Computer for the mobile professional

I'm typing this article on my brand new Toshiba Mini NB200 netbook, keying it's brilliant, full-sized keyboard, viewing on an external, full-sized LCD monitor and using an external USB mouse. This is an effective combination which is starting to convince me that the new generation of netbooks are a viable desktop and laptop alternative for mobile professionals who require access to their own computer.

Its heart, in common with comparable machines, is a 1.66GHz Atom processor bolted on to 1GB of DDR2 RAM along with a 160GB hard disk and WiFi. This is just as powerful as the previous generation of laptops and I believe is sufficient for most daily tasks including email, reading and writing documents, and even casual software development.

For me, the keyboard, mouse pad, mouse buttons and screen were the most-important features which drew me to the Toshiba over excellent mini netbooks from Asus, who invented the genre, and HP who have previously set the standard.

Let's install Eclipse SDK 3.5 and see how we go. I have already installed my registered copy of WinZip (great bit of software) so unzip, start up the development environment for the so-called Galileo release, create a new Java project, debug and voila, "Hello there!"

Easy and fast, usable even on the built-in 10.1" screen. Likewise, OpenOffice (the excellent open source office package), Microsoft Office (the academic version used by my wife, a teacher), the usual web browsers, gmail and google docs all work extremely well on this modestly-priced and light-weight platform.

I had hoped to have built-in Bluetooth for wireless connection to keyboard, mouse and mobile-phone modem however the advertisements for some of our major retailers misleadingly imply the 00D model has Bluetooth by writing 'Toshiba Mini NB200/00D Netbook features the Intel® Atom™ 1.6Ghz processor, 1GB Ram, a 160GB Hard Drive, Built-in webcam, Bluetooth®, Wi-Fi, 10.1" screen and ...' and adding 'Bluetooth Enabled No' in the fine print of the specifications.

(I believe it's an accidental sin of omission. It seems the up-market 00P/00Q models do include Bluetooth but not the cheaper 00C/00D models. I have let them know and they promised me a cheap Bluetooth adapter and to fix the web page.)

What else? I am a consultant and part of the reason for me to have a fully-functional ultra-portable is to enable me to work on the run, whether in coffee shops which lack WiFi access, or offices with good internal network security, so I must be able to connect to Telstra's excellent Next G network using Nokia PC Suite. It would have been useful to have built-in Bluetooth so I wouldn't have to remember to carry an extra cable as well as the netbook, on top of my mobile phone I always have with me.

Connecting to the Next G network using Nokia PC Suite, over a USB cable, works flawlessly and the connection is very fast, often bettering my broadband connection speed. I only use my mobile phone as a modem for email, documents and web access using gmail, google docs and so on. Beware you will quickly hit your monthly download limit or run-up excessive charges if you start to download stuff off the net willie-nillie.

Which reminds me, earlier today I phoned Telstra about an SMS I received telling me I had used all 150MB of my monthly downloads. Last night I trialled using my mobile as a modem for the first time on the new netbook. After speaking to five different people and being on hold for ages, they spoke to a techie who said it was not possible for me to download 130MB in the 20 minutes I was connected!

I actually downloaded 7.5MB Firefox 3.5 in a few minutes - blazingly fast - much faster than my broadband connection was running last night. So they upgraded my data pack to 300MB and credited $19.95 to my account - I have to call next month to change it back again to my usual $10 per month data pack for 150MB.

To conclude, I have no hesitation in recommending you consider a netbook as an effective computing platform for the mobile professional. In addition, I can confidently assert that you can use your netbook with an external screen and mouse as a desktop and laptop alternative for all but the most demanding of tasks.