The Netbook vs Smartphone Conundrum

Our family Verizon contract has been eligible for renewal since November 2009, and I’m caught in analysis paralysis. Do I replace my trusty but clunky Palm Treo 700 with a shiny new Blackberry or a new HP Netbook? It’s a conundrum.

Daughter Johna and husband Robert jumped right in and grabbed up shiny new LG enV handsets. Johna, who is 22, is the self-appointed queen of texting. Forget about minutes, rollover or otherwise; we never come near to the allotted family total. But I finally had to give in to the inevitability of the unlimited texting plan when Johna exceeded her monthly 500 text message allowance to the tune of $69 in overage charges – at 10 cents per message, you do the math! For her and her dad, the enV is just right, with it’s ready phone and pop-open keyboard for the multi-person chat fests Johna regularly engages in.

I’m actually envious of the enV – but it won’t do it for me,  the business user and email/web junkie. The Treo email interface is workable, although my calendar no longer synchs since I’ve upgraded my laptop, and the web surfing or newsgroup experiences leave much to be desired. The battery life and response time is far superior to my prior Motorola Q, and I’ve become addicted to the touchscreen convenience of the Treo interface. But typing a long text or email on the Treo’s Blackberry-esque keypad is a painful process. I’ve long pined for a more robust portable keyboard.

Then there’s traveling with a laptop. While doing the requisite striptease gymnastics in the security line, I’ve often wondered how many times laptops have been dropped and damaged by weary travellers in the process of transferring them from their padded cocoons into the naked plastic bins for scanning. Having endured three week-long conferences in the past three months, I can tell you that juggling a laptop case and carry-on along with even a small roller-bag is cumbersome – especially when you have to navigate city streets and public transit.

Which brings me to the personal allure of the new HP Netbook that Verizon has just announced. As HP is one of our longest running and largest customers, I would have a hard time carrying one of those otherbrands, but I could glom onto an HP Netbook rather quickly. The keyboard and screen would seem downright enormous – even GI-nourmous! – in comparison to the couple inches square on the Treo, and the touch pad would help compensate for the lack of touch screen.

The netbook option would be adequate for running a PowerPoint or reviewing a proposal in Word – or creating a blog post – but would fall short of being able to fully handle my more demanding work and personal tasks, such as creating said presentation with robust graphics or editing in PhotoShop. The lack of screen real estate would make writing a proposal a challenge. Given all that, I can’t entertain the idea of actually replacing my trusty power notebook for a wimpy netbook for work. But it holds a strong pull as a potential road companion, offering much greater functionality than a smartphone without the hassle of carrying a full laptop.  

But then … do I really want to carry a separate phone? Would I miss having access – albeit limited and less than ideal – to email and newsgroups in a handheld device?

Like I said … I’m in analysis paralysis. It’s a conundrum! I welcome your thoughts and observations.