, additional connectivity options, built-in DVD drive, and faster system processor all make the regular notebook a much more useful and usable machine. In fact, today's netbooks are so compromised so as to be virtually useless for many applications.

 

While this thread has many netbook advocates, I do want to caution anyone considering one that they are definitely not even close to a perfect or ideal computing solution. If you want to do only light computing work (e.g. basic web browsing, check a few emails or write a paragraph or two of a document), then they are fine. As just a few examples, I cannot do serious/extensive proposal or document work with my netbook. I cannot do anything that requires decent graphics such as HD video, movie editing or gaming. I cannot run other CPU-intensive applications such as project management and application development tools. I cannot use or watch a DVD on-the-fly. And perhaps most important to many of you, I cannot do any extensive reading of web pages or documents because of the netbook's tiny screen and poor screen resolution--hurts my eyes! So for many applications, you are better off carrying the bigger, heavier and better-performing notebook computer.

[Pat.bz]

Terp--why can't you view a DVD on your netbook? I bought a small, cheap external drive for mine and I could view one if I wanted. By the way, I'm a Terp too--I grew up in Silver Spring.

[nutzo]

Having used both high-end 15" notebook and a cheapo 10" netbook extensively myself, I want to say that there are many times you will wish you had that bigger and better notebook. Depending on what you are actually doing, the superior keyboard, built-in mouse/touchpad, bigger and higher resolution screen, better graphics performance and capabilities, additional connectivity options, built-in DVD drive, and faster system processor all make the regular notebook a much more useful and usable machine. In fact, today's netbooks are so compromised so as to be virtually useless for many applications.

 

While this thread has many netbook advocates, I do want to caution anyone considering one that they are definitely not even close to a perfect or ideal computing solution. If you want to do only light computing work (e.g. basic web browsing, check a few emails or write a paragraph or two of a document), then they are fine. As just a few examples, I cannot do serious/extensive proposal or document work with my netbook. I cannot do anything that requires decent graphics such as HD video, movie editing or gaming. I cannot run other CPU-intensive applications such as project management and application development tools. I cannot use or watch a DVD on-the-fly. And perhaps most important to many of you, I cannot do any extensive reading of web pages or documents because of the netbook's tiny screen and poor screen resolution--hurts my eyes! So for many applications, you are better off carrying the bigger, heavier and better-performing notebook computer.

 

 

That's not the purpose of a netbook, they are meant for light computing.

As for the screen size/resolution, it's a lot better than my Blackberry :p

 

Try to get one of the newer netbooks with the Intel Atom 1.6 or 1.66 CPU and a 160GB drive. Alot better than the older ones with the celeron chip.

It's almost as fast as some of the 5 year old desktop systems still in use at my office :eek:

 

If you plan on doing much more than light internet browsing, email, word documents, etc, then look for a small notebook. there are 12" notebooks, that have much better screens, faster CPU and are still only around 4 pounds. However, they will cost you alot more then a netbook.

[LeesSummitCruiser1]

Just wonder if I would purchase the $28-60min plan do I have to use it all at once or can I space it out throughout the trip?

 

 

Its good for the whole trip. If you are reading class forums and writing, you will need about 60 minutes per session. It takes a good 3 to 5 minutes to get logged on then you can figure a couple minutes per new page view. I would hate to try and do a class online on a ship. Tell the prof you are on vacation and get the work done early or ask for extra time. My online profs are usually pretty good about this. Also you would be better off finding an internet cafe at one of the ports and working there if you have to get online for you class during your cruise. You could do in 30 minutes at an internet cafe what it would take you hours to do online.

[LeesSummitCruiser1]

I agree with the poster who said to get a netbook. They are available for as little as $200 if you look carefully. I travel with mine and it's been fantastic. My air travel "purse" is a fancy diaper bag. The netbook fits in it's little sleeve perfectly with room to spare. Mine weighs about 2.5 pounds. If the airport security doesn't ask, I don't volunteer that I have a computer. When they X-ray the purse they think it's a DVD player because of the size. Much speedier getting through security. I did get a little mouse as the tiny touch pad was a problem.

 

I've used my netbook on Voyager of the Seas twice and in European and American hotels. No problems.

 

 

The first time they find it you will spend twice as long in line as you would if you just put it through the xray on its own. Then you hold up the entire line for trying to sneak it through.

