Coming today to Fat Friday: Sarkis Babachanian explains why his firm uses Macs, Tom Trottier reviews ZScreen and IrfanView for capturing screenshots to use in other programs, Steven Finell discusses spam versus spam control and which is the lesser evil, Roger Boyell provides a tip for those interested in building custom PCs, and Robert Fleming shares a workaround for using WordPerfect on multiple monitors. Don't miss this issue.
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Our most serendipitous offering, Fat Friday consists of unsolicited contributions by TechnoLawyer members. You'll no doubt enjoy it because of its mix of interesting topics and genuinely useful knowledge, including brutally honest product reviews and informative how-tos. The Fat Friday newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.
Coming today to Fat Friday: George Ross explains how he manages incoming email, Yvonne Renfrew shares her idea for making the ScanSnap S300 even more mobile, Thomas F. McDow discusses sharing an office with another lawyer (who also happens to be his wife), Paul Mansfield warns about one of the pitfalls of 64-bit computing, and Robert Fleming provides a helpful tip for running WordPerfect with multiple monitors. Don't miss this issue.
How to Receive Fat Friday
Our most serendipitous offering, Fat Friday consists of unsolicited contributions by TechnoLawyer members. You'll no doubt enjoy it because of its mix of interesting topics and genuinely useful knowledge, including brutally honest product reviews and informative how-tos. The Fat Friday newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.
Legal netbook fans take note! Asus of netbook fame released a fascinating new product late last year, which was re-introduced at CES 2009. It's called the Asus EEE Top 1602.
The more I think about it, the more I think it isn't just yet another member of the burgeoning EEE family of mini-systems, but possibly something revolutionary. This may just be the perfect accessory for your small firm's primary workstations — a second workstation for your desk.
What Is the Asus EEE Top?
It's essentially the guts of Acer's popular 1000H netbook (see my review of the 1000H in an earlier SmallLaw column). The EEE Top is replete with an Intel Atom N270 (1.6 GHz) processor, 1 GB of RAM, a 160 GB hard drive, N-series WiFi, built into a stand-up desktop, all-in-one-ish chassis with a 15.6" wide-mode display, and a wired keyboard and mouse.
One difference versus the Asus EEE netbooks is its use of an ATI Radeon 3450 discrete video system versus the earlier netbook's more minimalist integrated Intel graphic chipset — document image and digital photo viewing should benefit.
Plus the 15.6" wide-mode 16:9 format display. Ah, but that's no ordinary wide-mode LCD display … it's a touch-screen. Available in white or black, it's a little like either a smaller scale version of HP's pricey TouchSmart series of all-in-ones, or like an iMac "Junior" — with the white version having more than a passing resemblance to the previous generation of iMacs.
The operating system is Windows XP Home, commonplace in current netbooks — so we're spared the personal torture Vista would inflict on such a system. While it's no processing powerhouse, anyone who has used an Atom-equipped netbook has seen how zippy these systems are. And also, it's hard not to notice the quick boot-up and shut-down times versus regular Windows systems.
What is fascinating about these systems isn't Windows — certainly not. But Asus' "Dashboard" system evokes memories of its original netbook, the too-tiny to be useful EEE PC701 model. What I enjoyed about the 701 was its Linux GUI — elegantly simple, visually uncluttered and fast! Dashboard looks a lot like the 701's Linux GUI and includes a number of touch-enabled utilities with real promise. When you view the YouTube demo (see below) pay attention to the "memo" function. It literally lets you write memos on screen with your finger — very slick.
So What Would a Small Firm Do With an Asus EEE Top?
I can think of several scenarios. In the office, think of using it as a secondary network-connected PC, handling communication functions, and thereby unburdening one's primary system from those functions.
Use it as your Skype machine, have a browser open, run an intra-office IM system like the very slick Outlook Messenger, monitor your Twitter feeds, keep a posting window open for your practice's blog, monitor the news, etc.
Or what about placement at your receptionist's desk — use it to display your firm's marketing message via a slideshow running in a window — and one that welcomes visitors. Or take it much further and allow clients to check in when they visit. Let them press their own personalized welcome button on-screen, which could execute a Windows macro (using a program like MacroExpress) notifying their lawyer and his/her assistant, pulling up the client's matter in the case management system with the information about the appointment for a final briefing before the meeting (with the client's picture of course, to jog the memory).
How about another one for the kitchen counter at home? Use it to check the Food Network for the evening's recipe, place Peapod orders, and leave hand-touch-written memos for the kids about the lasagna in the fridge just needing to be heated in the convection oven.
Conclusion
So it is a KitchenTop? I think so. How about a ConnectTop for your office communications? Yes, I can see that. What about a SecondTop — just another PC to run secondary programs to unburden your primary PC? Whatever it may be, the Asus EEE Top seems to be much more than a low-budget iMac or TouchSmart. The Top may be hard to top for work and play. Sign me up — I can't wait to review it.
