Travel compter suggestions

I use an Acer Aspire 1, and I am completely satisfied. The screen is not as large as my desktop at home, but it suffices, and the tradeoff is it has a footprint smaller than a piece of notebook paper and fits in a case so small no one thinks it is a computer. It runs Office, so I can use Excel to hold all of my travel information and to track expenses, and it has built in Wifi, so I can send email home and upload to my website. It also has a slot for an SD card. Like you, I want a real keyboard, one where I can feel the keys when typing. Not being able to feel the keys means I have to watch what my fingers are doing instead of looking at the screen to see what I am typing. The lack of cursor movement keys on a pad, IMO, is a fatal flaw. I also own a pad, and I don't even think of taking it with me.

Joseph, thanks for asking the question, I have a similar inquiry/dilemma and look forward to seeing the responses. Lee, I was wondering if you could tell me how much the total weight of the Acer is when you factor in the computer and associated cables, etc. that you travel with? We are looking for a travel computer, too, and don't want a tablet. The Acer looks good, and I see the computer is around 3 lbs but wondered what it weighs "all in."

Thanks.
I have been looking online at the Acer Aspire models. I have also been reading about the HP Pavilion 14". Negatives on the track pad for the latter and I fear it may be bigger and heavier than I want to carry. The last two trips I have taken a Toshiba laptop. 6.3lbs. Too heavy for my backpack, and my back. Want to stay under 3lbs. if at all possible.

I use the same Acer Aspire 1 that Lee has. I bought it last year for my trip to Europe because I also need a full keyboard and wanted to be able to upload all my photos each night from my camera cards and see them on a decent sized screen but also wanted something not too heavy. It worked out very well for me and I just love it for travel - so small and light compared to my home laptop computer and actually has a pretty long battery life so I could use it on trains where I couldn't plug in.

Joseph, the HP Pavilion 14" is what I used to have and it was horribly heavy to carry around. I took it on a trip once and hated every minute of having to carry it, which is why I bought the Acer for this trip - I just need something smaller and lighter.

Angela, the Acer C710-2055 Chromebook is the current (?) version. It weighs 3 lbs. Check http://www.cnet.com/laptops/acer-c710-2055-chromebook/4507-3121_7-35636364.html for a review and specs. The new Acer has an 11" screen too (these are always a diagonal measurement, of course. It is not 11" high or wide, but a nice size for reading. Nancy, I agree. the HP weighs (4.7 lbs.) almost as much as my Toshiba. I think it is out of the running.

Mac Airbook - 11 inch screen. It has solid state memory so no hard drive. It boots up and shurs down almost instantly, which I find useful traveling. More expensive than PC but worth it.

Joseph, thanks for the additional info and review link, this computer is compelling. I see that the computer weighs 3 pounds, but I guess what I am curious to know is how much the cord that plugs into the wall weighs. We have an ancient laptop that is not only heavy but the cord has a "brick" on it that weighs a ton, too, and is a pain to lug around. Or maybe they don't come that way anymore and the 3 pounds-ish is really just that, cords and everything? Sorry, I really don't mean to hijack your thread here, especially since you asked the question and now appear to have turned from asker into responder!

My husband got te Microsoft Surface with a keyboard cover and USB drive for traveling. He seems perfectly satisfied with it. It's only a few onces heavier than my iPad.

Angela, the cord and "brick" for the Acer adds about 6-8oz to the total weight, hard for me to tell w/o a scale but it's not much.

Stan, I love the Mac computers, but I do not want to have that much invested in something I am carrying in a back pack in various parts of the world. Besides, does not fit well into my retirement budget. Oh Angela, the only reason I have ANY info is because I have been searching the web for reviews. It took me a month or so just to decide I did not want a netbook or another regular laptop. This after much reading online and pestering the guys at Office XXX, Best Buy, Staples. The former, because of not being able to do what I wanted; the latter because of size and weight. I think the cords have improved much from yours. The one for my current Toshiba is half the weight, really @ 6oz., of my other and older laptop. This weekend I am actually going to a store and look at some of the assorted Chrome varieties with the intent to purchase. Have a great weekend all of you and thanks for the input.

