Thanks everyone. The more I learn the more uncertain I am. The Asus' sound good - and I know Raven loves hers - but when I look at the negative reviews (on varous sites), there seems to be significant quality control issues. Lots of lemons - and defects - and terrible cusotmer service. There's enough of that type of review that I hesitate to buy an Asus tablet. I saw a google nexus 10. I prefer it to have a microsd card slot - not have fixed storage like an ipad. It also just did not feel or look good to me. Genes - you may be right about not finding that kind of battery life for video play. I thought that ipads were (at least older generations) got 9-10 hours of video play. On the one hand, i would expect video to be one of the biggest battery drains. But perhaps surfing the web - downloading content, etc also consumes battery life. Urlee - I interpreted that quote about really killing the tablet - and what battery life it gets - to suggest that even using it to the max - he gets 6 hours - and thinks "regular?" use could get 10 hours. Of course, we don't know what "regular is". That kind of leaves the Samsung tablets - either galaxy tab 10.1 - or Note. The actual pen aspect of the note doesn't do anything for me (maybe I'd wind up loving it - but it's not on my list of desireable features). I just saw a refurbished note at Best Buy for about $330 (something like that - I had a small credit - and there was tax). 500-600. They're often closer to $So I decided to order it and give it a try. It's supposed to be fast - 2GB ram - with ICS. I have not seen one in person. This has just 16GB on board storage - but with a micro sd slot, that doesn't matter since I can add 64GB more. For some reason, this Note doesn't excite me in theory the way the Asus tablets did. But the relatively large number of complaints (and consistent complaints) on Asus have made me pause. Mike - I am aware that many international flights have power ports. But we have not been that lucky in our last international flights. These flights have been booked through an educational tour group - and therefore the airline has been very reluctant to give us any information. I know we're in a Boeing 777. But from Seat Guru it looks like there are 5 different versions. And the one that looks closest to the seating chart on Delta's website - does not have power ports in economy. One seating chart looked like it might. Another suggested just ipod/iphone charging in economy - no tablets or laptops. But none of the charts on seat guru quite match what's on Delta. If there were power ports, that would make this easy. But my experience is, don't count on power ports. First - they may not be in economy. And if they are, they may not be at every seat. And even if they're there, doesn't mean they're working. (Heck - 2 of the last 4 domestic flights I took - the readling light for my seat was not working - and the flights were full - no reading for me (this was before i had the Nook). If I could really count on power ports that work - I'd just bring my nook tablet for now. But it's been acting up in terms of battery drain lately - and I don't want to risk this as my only entertainment. I'll keep everyone posted. Thanks. Lynn.

I have the ASPIRE ONE 722- BZ454 net book...I do not see on the back of my net book any numbers like you had mentioned AOA110 or the other...so what does this mean? I have an updated net book? My battery is fine so far, but just wanted to check in the event this may happen to mine in the future. BTW, I used just once the internal camera...when I first bought this unit, and now I don't know how to initiate it. No manual or anything.

Hi debi, I was told that you should let the battery completely discharge through use from time to time. Here's some information which says you should do exactly that - but ... I've also been told that that is not necessarily the case so it seems that opinions differ : 'Permanent capacity loss is greatest at elevated temperatures with the battery voltage maintained at 4.2V (fully charged). For maximum storage life, batteries should be stored with a 40 percent charge (3.6V) at 40°F (refrigerator). Perhaps one of the worst locations for a Li-ion battery is in a laptop computer when used daily on a desktop with the charger connected. Laptops and portable devices typically run warm or even hot, raising the battery temperature, and the charger is maintaining the battery near 100 percent charge. Both of these conditions shorten battery life, which could be as short as 6 months to a year. If possible, remove the battery and use the AC adapter for powering the laptop when the computer is used on a desktop. A properly cared for laptop battery can have a service life of two to four years, or more.' This info was obtained through link below if you are interested. Donna Here is a link that might be useful: Battery Maintenance

Read your manual. It probably has the guidelines best suited for 'your laptops design and its circuitry . Toshiba here was first time ever taken out of the factory box about mid December 2007, so its 1.5 yrs old, I don't know how long it sat on shelf - its battery right now shows a 6% wear level, 44000 mWh design capacity new / currently 41151 mWh at 100% of charge. Probably more than 99 percent of the time its on the AC adapter and runs 24/7. Sleeps after 100 minutes of non use which really doesn't happen every day like I should. I should force sleep for it & then maybe I'd force more normal sleep on me too ;) Battery is under the left palm rest where I feel no heat. It would be rare for me in the things I do to shut down windows before moving the laptop while the on battery. Only have the one ac adapter, meant to buy another for a second location but price always makes me dizzy.