NetBook advice

[N_Jay]

OK, so now I want to spend some $$.

Who has had good and bad experience with the new NetBooks out there.

Screen 10, vs 11, vs 12?

Processor?

Brands?

Models?

[hondapilotjim]

Originally posted by N_Jay
OK, so now I want to spend some $$.

Who has had good and bad experience with the new NetBooks out there.

Screen 10, vs 11, vs 12?

Processor?

Brands?

Models?

netbooks are basically for children.you are better off getting a small screen laptop.

[N_Jay]

Originally posted by hondapilotjim

netbooks are basically for children.you are better off getting a small screen laptop.

Why?

Which small laptop do you recommend?
And where do you draw the line between a small laptop and a NetBook?

I already have Dell E6500 loaded.

[rlapid]

netbooks have less processing power and lack features found in larger notebooks, but i wouldn't say they are for children. i have a dell mini 10 and its perfect for my needs: a lightweight, small machine that i can take notes in class with, put together reports, and surf the web. if you plan on using the netbook for simple tasks like word processing, image editing, web browsing, and playing music, you'll be fine. however, if you plan on doing lots of processor-heavy multi-tasking, gaming or video editing, then you might want to look into a slightly larger, but more powerful notebook.

screen size: 10" is fine. 11 or 12 would be even better but i wanted to keep overall size of the netbook to a minimum. i would not recommend 9" and smaller, the keyboards are usually very cramped

processor: most use intel atom, which are very small but lack power as i mentioned earlier. my roommate has an MSI Wind which has an overclocking feature, pretty cool

brands: most netbooks have similar processors, memory, and hard drives (not including solid-state) regardless of brand. i chose the dell because i liked the design and large keyboard. some well-known brands include Acer, ASUS, MSI, Dell, HP, Lenovo, Samsung, and EEE PC.

models: every brand has several different models, usually categorized by screen size. but as i stated earlier, not much variance in processor, memory, and storage, unless you opt for a solid-state drive, which is faster, more efficient, more expensive, and more durable, but usually has less storage space than a standard disk drive.

other things to consider: battery size (3 vs 6 cell). my dell has a standard 3-cell battery that lasts around 3 hours. 6-cell units claim to have a 7-8 hour charge. also, all the netbooks i've seen don't have an optical drive, so have a usb flash drive handy.

[N_Jay]

Anyone play with the Atom vs. the Celeron models?
Trying to get a real world feel for the difference.
Right now I am looking at 11 and 12 inch screens and that seems to be a transition point for a bunch of brands between processors.

This is going to be a 25% email, 40% web, 10% movie, and 25% MS Office app machine, to carry when traveling.

The "big " laptop will go in the suitcase. (or not all all, if this does well enough.

[Medic721]

If by movie you mean dvd's then the net book will not fit your needs, as stated above, most if not all netbooks do NOT have an optical drive (CD/DVD)
-Mike.

[N_Jay]

Originally posted by Medic721
If by movie you mean dvd's then the net book will not fit your needs, as stated above, most if not all netbooks do NOT have an optical drive (CD/DVD)
-Mike.

No, I will rip them to the HD or a memory stick.

[LChisum]

I'm quite satisfied with my Acer netbook as a travel companion. Did you know that Acer now owns Gateway and E-Machines? Definitely not a toy! It does most of what the big guys do, but as mentioned, if you are into heavy duty cpu or graphics intensive applictions, this is not for you. Mine has a 6 cell battery, and I've swapped out a 2 gig ram card (which is max) for the original 1 gig (it uses standard notebook memory). Downsides are small screen and fumble finger keyboard. It has a built in web cam and mike, and a neat slide switch to disable/enable wireless. Windows XP has most of the kinks worked out of it by now, and Microsoft still supports it when an update is needed. My conventional notebook will now serve as a second, backup "desktop" in my network.

Larry

[jcantanixon]

I'm not going to get into details, but let's just say I have lots of Netbook experience. Here's what I think.

1. Don't bother with the Celeron, you'll be much better off with the Atom processor. The Celeron struggles to do things like watch videos or run larger programs.

2. Don't get a 9 inch. The keyboards are too small to be used by an adult for any length of time. 10 inch is the smallest I would go, and make sure it has at least 1024 x 600. A lot of web pages are designed for 600 vertical pixels and when you have less, it's not as nice of a browsing experience.

3. Get a real HD. The Solid State drives are a nice idea, but they're just not big enough/cheap enough for most people.

4. Operating System. Out of the box, Ubuntu isn't great on Netbooks unless you're already a Linux user. Windows XP is a bit of a pig, but is tolerable. You can also slim down the Windows install to make it run faster and use less memory.

5. Memory. Upgrading the memory on certain models is impossible, and on other's it is difficult. Research guides and DIYs for memory upgrades for whatever model you choose. I wouldn't want to be stuck with 1GB if that's all it came with from the factory.

My recommendation? A Dell Mini 10v running Mac Snow Leopard. You can "hackintosh" the Dell Mini 10v pretty easily. There's a guide on Gizmodo for doing this, and the Mac OS seems well suited for a Netbook. Snow Leopard runs fantasic on 1GB of memory if you decide that upgrading the RAM on a 10v is too much of a pain. Check out the MyDellMini forums for more info.

[hondapilotjim]

Originally posted by N_Jay


Why?

Which small laptop do you recommend?
And where do you draw the line between a small laptop and a NetBook?

I already have Dell E6500 loaded.

LOL!!!

[N_Jay]

Originally posted by hondapilotjim


LOL!!!

What is so funny?

[rlapid]

Originally posted by N_Jay
Anyone play with the Atom vs. the Celeron models?

haven't had experience with a celeron-equipped netbook. however, i do have an old gateway with a 1.6ghz celeron m which surprisnigly performs better than the atom in my netbook. don't know why...

This is going to be a 25% email, 40% web, 10% movie, and 25% MS Office app machine, to carry when traveling.

since the netbook will be used primarily for web browsing/internet apps and MS office, either processor should be fine.

[jcantanixon]

Originally posted by rlapid


haven't had experience with a celeron-equipped netbook. however, i do have an old gateway with a 1.6ghz celeron m which surprisnigly performs better than the atom in my netbook. don't know why...

The Atom executes less transactions per cycle then the Celeron M. Benchmarks show it to be a little more than half as fast.

Intel Atom N270 Dhrystone 3969 Whetstone 3324
Celeron M 1.6G Dhrystone 7400 Whetstone 5078

Of course, the Atom uses like 15 times less power.

[N_Jay]

OK, I think I am down to;
Acer A0751 for $300
HP Mini 311 at about $525
Lenove S-12 at about $475

Lenovo has bigger screen.
HP has HDMI and other nice features
Acer is inexpensive.

Maybe get the Acer and use it a while then give it to one of the kids and buy an HP or Lenovo later (When they have even more features)

[rlapid]

go for the acer. personally, i wouldn't pay over $300 for a standard netbook.