[GeekyMom]

I'm a little slow here and new to Royal, but if you pick up a signal, doesn't it ask you to log into the ship's internet account? Thats what happens on Carnival's ships.

 

Also, I was under the impression that Netbooks did not have built in dvd drives, am I wrong?

 

Thank you.

[TBSCruiser]

I'm a little slow here and new to Royal, but if you pick up a signal, doesn't it ask you to log into the ship's internet account? Thats what happens on Carnival's ships.

 

Also, I was under the impression that Netbooks did not have built in dvd drives, am I wrong?

 

Thank you.

 

Yes the same thing happens and you can get a portable external drive

[Terpnut]

Terp--why can't you view a DVD on your netbook? I bought a small, cheap external drive for mine and I could view one if I wanted. By the way, I'm a Terp too--I grew up in Silver Spring.

Given the extra weight and hassles of shleping an external DVD drive for your Netbook, why not just bring a notebook computer in the first place? My point is that there are tradeoffs with Netbooks, and this is one of them. Go Terps! :)

That's not the purpose of a netbook, they are meant for light computing.

As for the screen size/resolution, it's a lot better than my Blackberry

 

Try to get one of the newer netbooks with the Intel Atom 1.6 or 1.66 CPU and a 160GB drive. Alot better than the older ones with the celeron chip.

It's almost as fast as some of the 5 year old desktop systems still in use at my office

 

If you plan on doing much more than light internet browsing, email, word documents, etc, then look for a small notebook. there are 12" notebooks, that have much better screens, faster CPU and are still only around 4 pounds. However, they will cost you alot more then a netbook.

I fully realize all that but I just want to make sure that others do too. Not everyone understands what "light computing". Also even for light computing, if you are hard of sight, then a netbook may not be for you. I have a coworker with poor eyesight, and he lugs a 17" laptop because he needs the huge high-resolution screen just to read web pages and emails. His 12lb monster computer is the opposite extreme from netbooks but that is what works for him!

 

So I just want to make sure that people realize that netbook manufacturers make many design compromises to attain their diminutive size and low cost, and they are not an ideal solution for many or even most people. A small and light computer can be very difficult to work with. There is no such thing as a perfect computer. :)

[robtulipe]

Terp--why can't you view a DVD on your netbook? I bought a small, cheap external drive for mine and I could view one if I wanted. By the way, I'm a Terp too--I grew up in Silver Spring.

I was thinking about getting a netbook but after using a friend's during our last Feb. vacation to Costa Rica I went out and bought a regular notebook laptop. Yes, you can add the external disk drive with it's separate power pack (Friend told me netbook power source couldn't handle power requirement of the disk drive) but when you consider what this adds weight and cost, a regular laptop seemed to me to be the better option with it's built in disk drive, superior processor, higher RAM, larger screen, more storage capacity along with other features. You can get a nice 14" laptops that weight around 5 lbs and smaller size notebooks that weigh less. I just put our laptop in the bottom of my carry on bag and don't really notice the extra 2 lbs that it might weigh over a netbook with it's external disk drive.

[mikeerdas]

Thanks Terpnut and all. Very helpful replies. But when I hit the ports, I want to be off and in "adventure" mode. I don't cruise at all for the ship (important to have a nice one, but that's secondary for us). I would not purchase a cruise to nowhere and if ships didn't cruise to interesting and exotic ports, I would not cruise.

 

LeesSummitCruiser1:

3-5 mins to logon and a few mins per page view? When you say time, do you mean "think time" or "page load time." Better not be a few mins per page load or that would be truly infuriating and an exercise in abject frustration. We're hoping the instructor will release web article URLs in advance, so we can download these in "Print" view and save them to "disk" (internal flash memory). At least with IE, you can save an entire web page, including images, as one file. Haven't checked lately to see if Firefox can--seems it wants to create folders, etc, for a single page. Less easily managed.

 

As for the type of forum interaction required by the class, am hoping she can save the pages and/or do screen shots, composing responses in something as simple as "notepad" offline. Although we religiously use OpenOffice.org as an MS Office equivalent. Reads and writes to all common MS Office formats (*.doc, *.xls, *.ppt, etc). Only thing I'd ever need MS Office for is Access or MS Project; don't need either this trip.

 

There are many times you will wish you had that bigger and better notebook.

