Netbook

[Shawn Gossman]

I bought a netbook for college when I travel for tactical security work I do. I realized I could also use it for chasing and wondering how everyone feels about using netbooks for chasing? Meaning maily for radar reading, alerts and etc.

 

[Rob H]

http://www.stormtrack.org/forum/showthread.php?26234-What-hardware-are-you-chasing-with-next-year

For some reason, not many people plan on chasing with one. The smaller screen size is a con, but the extra battery life and ultra portability are nice benefits. Some people might get hung up on the lack of processing power if they try to edit video on it as well. I think people just chase with what they have, and the netbook market never really took off, so there aren't many that have netbooks.

 

[Nick Nolte]

I had a Dell Mini 9 out last year. Atom processor, ran GR fine, recorded time lapse video from my cam, got the job done. It's pretty nice for portability and not having to lug a full laptop around, but the more screen real estate is a lot better. I'll have a 15.4" screen this season

 

[cedwards]

I have an Acer Aspire One. I use it for the second van and it works well for GRLevel3 and internet. I don't really use it much for anything else, so it works well. If you don't use it much in the off season, there is a bios update you must do or it won't charge the battery. Minor glitch in the model I have.

 

[Brandon Sullivan]

I had one for school, that I put some weather software on... It worked just fine, and the processing power was fine for most purposes.. It would do in a pinch, but its certainly nothing that I would chase exclusively with... What was nice, was taking it into restaurants when chasing, so I didnt have to undo my laptop from the mount etc etc..

I had the gateway LT2015 I think...

 

[Shawn Gossman]

I have an Acer Aspire One. I use it for the second van and it works well for GRLevel3 and internet. I don't really use it much for anything else, so it works well. If you don't use it much in the off season, there is a bios update you must do or it won't charge the battery. Minor glitch in the model I have.

I also got the Acer. I mainly bought it for college but I thought, why not use it for chasing too. The only thing I failed to realize...there is no CD drive so I will have a time figuring out how to install my office 2007 on it for school lol, it has the limited office 2010 on it now, if I can use that version's ms word alright then I will be okay...

 

[cedwards]

I have an external USB CD/DVD drive. You might be able to copy the instalation disk to a thumb drive, or if you have a home network, make your other computer's CD drive as a network drive.

 

[Shawn Gossman]

I will have to see what I can do. It has been shipped now, I am excited about getting it lol.

 

[Shawn Gossman]

Got my netbook today and got to say I love it a lot. It has basic free office 2010 and provides word and excel which is what I needed for school so I am happy there. The only complaint is the speakers are not very loud for my deaf ears lol but that is fixable. I like how its small and easy to carry around, gonna be a great storm chasing feature this spring!

 

[chadvia]

I used a full size laptop in 2009 and an acer netbook in 2010. I know there are many who will disagree with this, but I preferred the smaller screen of the netbook. It fit nicely on my center console and didn't interfere with my in dash GPS. I used the netbook for video streaming, GRL3, and spotter network. The only reason I'm considering not using it this year is due to wanting more processing power for recording video directly to the hard drive while chasing. I will still tote the netbook with me either way to use while in hotel rooms etc. Another factor I should add is that my chase partner always has a full sized laptop with him in the passenger seat, so I use my netbook for quick glances at radar updates while driving. I let him do the detailed work so I can keep my eyes on the road and sky.

 

[Donovan Gruner]

I use a netbook exclusively for running gr3 while chasing. However, this year I plan to also bring along my Macbook for editing video on the road, and possibly building a small editing area in the back seat.