Review: Dell Mini 12

Here's a partial list of computers I've used for at least 100 hours:

PC jr, Apple IIc+, some 386sx, some Pentium I, Compaq laptop (Pentium), HP laptop (Pentium III), Mac clone, Gateway Pentium III desktop, Mac iBook (the white one), Dell Inspiron 610 laptop, Dell Inspiron 530 laptop, Dell Desktop (dual Xeon chips), Dell Latitude notebook, ASUS eee, and probably 3 or 4 others I'm forgetting.  My point is, that I've used a ton of computers with a ton of different operating systems including DOS 4, every flavor of windows including 3.0, Mac OS, Mac OSX, Linux 2.4 and 2.6 (RedHat, Ubuntu, Fedora, and CentOS).  However, my favorite computer is the one I'm typing this blog post on ... my new Dell mini 12.  Here's what I love...the screen is just big enough at 12", the keyboard is just big enough since most of the keys are full size, the hard drive is just big enough at 60GB, and the processor seems to be fast enough...but the best two numbers are the price (less than $500) and the weight (less than 3lbs)...I LOVE those two numbers!!!

I've only used the computer for three days now (so I'll post a longer review in a couple months), but here's what I've found:

(1) While I wouldn't want to work on the computer for 8 hours straight (you'll still want a desktop or full feature laptop for that), I can easily work for 3-4 hours without being annoyed with the screen, keyboard, or speed.

(2) The new Intel Atom processor is okay -- you do not want to try running three applications at once (it has only a single core), but the speed is generally not an issue.  I watched Daytona 500 highlights on ESPN.com, and they were a little choppy, but still acceptable, and that was the processors biggest problem. 

(3) The bloated software known as MS Office seems to run just fine on the computer.  I've editted some big Word documents and powerpoint presentations without a problem.

I plan to add an SD memory card to help speed up access to big files, but the computer is generally just awsome.  I love saving my shoulder and only paying $450.  Seriously, I may just buy a new Dell mini every 18-24 months and never again by an expensive laptop that weighs a ton.

Book Review: Panic by Michael Lewis

First, this book is EDITTED by Michael Lewis, not written by him!  You think they could put that a little more clearly on the cover?  Any way, this book is a series of articles/essays about various financial collapses begining with the Wall Street collapse in 1987.  The major crashes covered are 1987, east asia (late 1990's), tech bubble in 1999-2000, and the subprime mortgage collapse in 2007-2008.  I enjoyed the book and felt like I learned a lot about topics such as currency exchanges, hedge funds, and CDO's.  I think reading about previous crashes really helps provide valuable perspective for the current economic situation.  The best essay in the book was a hillarious tongue-in-cheek article by Dave Berry. All the people waiting at gate C71 in the Salt Lake Airport think I'm insane because I was almost rolling on the floor I was laughing so hard while reading this article.  I wish the book was a little shorter, but I'd still recommend it (especially since all the proceeds are going to help rebuild New Orleans).

Reading a finance book has me thinking about the future.  Econimists nearly unanimiously agree that inflation is coming because the US government is printing money.  This means any money you have in the bank will shrink in value (be worth less), and any debt you have will shrink relative to its previous size (although most debt will still be bad).  So, how should we act if we know inflation is coming.  Clearly, we don't want too much money in the bank, and we would really like to exchange any dollars we do have for some other asset that will hold its value better.  I'd be reluctant to exchange dollars for Euro's since Europe will probably have a similar inflation problem.  One possible asset is real estate.  It is really cheap at the moment, and you can lock in debt at historically low interest rates.  What's the down-side here?  The only real downside is that real estate could continue to fall in value so it may be wise to wait another 3-6 months to ensure that we are at/near the bottom, but, other than that, what's the down-side?  With all the forclosures out there, there will be millions of people that can only rent for the next few years so finding renters shouldn't be a problem.  Alas, while this sounds like a good plan to me, I have neither the resources or desire to follow my plan.  In five years we'll know if I guessed right or was just crazy.