Think small, developers!

For the past week, my main working machine has been largely crippled by display and performance problems I haven't been able to figure out. It has made working on it nearly impossible, so I shifted most of my projects to my trusty little Lenovo S10-2 netbook. Working intensely on the smaller keyboard for longer than a long train trip has revealed the need to retrain myself with regard to hand positioning and consciously relax certain fingers in order to avoid exacerbating problems of numbness and pain that sometimes result from using a keyboard too much. (Yes, I know... it's time to update my old Dragon Naturally Speaking license!)

The biggest ergonomic issue for me, however, isn't the two fingers without much feeling. It's the lack of adaptation of many software applications to a small display.

There are a lot of translators travelling with netbooks these days. Other professionals too. Yet as far as I can tell, despite the popularity of these devices for several years now, if software displays correctly on it, this is likely more a matter of accident than design. The TWB macros in Trados Classic won't be much of a problem nor will similar applications. But the whole collection of tools with the SDLX / SDL Trados 2009 / Déjà Vu X / memoQ layout style have moderate to serious issues on a netbook display. SDL Trados 2009 actually comes out best in that regard at the moment from what I've seen, but it's far from perfect.

I think this is a niche that could be exploited successfully by a tool vendor willing to help customers who want to work better while travelling light. I include vendors of other translation-relevant tools, such as business management, word count and invoicing tools in this suggestion. If you are a part of one of these shops, run your application on a netbook and work with it for a few hours. Then think of ways to relieve your suffering.

I see developers sweating over interfaces for iPhones, Blackberry devices, and other hand-sized junk. Frankly, a netbook optimization would be easier and more useful. I use my netbook all the time for remote telephony when I'm on the road. Using my Skype account and local wireless networks, I have saved a huge amount of money calling from Hungary, the Czech Republic and elsewhere using my netbook. And when I want to take notes, write or translate it offers me acceptable options, unlike hand-held devices.

Fortunately I can overcome this trouble at my desk by attaching a large second monitor to the video output on the netbook. But it would be really nice if one of my main TEnT tools offered a better interface for working on a netbook by the next time I go on a long train trip.

The Lenovo S10-2 netbook: a great traveling companion

May 3, 2010
I've been travelling by train from Berlin to Budapest for nearly twelve hours. Last Friday I realized that I couldn't bring my laptop on this trip, because it is being used as a temporary server after our network storage failed recently. It also has a number of programs installed on it which my partner needs to access during my absence.

Since we had been considering a new laptop or a netbook to upgrade our aging infrastructure, I decided there was no better time to take the plunge and discover what a netbook is really like for travel and work. After a bit of root canal work by my lovely lady dentist to get me in the mood, I wandered over to Star 61 for a shot of the best ristretto in Berlin and a look at the selection of hardware. As luck would have it, the Lenovo S10-2 netbooks were on sale for 100 euros less than the week before; with an upgrade to 2 GB RAM I still got one for less than 300 euros. It's small and light - about 1.2 kg - but the keyboard is only a little smaller than the machine on which I usually work.

The power management of this netbook is superb. I've spent a lot of time writing reviews, translating, working on my presentation for memoQfest 2010 and installing software along with food breaks, some light reading of Oscar Cammenici's adventures, and fiddling with the webcam, and I still have 45 minutes worth of power according to the battery indicator. I don't believe it, but I'm quite satisfied with the performance in any case. And it's quiet, cool and faster than the four-year-old laptop on which I've been working.

May 4, 2010
With the release of the second beta version of memoQ 4.2 I now have all the critical work applications I need running on the netbook. The performance of both DVX and memoQ as well as the Microsoft Office 2007 suite on the netbook is excellent.