Postscript: A Message to the Mac Lawyers Who Dissed Me
Finally, a note to all the surprisingly unfriendly Mac Lawyers who trashed my pro-Mac SmallLaw column.
Guess what people, today's column was written in Microsoft Word 2008 on my 13" MacBook acquired in December 2008. Does that make me a "Mac person." Nope. Just like I'm not a "Windows person." Rather, I'm just a "person" not defined into a mere label by virtue of whatever computer or operating system I happen to use at any given moment. How ironic is it that devoted users of one of the friendliest technologies ever created are some of the least friendly legal technology consumers I've ever encountered?
How to Receive SmallLaw
Small firm, big dreams. Published first via email newsletter and later here on our blog, SmallLaw provides you with a mix of practical advice that you can use today, and insight about what it will take for small law firms like yours to thrive in the future. The SmallLaw newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.
Coming today to Fat Friday: David Copeland joins the debate over whether law firms should build their own custom PCs, Tom Trottier reviews POPFile for controlling spam, Malcolm Gregson shares an important integration issue between Compulaw Vision Docket and Peachtree, Lincoln Miller responds to Ross Kodner's recent SmallLaw column on the search for the perfect laptop, and Louis Rosner reviews LogMeIn Free. Don't miss this issue.
How to Receive Fat Friday
Our most serendipitous offering, Fat Friday consists of unsolicited contributions by TechnoLawyer members. You'll no doubt enjoy it because of its mix of interesting topics and genuinely useful knowledge, including brutally honest product reviews and informative how-tos. The Fat Friday newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.
Coming today to Answers to Questions: Carlton Barnes reviews SharePoint 3.0 and SharePoint Server, Oskar Teran reviews several Mac and Linux alternatives to Microsoft Exchange, Peter Conway discusses digital dictation from the viewpoints of the lawyer and transcriber respectively, Neil Kaufman reviews PDF Converter Professional 5, and Fraser Page shares some helpful resources for online Word training. Don't miss this issue.
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Published on Thursdays, Answers to Questions is a weekly newsletter in which TechnoLawyer members answer legal technology and practice management questions submitted by their peers (including you if you join TechnoLawyer). Like all of our newsletters, it's free. Please subscribe now.
Coming today to Fat Friday: David Hirsch discusses Macs in the law office, Thomas Daly shares the details of his comprehensive backup routine, Tom Trottier explains the differences between laptops and smartphones and what hybrids he'd like to see in the future, Alan Schaaf discusses the ROI of building versus buying your firm's PCs, and Robert Copeland reviews upgrading to Time Matters 9.0. Don't miss this issue.
How to Receive Fat Friday
Our most serendipitous offering, Fat Friday consists of unsolicited contributions by TechnoLawyer members. You'll no doubt enjoy it because of its mix of interesting topics and genuinely useful knowledge, including brutally honest product reviews and informative how-tos. The Fat Friday newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.
Coming today to Fat Friday: Chris Gibson reviews BlackBerry Professional (and we discuss mobile practice management applications), Paul Mansfield reviews the HP Pavilion tx2513cl tablet PC, Paul Nosek explains how to buy a custom PC without knowing how to build one, Gary Preble shares some important rules of thumb for written communication, and Kevin Grierson reviews the Swopper office chair. Don't miss this issue.
How to Receive this Newsletter
Published on Fridays, Fat Friday is a weekly newsletter that features a grab bag full of genuinely useful product reviews and tips on a wide variety of topics. Like all of our newsletters, it's free. Please subscribe now.
Coming today to Fat Friday: Joseph Marquette explains why law firms should not build their own PCs, Chris Gibson explains how to copy and paste from Excel to Word, Edward Still criticizes challenge response software and shares his listserver pet peeves (plus we explain why spam dropped off a cliff this week), Edwin Eubank reviews Office 2007 on Windows Vista, and Leslie Shear writes in with additional concerns regarding importing data from Timeslips to Bill4Time. Don't miss this issue.
How to Receive this Newsletter
Published on Fridays, Fat Friday is a weekly newsletter that features a grab bag full of genuinely useful product reviews and tips on a wide variety of topics. Like all of our newsletters, it's free. Please subscribe now.
How to Receive this Newsletter
Published on Fridays, Fat Friday is a weekly newsletter that features a grab bag full of genuinely useful product reviews and tips on a wide variety of topics. Like all of our newsletters, it's free. Please subscribe now.
Coming today to Answers to Questions: Corey Rich reviews the Firefox extension ScrapBook for capturing and saving Web pages, Jeff Schlueter discusses file format and device options for spoken audio as well as some thoughts on audio discovery, and Julian Garcia explains why you should avoid long file names. Don't miss this issue.
How to Receive this Newsletter
Published on Thursdays, Answers to Questions is a weekly newsletter in which TechnoLawyer members answer legal technology and practice management questions submitted by their peers (including you if you join TechnoLawyer). Like all of our newsletters, it's free. Please subscribe now.