 

You are correct about the tradeoffs. But I don't expect to be purchasing a "desktop replacement" laptop like the 5 year old 15.4" Dell I use at home. Someone mentioned a Blackberry. A netbook is undoubtedly superior to a smartphone, but equally or more inferior than a "desktop replacement" laptop.

 

The netbook expenditure meets fits our "Business Need" quite well. I had no need whatever for a netbook while on holiday but for my wife's online course work. Goodness help me if I am forced to work while away--would mean I'm being inefficient and ineffective at my day job.

 

While this thread has many netbook advocates, I do want to caution anyone considering one that they are definitely not even close to a perfect or ideal computing solution.

 

Perfection is to be found nowhere in reality, and life itself is a series of compromises. The question is: can you or I live with the compromises of a netbook. I can and you cannot. Neither good or bad. We simply have different "business needs."

 

If you want to do only light computing work (e.g. basic web browsing, check a few emails or write a paragraph or two of a document), then they are fine. As just a few examples, I cannot do serious/extensive proposal or document work with my netbook. I cannot do anything that requires decent graphics such as HD video, movie editing or gaming. I cannot run other CPU-intensive applications such as project management and application development tools. I cannot use or watch a DVD on-the-fly. And perhaps most important to many of you, I cannot do any extensive reading of web pages or documents because of the netbook's tiny screen and poor screen resolution--hurts my eyes! So for many applications, you are better off carrying the bigger, heavier and better-performing notebook computer.

 

I understand about small keyboards, poor resolution, multimedia apps, and full-on software development limitations. All we really need to be able to do is connect to the web, download articles, participate in online course forums (non-real time), compose papers offline and submit them online. The only "real time" interaction I see at all (going back to per-minute costs) is possibly a quiz or test.

 

We don't need MS Project, don't need to run Visual Studio, ArcGIS Desktop or other graphics-intensive thick-client stuff, business analytics--or run a data warehouse or data mining operations. If I needed any of that, I would get me a virtualized server (XenServer) and a virtualized desktop (Citrix XenDesktop) and happily do my work over a slow connection / thin pipe using the ICA protocol. But I need none of that.

 

Back to the issue at hand--we're buying one this weekend. Can't wait any longer. In the States, can anyone recommend anything from a big box store? We're looking at Best Buy's ~$300 ASUS ee pc netbook (XP Home, 160 GB hard drive--more than my laptop at home has, 1GB ram--sufficient for web browsing and MS Office-type work).

 

We have a local CompUSA here (formerly TigerDirect). Can't think of any other stores (Walmart had overpriced crap and Target had no local netbooks at all). I haven't checked places like RatShack and other, smaller retailers. Any suggestions?

 

Thanks.

[Sue L]

Back to the issue at hand--we're buying one this weekend. Can't wait any longer. In the States, can anyone recommend anything from a big box store? We're looking at Best Buy's ~$300 ASUS ee pc netbook (XP Home, 160 GB hard drive--more than my laptop at home has, 1GB ram--sufficient for web browsing and MS Office-type work).

 

We have a local CompUSA here (formerly TigerDirect). Can't think of any other stores (Walmart had overpriced crap and Target had no local netbooks at all). I haven't checked places like RatShack and other, smaller retailers. Any suggestions?

 

Thanks.

 

 

I just got one from Best Buy the other day, keep in mind the Asus is only a 3 cell battery so not great life if that is important to you.

 

After much research I ended up with the Samsung N120 with 6 cell battery (7 hour battery life) 1 gb, expandable to 2. 10.1 , 1.6 ghz Atom and a 93% keyboard which was important to me as I have long nails.

 

I got it online as they were out of it in the store. I received it on thursday and it is wonderful, really fast (was prepared to add the RAM) great resolution, easy to type on and perfect for my needs.

 

Now I just have to figure out what I need to have to run my office's Outlook and work offline. Any clues would be great!!!

[Bookish Angel]

When I went to Australia and Asia over a month-long trip I used free internet in port libraries. I was limited to between 15 and 30 minutes at each library but that was more than enough for me. The connections were pretty fast and I didn't have anything extra to lug around.

[mikeerdas]

I just got one from Best Buy the other day, keep in mind the Asus is only a 3 cell battery so not great life if that is important to you.

