I've had my eye on the precise laptop that you mention! In fact I've read about it for over a year, but strangely its release had been confined to Germany (or some other European state), and it was near impossible to find in the US. Of course the 3820T was easy to find, but lacking the crucial Radeon 5650. I'll give it a second look! Thanks for the recommendation. I'm really interested to hear more about the refresh of this line.

The LCD panel is one area that Apple consistently slays the competition. There are other options that offer high quality panels, but Apple seems to get the balance of form, battery life, screen, power just right, and other manufacturers make one or two huge compromises. At least this seems to be the case with the MBP. Don't even get me started on the HP envy line; so much potential, so many mistakes.

I'd jump on the latest Macbook Air, but something tells me that battery life is seriously going to be compromised with Ubuntu (if it indeed is easy to install). I'm also not sure if the LCD is as good as the MBP line.

Here's an interesting app called Locale. It basically performs actions based on time or location!

http://www.androidtapp.com/locale/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWEuuLoIarE

Set your Tab to react according to your location, or according to the time! For example: have your device automatically connect to WiFi when at work based on its location and time!

By the by, all... I have to tell you that having TWO Androids on my long two-day train ride (four days, if you count going and coming back) was definitely worth it. My Droid was reporting my progress to Goole Latitude for my family and friends to see, and it's where I usually read and posted my progress and observations on Facebook with the new and improved Facebook app--also, it was my telephone! Meanwhile, my Galaxy Tab was where I tended to do more of my TV viewing, Internet browsing and other things to occupy my time.

On the train, at Chicago's Union Station and everywhere else I showed up--EVERYONE kept asking me about it. Usually, it started out with something like, 'Hey--is that one of those new iPads?' And then I go into a, 'Nope! It's the brand new Samsung Galaxy Tab that just came out a few days ago. In my opinion, far better because it fits in my pocket (which I show them).'

Best of all was getting all the use-cases that people had for it. My favorite was a guy at Union Station that looked at it and said it would be an EXCELLENT replacement for the laptop he's currently using to do college schoolwork. He wanted something THAT portable to be able to take notes, track schedules, do dictation and so on.

Anyway, in the end, I used the Tab almost continuously the entire vacation and it worked spectacularly and freed my Droid up to have a far longer battery life for phone calls and text messaging.

Here's a screenshot of what the Readers Hub looks like on the Bell Galaxy Tab.

The interface styling is much, much nicer IMO.

This MBA is excellent, but if you're considering it and you haven't already done so, you should go to the macrumors MBA forum.

Installing an Ubuntu 10.10 ISO image inside VirtualBox is simple, yet even when the VM is paused, top reports that VirtualBox is still sucking on 1.3% of a CPU. Not sure what's going on there, but it's the same for my Mac Mini. VMs consistenly run at over 6% whether or not X is running.

There was so much additional plug-ins for this app I had give up the ten bucks for it!

To all you tablet afficiando's - I have been lusting for the Tab but lacking a wifi version I started looking at alternatives.

How does the Archos 70 or Archos 101 compare with the Tab - apart from the obvious lack of Google Market ? I have been seriously thinking about this - as the price range is in the sweet spot.

I think I'm going to take this recommendation! Ebay has a few s305s that are a great price. Unfortunately Amazon in Canada charges a cool $50 for the headphones!

Of course. I was referring to the mouse, but a keyboard is a hugely convenient feature, especially for an administrator such as yourself!

That's good to know. Are you a rampant app killer?

Am always scared am gonna get hit from behind!