POV: 160gb vs 160gb?

I'm always on the lookout (as most travel photographers and photojournalists are) for ways to reduce the electronic gear I carry with me on my photo~expedition/assignments, which seems to get heavier with time. Notwithstanding the many advantages of digital photography, I recall with some nostalgia as to how I used to gripe at the weight of 50 rolls of film...a feather compared to what I have to schlep now.

In case you haven't noticed, netbooks are taking the computer industry and its consumers by storm. A recent article in The New York Times' The Frugal Traveler relates the benefits of the Acer Aspire One, a tiny laptop that weighs just 2.2 pounds, and based on the comments from users of such netbooks, they're the best thing since sliced bread.

Now here's the question: the Acer Aspire One (160gb) retails for about $300 and the Epson P7000 (160gb) retails for about $750. See where I'm going with this? The Acer netbook is only 2.2 lbs, and offers wi-fi and internet connectivity...so it's almost no-brainer. I say almost because I'm an Apple user, and all my peripherals (such as external hard drives et al) are Mac friendly.

And that's what's on mind this sunny morning. Tests and trials will be conducted by some of my techie friends, and I shall report soon...I hope. If a Mac user adopted one of these netbooks, and made it work easily with Mac friendly peripherals etc, I'd appreciate a quick email!

Naturally, there are rumors that Apple will "soon" announce its own netbook or super-charged iTouch...I hope so.

Posted in: Hard Gear, POV