 

After much research I ended up with the Samsung N120 with 6 cell battery (7 hour battery life) 1 gb, expandable to 2. 10.1 , 1.6 ghz Atom and a 93% keyboard which was important to me as I have long nails.

 

I got it online as they were out of it in the store. I received it on thursday and it is wonderful, really fast (was prepared to add the RAM) great resolution, easy to type on and perfect for my needs.

 

Now I just have to figure out what I need to have to run my office's Outlook and work offline. Any clues would be great!!!

 

Thanks Sue! I will check that model out. About to go shopping for the day. Hoping to see more recommendations. Maybe there will be holiday sales tomorrow and Monday with Monday being Labor Day.

 

About Outlook; hmmm... I suppose you could:

 

1) Purchase just Outlook itself (if that's possible)

 

2) Use Outlook Web Access using Internet Explorer if your employer offers this. Mine does, and I have fully-functional access to just about every feature of Outlook. Firefox will work, but is limited with calendaring functionality. Not so with Internet Explorer.

 

3) Download Mozilla's Thunderbird. This is an email client that may work with Outlook, at least for basic stuff like email. Not sure about calendering, tasks, etc. I make lots of use of the Task function (ala David Allen's book "Getting Things Done") and can use that fully with Internet Explorer.

 

4) Get a smart phone (like something running Windows Mobile) and sync your Outlook stuff with its pocket version of Outlook. My smartphone (Windows Mobile 6.0) also has pocket versions of Word and Excel.

 

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

[CruisinManiac]

Boy, I really feel technically challenged after reading this thread, and I thought I was pretty good on the computer. :D

 

CyberCabin unfortunately is a thing of the past.

 

We have booked a GS and somewhere I read where a computer desk and outlets are in each cabin. Can't find that now. Per the above, can I still get in room internet service if I bring a laptop? All I want to do is work offline - on Word - to compose trip emails for my children, then transfer them to my Hotmail, send and check my email box. I can check my Outlook email through Comcast.net.

 

I plan on buying the lowest package, because we would still have our free internet usage coupons for being Diamond members. If I run out of package minutes, I would have the free minutes applied.

[Terpnut]

Whether you need Microsoft Outlook itself or not is based on whether you use it as just an ordinary POP3 or IMAP email client, or whether you use it with a corporate s Microsoft Exchange Server. For the latter, Outlook offers corporate calendaring, contacts, tasks, journalling and notes, in addition to messaging. So having Outlook itself is only mandatory for Exchange access, otherwise Outlook, Outlook Express or any good email client will do the job for email.

 

About Outlook; hmmm... I suppose you could:

 

1) Purchase just Outlook itself (if that's possible)

 

I don't believe Microsoft sells Outlook by itself--it is part of Office. However I think it can be downloaded for free or you can take the CD/DVD from your office administrator to install it.

 

2) Use Outlook Web Access using Internet Explorer if your employer offers this. Mine does, and I have fully-functional access to just about every feature of Outlook. Firefox will work, but is limited with calendaring functionality. Not so with Internet Explorer.

OWA works best with IE but remember most importantly, that when working with any web-based email client, you cannot work offline!

 

3) Download Mozilla's Thunderbird. This is an email client that may work with Outlook, at least for basic stuff like email. Not sure about calendering, tasks, etc. I make lots of use of the Task function (ala David Allen's book "Getting Things Done") and can use that fully with Internet Explorer.

I don't have personal experience with Thunderbird but it supports working offline so that makes it worth considering.

4) Get a smart phone (like something running Windows Mobile) and sync your Outlook stuff with its pocket version of Outlook. My smartphone (Windows Mobile 6.0) also has pocket versions of Word and Excel.

For email, this is my preferred option IF (1) the places I go will have mobile phone coverage say 75% or better of the time, and (2) your carrier has an affordable data plan for all the minutes and kB that will be utilized. For our recent Mediterranean trip, it only cost me $20 more for the worldwide data plan and I had mobile coverage 85% of the time--even at sea! I would not even consider using my smart phone in the Caribbean, Alaska or most other cruises for email or web browsing because there is virtually no coverage at sea and even in many ports!

[crischickie]

Costco and Sams Club are great alternatives. Their prices are similar to Best Buy, but, if you add a warranty plan, their rates are great and their plans are reliable.

 

I would definitely look for a model where you can upgrade the memory. Many come with 1G memory and if that is adequate fine, but, if it's not and you need to upgrade you want to make sure you have that capability.

