The weekend has come and gone, and I have my new netbook.. woohoo!

I started this adventure in Germany... searching all over for a shop that would sell me a netbook with an English keyboard.  None would, with most giving the excuse that their distributors didn't have anything but German keyboard layouts.

Well... neighboring countries seem to have no problem with ordering netbooks with English keyboard layouts... so I did a quick roadtrip over the weekend to go pick up the netbook I ordered.

Due to a bit of a mixup, I ended up with the black EeePC 1005HA-H instead of the blue one, but that's a minor oops.  I also bought a 2GB SO-DIM as well, so I could bump the RAM up from the 1GB default to 2GB... an upgrade well worth the 30€ extra it cost.

This netbook only comes with Windows XP... yuck!!  So the very first thing I did on boot was repartition the hard drive and wipe that broken old OS off and install Linux.  I set up for dual boot, with Eeebuntu and openSUSE.... but how well does Linux actually work on a netbook? Was that a good idea?

The install of both Linux distros went smoothly.. .mostly.  A few bumps along the way.

The first install I did was Eeebuntu.  No issues at all to install.  I booted for a few seconds to test, and then moved on to openSUSE.  This install also went smoothly - except on reboot, I could no longer start up Eeebuntu.  Not sure why, and I didn't spend any time sorting it out.  I redid my installs (needed to change the partitioning layout anyway), and did openSUSE first, then Eeebuntu.  This order worked - the problem the first time around is something to do with how the openSUSE installed finds the existing Ubuntu install and sets up GRUB.  Maybe I'll revisit this later to sort it out... dunno.

Anyway.. booted up openSUSE, and bumped into the first big-ish issue... no network.  A little digging and I discover that the WiFi card drivers are in a newer kernel build.  ooops.  Sigh... switch over to Eeebuntu... same problem.. no WiFi, no wired network either.  Well.. that's annoying.  Ok, it's because I have a new netbook... new WiFi card etc... the older netbook (Eee 900) my friend has worked first try on Eeebuntu...

The solution to the network issue was fairly simple.  Find a newer kernel, copy the deb to a USB stick... copy to the new netbook, install the kernel and reboot.  Once I was running on the new kernel I could run the updates, which included the backports for the default kernel... which include the WiFi drivers.  Yay.  Boot to the updated stock kernel and I've got WiFi there too.  Remove the temp kernel... download and install the wired network card drivers and that's it... fully functioning netbook running Eeebuntu. 

I have to say... I'm impressed with the capabilities of this little computer too.  I've got a full desktop with Compiz running... it has no problems with the fancy animations etc.  The full OpenGL screensavers all work smoothly.  I've even installed a few games just to try it out, and so far... they all work.  Haha.. I'm almost temped to install World of Warcraft just to see if it'll work too

I still have a few things to sort out.  I want to get openSUSE working - I prefer it over Ubuntu anyday.  I also have to sort out the microphone.  There are apparently 2 microphones, one to the left and one to the right of the webcam.  They are noise cancellation/stereo mics, and Linux doesn't handle this particular setup very well... the result is that they end up canceling out all sound picked up by the mic.  There is a quick fix that I can use though... a tweak to the sound config that I plan to try later today.

Other than that... it was definitely a good idea to drop XP and install Linux. I'm a happy camper now

So, I've been spending far too much time lately trying to decide if I'll buy a Netbook, and what one to buy.  I've been fretting over models and colors... it's pretty sad really  

The first hurdle I faced, and probably the main thing that sent me into a downward spiral of reading reviews and compulsively reading Wikipedia etc. is the fact that I haven't yet found a single German computer store that will order me a laptop with an English keyboard - not even on special order.  I can have any keyboard layout I want, as long as it's German... which isn't much use when you want an English one. 

Someone kindly pointed me at a shop in Hannover (about 100km south of Hamburg) that refurbishes laptops, and many of the models they have available have English keyboards (I have to wonder though how they managed to get computers with English keyboards though).  They have a nice variety of laptops available, but none are netbook class machines... all are bigger, heavier laptops.  I decided to pass on them this time and focus on the netbook world - I will keep them in mind though.

So... options... I can order from the UK.. but.... prices.. oiy... it seems like the computer companies took the Euro price, and just changed the Euro sign for a Pound sign.  After exchange, the prices are considerably higher than buying here. 

The dilemna continues... what to do... buy in the UK at a high premium? Buy local and get a computer with the wrong keyboard layout?  Buy in a neighboring country?

I opted to buy in the Netherlands where I can easily get a computer with an English keyboard layout.  In fact I ordered the machine last night (an Asus Eee 1005HA-H in blue), and it's already there, waiting for me to pick it up.

Keyboard issues aside, why all the bother about it?  I want a netbok that will run on Linux.  in fact I've been trying hard to find one that comes with Linux preinstalled.  Seems that none of the retailers here carry the Linux machines anymore... only with XP Home...   Funny thing is, all that I asked so far said they don't carry Linux machines, and they are not sure why since so many people buying them are asking for Linux ones.  One shop I talked to got so tired of it that they now provide a printout of info on where to go to get some of the more popular Linux builds for netbooks they sell... so the customer can remove the unwanted XP and install the OS they requested in the first place.  Ha... funny how that works   Sadly... no one I've talked to has managed to get a refund for the unwanted XP license which they were forced to pay for.  That won't stop me from trying though.

Not a lot going on lately... well outside of work that is.  Work-side, I've been busy with things like doing voice-overs for OpenOffice.org screencasts, and even did a Podcast interview for an internal Sun Podcast. This is one of the screencasts we recently did:  Extensions repository  (YouTube link).  There are more... somewhere.

Hmmm what else... well, there is this nice photo I took in Malmo Sweden earlier this year... sunset on the Oresund (looking towards Copenhagen Denmark).