Using the E90 as a main laptop wasn’t all woes and tragedies, and although I faced several limitations, I still enjoyed the E90’s set of advantages over the laptop.
Portability: first and foremost there’s weight. Between carrying around 200g and 3000g there’s a HUGE difference: back pain. The laptop with its case literally kills me if I carry it a whole day. The E90 on the other hand is nothing but a few grams over the usual smartphone. Size also matters and the laptop has to be carried in its own case, attracting eyes and potentially thieves. The E90 can be thrown in any bag, providing more convenience and privacy. Another advantage is that due to its small footprint, the E90 can be used anywhere, in a car, in the gym, while on-the-go, as for the laptop, well you have to be sitting steady, and usually in front of a desk. The E90’s charger is also very small compared to the average laptop charger, which is of high importance to anyone planning to go nomad.
Battery Life: talking about portability and work on the move isn’t relevant unless the gadget’s battery lasts enough to allow it. My old laptop can only last 1hr uncharged, but I know that most laptops last 2 to 3 hrs when in use. The E90 on the other hand is always on, and I can edit or read text for hours, then surf the web, check pdfs, listen to music,…, without worrying about battery life.
Start-up time: the convenience of having the E90 always on is important for checking email or RSS, whereas with a laptop, you have to think twice before firing it up, because it takes time and drains battery. Even if the E90 is powered off, it only takes a minute or so to start, which is way faster than a laptop.
Backlit keyboard: it took me a while to figure out the key that lights up the qwerty on the E90, but after I did, the E90 went from being an ordinary laptop to a very convenient night work station. The E90 screen is also small, which means I can work on it without being worried about waking up the whole house if I need to get some things done at night.
Phone, Camera, GPS: besides being a good laptop replacement, the E90 also packs a phone, a decent camera and a GPS chip, which means that its uses go a bit further than usual laptops.
These are the major advantages of using the E90 as a mobile work station. In part 3 of this report, I will explore the practical uses where an E90 can fully replace a laptop, so stay tuned for that.
