With some encouraging from my parents I decided to get a netbook for my three week trip in Peru and Ecuador. As an avid blogger and photographer it would be difficult to limit myself to the occasional internet cafe during the trip. On my trip through Cambodia, Vietnam, and Bali I packed my Toshiba Satellite. But this trip i'll just use one bag and want to stay as compact and lightweight as possible.

As you can see, this thing is tiny. I'm writing this post on my cell phone so a small keyboard isn't a problem. It's small enough that i'll have space for a drink on the tray table of airplanes - impossible with my giant laptop.

It is light too. There isn't a cd or dvd drive - but i'm not planning on watching movies on this trip. It has an 8.9" screen, 1 GB ram, a 160 gig hard drive, a card reader suitable for my camera, wireless, webcam, and runs on XP. It came with a thin slip case to protect it from scratches. Even the power block is small - a worry that I had. In fact, the power cords add only 11 ounces of weight. I might be able to get that down if I can find a shorter cord that goes from the wall to the power brick.

I'll be looking for a tiny usb mouse to use with it but if I don't find something it isn't a big deal - I can use the touch pad and just be a little slower. The smaller keys slow me down in my typing a little.

I can eliminate my cell phone charger and instead charge my phone using the usb port of the netbook but that only saves me one ounce. But it would allow me to sync my phone if I get that software installed in the next 3 days.