Ordered a Kogan Agora 12" Ultra Portable Laptop Computer

I have ordered a "Kogan Agora PRO 12" Ultra Portable Laptop Computer" (which actually has a 11.6 Inch screen), due at the end of May. My current Kogan 10" Netbook has mostly worked well since mid 2009. The after sales service has been very good, with Kogan replacing the power supply, no questions asked. But the screen and keyboard are just a bit too small for day to day use.

For me the 11 to 12 inch laptops seem the idea size: large enough to have a reasonable size keyboard and screen, but still small enough to carry, with a unit about the size of an A4 pad of paper. I bought the netbook because my previous laptop failed and I needed something in a hurry. The netbook was going to be a stopgap, but turned out to work better than expected.

It looks like the new laptop will fit in the neoprene slip case and carry bag I bought for the netbook. The slip case would be easy enough to replace, but the leather carry bag I got from a bag maker's shop in a basement near the Acropolis in Athens (I wanted one which looked like a saddle bag for a donkey). That would be a long way to go back, just to buy another bag. ;-)

This looks a good size computer for education. My hope is that it will arrive by 27 May, in time for me to show it off at the "Using interactive whiteboards, iPads and other technologies for teaching" workshop at ANU. What is getting lost in the enthusiasm for tablet computers and the like is that university students will probable require an old fashioned desktop or laptop computer as well. It would be very difficult to write a multi thousand word assignment on a tablet computer with a ten inch screen and virtual keyboard. It would be just about possible on a laptop with an 11.6 inch screen and a real keyboard.