| Netbooks
Posted: 7/23/2009 8:30:22 AM | The HP netbooks do have nice build quality, but like the MSIs, Dells and Lenovos they usually come with 3 cell batteries which cannot compete with the 6 cell batteries of the Samsung, Acer, or Asus netbooks.
If I wanted something that I had to recharge every 3-4 instead of 6-8 hours, I would've stuck with a traditional laptop.
Also am not crazy about their Mac-like chiclet keyboards. | |
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| Netbooks
Posted: 7/23/2009 4:31:07 PM | Then buy a 6 Cell battery with it, they are about £32 new on ebay, the new ones (2140) with the energy efficent atom's last around a good 6-7 hours with Wifi and BT turned on iirc. It fits both the 2133 and 2140. They kept the same casing.
One thing I do like Msi's for mind is the batteries. There are huge 9 cell batteries avaialble which I think push them to around 10 hours.
Going to sell my 2133 and 2140 when I get a chance, Win7 should go well on it. | |
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| Netbooks
Posted: 7/24/2009 12:50:45 PM | I bought an Asus eeePC 901 for my daughter to use at school. After setting it up with Ubuntu EEE, I got jealous & ordered one for myself. Initially I got an Acer Aspire one (because it was selling for $310), but the more limited memory, wireless G & shorter battery life kinda put me off, so I exchanged it for the Asus unit (extra $140 - well worth it - more memory, wireless N & 8 hour battery life). It's much better to get it with the SSD than the HDD because it is more shock resistant. I also recommend skipping the XP unit unless you're really hot for Windows. Both the Acer & Asus are available with Linux, but the version for either machine is best described as pathetic. Easy Peasy has become my OS of choice for netbooks, though I'm thinking I'd like to try Snow Leopard on the 901 when it comes out. The 901 is what Apple should have produced instead of that stupid, expensive "Air."
I love the damn thing. Wireless is just about everywhere now, so I usually take it with me to restaurants to work, browse or watch a movie over dinner. I can work or watch good video on the couch while the SO gets programmed by the vast wasteland (deprogramming can be fun too!) Don't forget to get a wireless mouse or penmouse for it, or you'll soon tire of the sensitive dinky touchpad and if you plan to watch movies in noisy places, be sure to get some ear buds. | |
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| Netbooks
Posted: 7/24/2009 2:42:34 PM | If I were buying a netbook today, I'd probably get the Toshiba for $350:
http://www.amazon.com/Toshiba-NB205-N210-10-1-Inch-Black-Netbook/dp/B002BDUAEK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1248471755&sr=8-1
The only caveat would be that Toshibas, like most major consumer brands, is known for having tons of ad/bloatware on their computers. That was something I appreciated about the Samsung NC10, the only major bloatware I had to remove was McAfee and that was only the McAfee Antivirus, not the whole McAfee Security Suite. | |
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| Netbooks
Posted: 7/25/2009 5:11:29 PM | I've owned the:
Acer Aspire One 8.9" screen and Atom N270 processor
Pros: small and cute, webcam, 160GB HDD, wifi, SD card reader
Cons: battery life (2.5hr), screen size, keyboard size, memory non expanable.
Asus Eee PC 1000HE 10.1" screen
Pros: very mobile, bigger screen, biger keyboard, BlueTooth, wifi, webcam, faster processor Atom N280, expandible memory to 2GB, 160gb HDD, SD card reader, 9.5hr battery life.
Cons: nothing really. If you want one a bit smaller and 10.5hr battery life the new Asus Eee PC 1005HA
D | |
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| Netbooks
Posted: 7/27/2009 7:35:25 PM | I got a Atom 330 based ICE, thats basically an in car netbook.
Great piece of kit, good for the price, they go back to the old school thought of the i486 of less out means you can put less in...
or if you dont need a powerful CPU why not use less power to power it.
I got a TV tuner in mine, and of course its got Win Media Player and all that so its great. links upto my mobile phone too so I can get internet on it through my phones mobile internet connection [HTC Touch Diamond] which is all done over bluetooth.
So yeah great piece of kit...
Ended up using a Tablet PC for most out and about work though, they just look better and for taking notes you cant fault them at all
Not all Atoms are x86, mine of EM64T, I know it is because its running XP x64 as its OS | |
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| Netbooks
Posted: 7/28/2009 4:07:18 AM | | I picked up an EEEPC 901 a while ago and love how mobile the thing is. I bring it with me everywhere I go, the battery life is insane and the CPU is just powerful enough to properly run the apps I need. I love this thing. | |
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| Netbooks
Posted: 7/29/2009 9:42:02 AM | | I have an asus 1000 HE and loving it. It's an 10.1 inch screen netbook . The reviews on it is outstanding, from the matte bright screen (the non glossy type), to the battery life of up to 9.5hrs , this is the fastest netbook with intel atom 280 processor on the market right now. on normal use it can last around 6 hours with wifi on and screen brightness on high. I love the spaced out chicklet keyboard which is the same as some of the higher end sony's keyboard. I find that this netbook is fast enough for web surfing, and light work. Don't expect to be able to play video games at fast framerates or running autocad on this netbook lol you would be dissapointed. I also upgraded the memory to 2 gig ram intead of 1 gig ram which i noticed some faster load times and I was able to do multitasking without much lag. | |
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avpd
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Joined: 8/5/2009
Msg: 34 | |
| Netbooks
Posted: 8/10/2009 10:14:43 AM | I am thinking about getting one so I can be online when I travel. I travel a LOT.