[Pat.bz]

We bought our netbook at Costco (love the free warranty) and I added a cheap external drive from E-Bay ($20).

[mikeerdas]

I'm looking closely at the various Acer AO751h models. Has an 11.6" screen. They're sold by Target, CompUSA, Walmart, Staples, and OfficeMax. Want to buy local so I can return it quickly if there's a problem.

 

The price is ~ USD $350, but I've seen several different configurations:

 

* The 6 cell battery models tend to come with XP, 1G of RAM and a 160G hard drive; I like and use XP, but I've heard XP support is soon to be dropped (November?). If that means no more security patches from Microsoft, then that means no more XP for me.

 

* The 3 cell battery models tend to come with Vista, double the RAM (2G) and a much larger hard drive (250G).

 

My question: what's the better deal if I ultimately want 2G of RAM *and* a 6 cell battery? Couldn't be easier to install RAM myself. But would it be more expensive to upgrade it to 2G of RAM or more expensive to purchase a separate 6 cell battery? The advantage of purchasing the 6 cell battery separately would be having two batteries.

 

I like the larger keyboard of the 11.6" Acer versus the 10" models I've seen.

 

Also, are extended warranties for the Acer not worth the paper they're written on? Is the 1 year warranty offered by the manufacturer good enough? I tend to like to "self insure" most purchases except for high-end laptops and large LCD TVs (because if the screen goes, it goes to the dump--or could be run as a "headless" server in the case of a laptop with a dead screen; or could be RDP'ed into).

 

The only downside of the Acer seems to be that people have had trouble installing Linux (poor driver support). Maybe that's the case with most NetBooks? Not a huge deal to me now, but it may be later as Microsoft operating systems get more resource-intensive over time.

[CanuckCruizer]

When I called RCCL a while ago - I was told that we would have wireless internet in our cabin on the Mariner - that we would not need to find the hotspots as we could use our netbook in the cabin. Someone mentioned in an earlier post that only Freedom class ships have wireless in the cabins. Does anyone know if I was told the wrong information by the agent (wouldn't be the first time!)?

 

So, if the Mariner doesn't have wireless in the cabins - where are the hotspots located?

 

Thanks,

 

Canuck

[Terpnut]

* The 6 cell battery models tend to come with XP, 1G of RAM and a 160G hard drive; I like and use XP, but I've heard XP support is soon to be dropped (November?). If that means no more security patches from Microsoft, then that means no more XP for me.

 

* The 3 cell battery models tend to come with Vista, double the RAM (2G) and a much larger hard drive (250G).

 

My question: what's the better deal if I ultimately want 2G of RAM *and* a 6 cell battery? Couldn't be easier to install RAM myself. But would it be more expensive to upgrade it to 2G of RAM or more expensive to purchase a separate 6 cell battery? The advantage of purchasing the 6 cell battery separately would be having two batteries.

 

I like the larger keyboard of the 11.6" Acer versus the 10" models I've seen.

 

Also, are extended warranties for the Acer not worth the paper they're written on? Is the 1 year warranty offered by the manufacturer good enough? I tend to like to "self insure" most purchases except for high-end laptops and large LCD TVs (because if the screen goes, it goes to the dump--or could be run as a "headless" server in the case of a laptop with a dead screen; or could be RDP'ed into).

 

The only downside of the Acer seems to be that people have had trouble installing Linux (poor driver support). Maybe that's the case with most NetBooks? Not a huge deal to me now, but it may be later as Microsoft operating systems get more resource-intensive over time.

Microsoft recently moved Windows XP from Mainstream Support to its Extended Support which means it will continue to provide security updates every month for Windows XP through April 8, 2014. Only free technical support, warranty claims and design changes are no longer being offered. So Windows XP-lovers have no real worries for the current generation of computers.

 

Another good option is Microsoft Windows 7. This stable new OS runs on my netbook (and a few of my desktops) just as well as XP, is not as resource intensive as Vista and is really what the next generation of Windows should have been from the beginning.

 

As for warranties, my suggestion is to treat a netbook as a disposable commodity and not a computer asset. At ~$300 each, I agree you should "self-insure" and not bother with an extended warranty. Make sure all settings and data are always backed up, buy a new one if and when if fails, and then restore any settings and data.