Terra A20 Netbook

The Terra A20 Ubuntu netbook from Zareason is a great Linux machine with all the custom options you want. The A20 has a thin stylish case, with many color options for those enamoured with aesthetics. Under the hood there is even room for an internal 3G cellular modem for mobile broadband on the go (which I gleefully had installed). There is also an Intel Atom N270 1.6 GHz processor, up to 2 GB of memory and a variety of options for the hard disk.

Rather than install the latest version of Ubuntu, I opted for Linux Mint 8. Ubuntu is solid, but I am of the opinion that Mint has gone its OS cousin a few steps further.

Boot time is a strong plus for this little gadget. Windows-based laptops tend to be afflicted by boot time creep. With every new application and driver you load you'll see the time from hitting the power button to a useful computer slowly creep up. The Zareason Terra A20 goes from power on to login screen in a 45 seconds. Type in your user name and password and you can be up and running in another 10 seconds. Works for me.

The biggest seller for me however was Zareason's customer support. It blows everyone else out of the water bar-none. What helps is the fact that this Berkeley, California based company is still quite small. The last time I called support I spoke directly with the CTO who walked me through part of an install (I am still new to Linux but learning more and more each day).

Go to http://www.zareason.com/shop/product.php?productid=16216&cat=250&page=1 and check out the options for the A20. While the battery life leaves much to be desired (I ordered and extra one just in case) and the speakers are not the greatest, what counts if the high level of functionality and customer support. Simply one of the best machines out there. And the lack of media attention for this netbook and Zareason in general is not for lack of competency. The Windows-based competition out there has every reason to be nervous about this up and coming company.