Blog | mechdrew

So here goes my attempt at a recurring feature, Tech-on-the-Cheap. Either save money or get more bang for you buck out of today’s (and yesterday’s) technology.

One of my recent passions has been the most low-tech innovation of the past three years: netbooks. In theory, netbooks should never have been successful: paying close to the same price as a normal laptop for inferior hardware? The old me would have said, “No way, Jose,” but after actually owning one for a year and becoming immersed in the the Mac netbook scene I have a whole new understanding and appreciation of function-over-specs.

One huge problem with netbooks is that they really are limited in their modern capabilities. For example: Adobe’s Flash Player software, commonly used on YouTube and online games, is just barely functional on most netbooks. Soon newer models with new processors and video technologies will lure a lot of current netbooks to ditch their old model for an upgrade.

So what’s a person to do with an underused netbook? Here’s a few ideas to keep you netbook in practical use beyond just the normal e-mail and web browsing.

1. Portable Video Player
You know those little portable DVD players that you can buy at most retailers? They are usually junk unless you start getting into the $150+ range. By that point you can almost pay for a decently-discounted netbook! So why not make your netbook a non-DVD video player?

Despite the diminutive specifications, netbooks make formidable video players. (Well, except for Flash video, but I digress….) Even when encoded in high definition, most popular netbooks are more than capable of playing most video files.

Use video conversion software, such as the excellent Handbrake, to convert your DVD’s to MP4 files. They’re smaller and easier to transfer over to a netbook. Heck, you could even use your netbook and an external DVD drive to do the conversion. (That will be slower, but you won’t be using up valuable resources on a more powerful computer.)

There are two more major advantages to this setup for parents. How many times have your kids grabbed a DVD with slobbery, food-encrusted hands, while scratching it across a hard surface? There’s no physical media to worry about with a netbook video player. And what about those forty+ cartoons that the kids can never leave home without? Now they’re all stored on the hard drive, without the need to swap discs mid-trip.

2. Teleprompter
(I got this idea from a system utilizing an iPhone, as reported on Make: Online.)
Giving an important presentation? Creating your own video podcast? You’ve got yourself a great prompting system waiting for you on your desk.

Unlike conventional laptops, netbooks are usually really small and light. This makes them ideal for setting in peculiar places, like on a shelf. Using a presentation program such as PowerPoint or OpenOffice you can view your notes in large words (as compared with an iPhone teleprompter) without having to shuffle papers. This is especially important for podcasts, no one wants to see a stack of papers on the screen.

This idea really comes into fruition if you use a netbook with a webcam; you can record your podcast with the same screen that you are reading your script from.

3. Really Expensive Wireless Adapter
This one was almost too ridiculous to mention, except it is exactly what I have been using for Xbox Live the last month or two.

While most modern technology have 802.11 technology built-in, there are still some useful products that don’t. Notably, the original Xbox and the current Xbox 360. Yes, you could buy a dedicated wireless adapter, but both consoles’ options are fairly expensive. And sometimes you need a quick temporary solution for a desktop computer in a remote spot of the house. You’ve got a netbook that isn’t getting used much, why not put it to work?

It’s really simple; just set your operating system to share the wireless connection with your wired ethernet port; Windows provides a fairly simple check box for this. It may not be as simple, elegant, or beautiful as a dedicated adapter, but it gets the job done.

Another related trick is for travel. I visited a hotel last year that used powerline networking, which required an adapter in the hotel room. The adapter only had one ethernet port, but we had two computers. We simply hooked one to the adapter, set Windows to share the ethernet’s connection with the wireless, and connected via ad-hoc. No need for a router, we were both able to surf the web off one ethernet adapter.