Advice on a netbook?

entirelyturbo · Post by **entirelyturbo** » Sat Nov 21, 2009 5:58 am

I'm strongly considering getting a netbook, and have looked at both the Asus EEE PC and the MSI Wind.

It will be primarily a work-only computer, allowing me to write Examiner articles away from home or even on location. Thus, I'm not really concerned with video/sound quality, as I'm aware most netbooks are lacking in.

I'm leaning toward the MSI Wind at the moment, mainly because the keyboard's easier to use (the Shift button is in a bad position on the EEE). It looks like the EEE might be a tiny bit better of a deal, but since I'll be doing a lot of typing, the ease of use of the keyboard would be worth the extra money.

Anyone else have any experience or opinions? I'm aware of the name-brand ones like Compaq and Sony, but they're quite a bit more money.

What kind of quality can I expect? Are they reliable? Are they durable; can they take a decent amount of abuse?

TIA!

ericem · Post by **ericem** » Sat Nov 21, 2009 7:18 am

I have a acer aspire one 10.1". Works amazing. Bought mine for $300 at a local computer store. Now there is the D250 model which is slimmer for cheaper too. The keyboard layout is awesome, the 1.6ghz is actually pretty quick. Mine has windows xp, my friends has windows 7 (d250) and it runs quicker without needing to remove the anti virus.

So far I am totally satisfied, acer is a shitty brand, but these netbooks have been working awesome for alot of people I know. 5 of my friends have these acer netbooks maybe 6 by tomorrow lol.

Actually I dropped mine today landed flat from 4 ft, luckily no damage and the laptop was running too!!

mike-tracy · Post by **mike-tracy** » Sat Nov 21, 2009 7:54 am

+1 on the Acer. Got mine for Christmas last year from the wife. Took me about a week to get used to typing on the keyboard (got sausage fingers) and the mouse is useless. Now I can type almost as fast as on my desktop, and take all notes at college on it.

Plus you can get the 6-cell battery and can have the battery last 6+ hours!

I got the first generation one, and is adequite for watching movies, but some of the newer ones are powerful enough to watch HD movies (720p) on them! This would be noted in the features set.

Without that capability my Acer Aspire One plays youtube videos fine, and ripped dvd's fine, but stutters on newer HD trailors on the web.

evolutionmovement · Post by **evolutionmovement** » Sat Nov 21, 2009 4:26 pm

I'm wondering about these, too. I don't need a lot of power, don't care about video (I try to avoid it as an annoyance) and I don't want anything bigger than my 13" iBook. I'm thinking maybe one running the Google Chrome OS, but I don't think it's out yet. I think Atom processors can be hacked to run Mac OS, but I'm not interested in that myself.

PhyrraM · Post by **PhyrraM** » Sat Nov 21, 2009 6:31 pm

I'm not sure if your ONLY looking at those 2, but I recently picked up a Dell mini 10V. I got it from the outlet for $280 (+tax, free shipping) with the 6 cell battery and the upgrded (Intel?) WiFi card. It has WinXP Home that appears to be factory streamlined install from a normal OEM desktop install. 1gig, 160gig 5200RPM hard drive. No SSD hard drive, but I prefered traditional. I got it solely for in-car tuning.

I've got 4.5+ honest hours of datalogging/web browsing battery life. I was quite suprised. I've gone 3+ hours of streaming video off my server, likely that would be close to the same if I went longer. WiFi seems good and the 6 cell battery acts like a built in keyboard stand/tilt.

Keyboard is good, goes full width so the keys are 90% or better of regular size. Screen is....well.....10". Was supposedly refurbished, but mine seems perfect, no sign of previous ownership other than the obviously recoiled power cord.

Pretty zippy, noticably faster than my old P4 2.0Ghz laptop. Plug in a mouse, keyboard and monitor and it would keep up with most single core desktops.

The only thing I don't like is the touchpad. It's usable, but sometimes registers an extra click here and there. I can work around it because of my style of use. But, depending on your personal habits, I could see it being a nusiance to some.

I know some don't like Dell, and I would never consider them for a desktop. But for this, at the outlet price, I like the fact that they will still have parts and "factory" upgrades for a while to come.

cartwheels · Post by **cartwheels** » Sun Nov 22, 2009 4:31 am

http://outlet.lenovo.com/catalog/produc ... ategory/3/

IdeaPad S10e for 275!

The Lenovo outlet is always a good place to check if you're on a budget.

If I were you though, I'd spring for a CULV system.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... -_-Product

This will barely set you back more than 400 bucks, and will run circles around anything based on the atom (it's dual core and runs 7 Home Premium 64 bit).

N1446 · Post by **N1446** » Sun Nov 22, 2009 4:43 am

i have the acer aspire one also
+1 for me though more ram would be nice
i m running autoCADD full version on it and it works ok,
model i have is 8.9" screen

durable yess , the one i have has flew across the room when i got up quick and caught the power cord with ma foot !