The question I have is which wireless service is best. It looks like you can have it though AT&T or Verizon. Is either one faster? Verizon seems to have a beter coverage area around here. | |
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| Netbooks
Posted: 8/10/2009 10:35:39 AM | I have an aspire one, and I like it. Great for notes, great for travel.
Only problem is Hi-def video. Won't play 1080P at all, hit or miss with 720.
Personally, at the price level I don't think the model matters so much. Just get the cheapest one you can find with a 6 cell battery. The more features and $$$ you add to it, the less worthwhile it is to get one.
Just my opinion.
Of course I also think the average person is better off with Linux on their netbook. | |
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| Netbooks
Posted: 8/10/2009 9:46:07 PM | | I have the brown Aspire One w/ 6cell. I added BT and gps. It's basically an in car entertainment system. Tether it to my Omnia for hulu on the go, good stuff for the commutes. While I can't type but 50wpm due to the small kb I didn't really buy it for any real use. I have to admit though I kind of wish I'd of waited for the s10's, I prefer their designs. | |
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| Netbooks
Posted: 8/10/2009 10:58:29 PM |
I have an aspire one, and I like it. Great for notes, great for travel.
Only problem is Hi-def video.
I just got one of those too (Acer d250) so I could take it on a trip and leave my real laptop home.
Your video problem is with Windows not the acer - install Ubuntu linux on it - HD video plays great for me - both MP4 and AVIs. There is a "netbook remix" version that is tuned for netbook hardware.
Now that I ditched windows - and fiddled with the trackpad settings - I really like it. | |
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| Netbooks
Posted: 8/11/2009 12:46:23 AM | OK - I got curious about just what video this thing can handle so I've been trying things out - H264 at 1080p pauses occasionally while 720p plays fine. Movie Player is smoother than VLC. It gets worse when the disk is busy. Streaming is a problem. A high bit rate will really kill it. I do get better performance in linux than windows with the same video.
720p is higher resolution than the monitor anyway - 1080 is serious overkill. If you have a video that chops out I would use Handbrake to convert it to 720 with a lower bit rate, like you would if you were going to put it on an iPod or cell phone.
Overall, I'm impressed with this cheap little thing. It actually has more balls than my desktop which is only a few years old. | |
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| Netbooks
Posted: 8/11/2009 10:48:33 AM | When the netbooks first came out I was very impressed, they were small, fast, lightweight. But the first thing I noticed when I tried one was that the keyboard was too small, I couldn't type my usual 120 WPM. I belive I tried one of the Dell's but I'm not sure about any other brands. I think the concept is there and is a good one, I just think they need to work on the design a little.
As I consumer products expert I usually reccomend to my customers to stay away from the first generation of any product anyway.
Case and point is the Iphone, when the first gen Iphone came out everyone rushed out to buy it and 6 months later the 2nd gen which was greatly improved came out at about $100 less than the original. | |
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avpd
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Joined: 8/5/2009
Msg: 40 | |
| Netbooks
Posted: 8/17/2009 10:54:15 AM | | Now I see AT&T and Verizon are sellin them directly, just like they do cell phones. AT& T has the Acer Aspire One . The Dell Inspiron Mini 10 and Lenovo S10 may be available too according to their site. Verizon is selling the HP Mini only. I think land line internet may be obsolete - along with land line telephones. | |
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| Netbooks
Posted: 8/17/2009 4:33:44 PM | I bought my 10 year old daughter the Acer Aspire One w/1gig - 120gig HD - wifi - webcam. It's perfect for her. We got around the no CD/DVD drive by installing a "Virtual" drive and then converting her CD's and DVD's to images. Load the image in the virtual drive and the PC doesn't know the difference.
Oh yeah, the thing only cost $199 shipped from TigerDirect. | |
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| Netbooks
Posted: 8/17/2009 4:54:03 PM | | Netbooks are great for mobility. The lack of Rom drives really is getting less and less of a need now that you can run just about anything off of a SD card or thumb drive. I have a netbook and I don't miss a Rom drive one bit. All of my programs, music, movies and games run or install off my thumb drives or SD cards. | |
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