I also have the same Acer Aspire One as Lee. It gets daily use at home, and will be making its second trip to Spain next week. The netbook itself weighs less than three pounds. The power cord adds less than a half pound, so an estimate of three pounds is pretty close for everything. I have a mini-mouse I can use with it, but don't take it abroad. But I don't believe that a Chromebook is at all the same at the Aspire One. As I understand it, Chromebooks have no storage of their own. They store everything in the "cloud". That wouldn't make me happy. My netbook has a 320 GB hard drive. Just curious what you have found out - what does the Chrome do that netbooks cannot? With the netbook, I can upload pictures from my camera's SD card and edit them even if I don't have an internet connection. I can watch movies I have downloaded, and do lots of other offline things, too. Am I mistaken in thinking that the Chromebook needs to be connected to the internet to access your materials?

Well my wife uses an IPad with an external keyboard. During the day she just uses the IPad for maps, books etc.. But at night she hooks up the keyboard for emails etc.

Over the last month, I have been looking for a similar thing. I am going to Europe next month and I needed something that was lightweight, had a keyboard, SD card slot, a USB port and could act in a tablet fashion. I needed something that would allow me to view my photos and transfer them from my SD card to either a flash drive or external hard drive for backup. Normally, I just travel with my iPad for reading, movies and web surfing but due to the photography needs on this trip, my iPad was just not going to cut it. I did a lot of research to find something that met my fairly specific requirements. I ended up getting a Lenovo Ideapad Yoga 11s and it is just great. It can function in 4 modes (notebook, stand, tent and tablet), weights about 3 lbs, keyboard, SD card slot, 2 USB ports (2.0 and 3.0). The only drawbacks for me would be the less than optimal battery life (reviews indicate an average of about 5.5 hours) and the bottom of the machine can get a little hot. I have had it for about 2 weeks now and I'm very pleased with the purchase and excited to use it next month during my trip. Hope you find something that will work for you.

Joseph, I've been using a Toshiba NB-305 Netbook for travels, which is similar to the type of computer that Lee mentioned. It's been a fantastic travel accessory so far, but there are some "compromises". Here are a few thoughts..... > It's small and relatively light (even with the Charger), making it easy to travel with. > The keyboard and screen (10") are smaller, so take a bit of "adjustment" to get used to. > If there's a choice in battery size, buy the largest one as that can provide up to 10 hours of operation (perfect for long flights). Having a removable battery is another good feature (makes it easy to change batteries when one wears out). > Netbooks are engineered more for battery life than performance, so some programs (ie: Photoshop) probably won't be usable. The small "Atom" processors are great for word processing, internet use, E-mail, etc. > I'd suggest NOT using a model that requires access to the Cloud or the internet for storage. Wi-Fi access in Europe can be a bit "unreliable" at times, so it's definitely an advantage to have storage available so you can work off-line. > Many Netbooks have a built-in SD card reader, which means it's very easy to transfer photos. My Netbook uses Windows 7 Starter and the downloading process is simple. I'm a big fan of MAC computers (I'm typing this reply on a MacBook Pro) and really like the MacBook Air series but I won't use one for travel as they're about four times the cost of my Netbook. If it was ever lost, damaged or stolen, that would be a major problem as I'm on a Pension. Also, the solid-state memory is not adequate for my photo storage needs. A 320 GB (or larger) Hard Drive is better for my situation. Good luck!

Thanks to all for your help. I have done the research, made a decision, ordered my choice. It arrived today (10AUG13). I have it up and going, connected and operational on Chrome, and my email works. I have yet to be able to import my bookmarks, but will figure it out. I will start a new thread to let you know how my choice is working for me, in case anyone else is curious. Will not continue this thread, however. Havea great day!