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Whoops, I meant notebook, not netbook. I agree, I think a netbook would be a little underpowered for most of my work.

Laptops nowadays are getting pretty light... I just went through this decision myself and went for a 12" notebook. I like the small size, snappiness, and long battery life. The weight is good too for carrying...but I am on the road all the time for work. It's so easy to hook up an HDMI cable to a larger monitor for home/office work (and those monitors are super cheap from BestBuy these days). On the flipside, the 15" laptop seems to be the sweet spot for price point. You can get a good machine really cheap, or a great machine at a decent price. I'm also a big advocate of paper & pencil, and bound books... so I like the small laptop to keep my weight down.

It's a new program with a small following, so I'm not surprised there's no specific group. But it's my program Are there any other DEM folks in here? I feel like it would be the best fit for the topic. Either here or Interdisciplinary Studies...

Hi folks, I've been poking around this forum for months, gleaning whatever info I could, so I suppose it's time to say hi. I started a Masters of Disaster and Emergency Management in August 2014 at Royal Roads University in Victoria, BC, Canada. I work full time in the field in Ontario so this blended program (mostly correspondence but with a few 2 week "residency" sessions) fits nicely. BTW -- I looked for a discipline-specific subforum and *sigh* no DEM group. I suppose it's sort of Humanities.... Or maybe I'll make friends in the Social Sciences or Interdisciplinary Studies It's nice have this forum available and not waste time reinventing the wheel. Cheers, Andrew

Thanks everyone. I will be going for a portable, lightweight netbook and installing my favourite linux distro on it to get stuff done

Thank you. I'm not too concerned about using the chromebook offline because I would be wiping it and installing linux to make it into a full-fledged OS. I'm interested in your thoughts about tablets not being able to replace laptops.... what do you feel you're missing? (If you added a remote keyboard/mouse).

Thank you. How do you find the 13" screen? i.e. could you get work done on a smaller one? And what sort of battery life do you get?

Hi folks, I'm new here. I am about a quarter of the way through a master's degree in Disaster & Emergency Management. It's a humanities degree with lots of reading and writing. My million-year-old Dell Vostro 1000 bit the dust and I need a new computer! I'm currently running ElementaryOS Linux on my Vostro. It meets all my needs from a software perspective, it's the hardware that is cumbersome (ZERO battery life, hot, heavy, etc.). I've seen lots of threads in this very forum about tablets vs chromebooks vs laptops vs <insert crazy Siri wristwatch technology> but am hoping to narrow the focus here to a few specific options. I'd like to hear from anyone who is using these options (or something similar to them). I don't want to get something, dislike it, return it, and rinse & repeat forever. So without further ado here are my 3 options: 1. Tablet + external bluetooth keyboard - This would probably be an Android. Perhaps the Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro + Logitech Galaxy Pro Keyboard. My phone is Android and I'm deeply embedded in the Google ecosystem. I even use Google Docs/Spreadsheets for most of my content creation. 2. "Ultranetbook" Chromebook running ElementaryOS Linux - I'm perfectly comfortable wiping, say, the Acer C720 and installing linux. This allows for offline use, can run my own programs, etc. and the chromebook hardware ensures a nice thin, light, portable machine with long battery life. 3. Traditional Laptop - Tried, tested and true. I would still wipe it and install linux, but it would be bigger, heavier, and likely shorter battery life. Sort of a compromise.... perhaps a 14" model with an Intel i5 core. Some decision factors: Cost - let's say it's not a constraint I travel a lot - My job has me flying all over the continent, often to places without internet access. My degree is blended meaning partially by correspondence and sometimes on campus. I need something that's portable and easy to pack/unpack/use. This also means an external monitor is not a realistic option. I also want to maximize time spent on airplanes which means small + good battery life. I read and write a lot - My degree requires a tonne of reading & writing. I need to be comfortable typing for extended periods (I will be writing a thesis). I'm worried that an 11-12" tablet or chromebook screen will be too small. I also like the idea of reading on a tablet (especially while travelling) instead of opening up a laptop. I have some loyalties - I'm tied into Zotero for all my referencing and notes, and the Google ecosystem for files & collaboration. I do _not_ want an iPad or MS Surfance. I've tried both and am staying away. I'd like to go paperless - My current reading method is to print all articles and read/highlight/take notes. I'd like to do away with this and I thought perhaps a tablet would help. Printed articles get to be bulky and heavy after a while.....and I'm destroying Fern Gully! I am in Canada - But I'm close to the US border. So if it's not available here, I'm willing to have it shipped/go pick it up. That post was much longer than I had hoped. Thank you for staying with me. If you have any experience using any of these options (or similar) please let me know what works and what doesn't.