- no damage , the screen is super durable and the size is not large = flimsy

boot up time < 15 sec!

only thing - >> u need external usb-cd/dvd drive

definately spring for a 10+ " model as i m squnitng most times using it without pluging into a monitor

N1446 · Post by **N1446** » Sun Nov 22, 2009 4:49 am

that gateway does look pimp
i have xp and its 2008

fishbone79 · Post by **fishbone79** » Sun Nov 22, 2009 9:22 pm

I have 2 EEE's, one with a 32 GB SSD, and another with a 170 GB regular SATA HD. I love them both, Asus makes a solid machine.

The one with a 32 GB SSD i've taken near and far, beat the crap out of, and even used it with *nix GPSDrive as an in car navigation system (with USB GPS puck). It sits nicely on our cup-holders with a small bungee cord. I use the 32 GB one for field work, so I'm not sure it can receive much harsher conditions, battery life is roughly 4.5-5 hours, depending on use.

I forget the model numbers (one of them is a 900 HA), but they are the ones with the smallest sized screen and keyboard to match (no excess around the screen). I think the thing is 6.5" x 8.5," cost me $265 at the time.

What sold me is that there is a Ubuntu Linux build specifically for the eee: http://www.geteasypeasy.com/ which works flawlessly. I have it dual booting XP pro and Ubuntu. With Linux I can use GPSDrive to locate free wifi hotspots and have them plotted on a map in real time (while driving). Also, I've found that with Linux (and not XP) the wireless radio works over about a 1/8-1/4 MILE range (yes you heard right). I can access my home network with 2 bars from 1/4 of a mile away... I only wonder if this will eventually burn out the wireless card.

Anyway, I love those things. They are my fourth and fifth personal Asus machine, and after buying about 80 desktops and laptops of various brands for work this year, Asus (and Toshiba) are the cream thats risen to the top. They do their jobs without any issues, and are built surprisingly well. Mac's, Dell's and Acer's have sunk solidly to the bottom, unsurprisingly

evolutionmovement · Post by **evolutionmovement** » Sun Nov 22, 2009 9:39 pm

Mac doesn't make a netbook. Not to stick up for them—it's the same Chinese-made shit as anything else but with a 50% surcharge for a glowing fruit on the cover (an apple, not a gay man from Chernobyl).

Post by **DLC** » Sun Nov 22, 2009 10:05 pm

If you can spend a few bucks, look hard at the HP 311. It's considerably faster in the graphics department than nearly any other netbook because it's using the new nvidia ION chipset. It's equivalent to the chipset that Apple has been using in the Air, MacBook, and 13" MacBook Unibody for a year now, but costing much less.

11.6" screen too, and it can easily run Win7.

http://www.engadget.com/search/?q=hp+31 ... =wl-gadget

fishbone79 · Post by **fishbone79** » Sun Nov 22, 2009 11:20 pm

evolutionmovement wrote:Mac doesn't make a netbook.

Oh, I know. We bought several Mac desktops and laptops at work this year... I used to love their bombproof hardware from back in the day, and thought maybe it was worth the additional price (plus ppc ran Novell like a dream). Now I totally agree with you:

evolutionmovement wrote:It's the same Chinese-made shit as anything else but with a 50% surcharge for a glowing fruit on the cover (an apple, not a gay man from Chernobyl).

Which is hilarious, by the way.

I am going to have to read up on the ION chipset though, I've fallen a bit behind.

evolutionmovement · Post by **evolutionmovement** » Mon Nov 23, 2009 2:00 am

I bought an ibook because I got fed up with Microsoft's unstable software drivers and propensity to collect adware thinking I'd have it trouble-free for 5 years before the software would be outdated. At about 3.5 I had a charging issue (cold solder joint on a through hole component!) and the LCD does weird green highlights sometimes (which I fixed much of when I took the case apart again and fixed a poor case design that pinched the LCD cables at the hinge). Sure, they're not huge issues, but they're both signs of poor quality in R&D and in production inspection that should not be encountered for the premium price and lower performance. My friend bought a refurbished mac laptop in 1999 and used it for 8 trouble-free years before it was too outdated.

You can't get quality anywhere anymore due to the entitled Walmart culture, so you're forced to buy cheap so you waste the least money, which only perpetuates the problem. Fuck you Walmart! A major argument for capitalism is that the competition breeds better quality and that used to be true, but now it's just about delivering the shiniest junk at the cheapest price to the lowest common denominator and the dumb masses don't know the difference because they've been conditioned by marketing and planned obsolescence for so long—to be identity-less consumers instead of builders. And where are these crap products primarily built? A communist country who gets stronger as we weaken. But ye-ha, stupid red necks, keep driving your pickups with the big American flag/eagle stickers in the rear window to Walmart and further our decline. When future history classes compare the fall of Rome to the fall of the United States they'll both find they were ultimately defeated by themselves.

Sorry, we were talking about netbooks... Some of them are really blurring the line between netbooks and notebooks now with performance and size.

Max Headroom · Post by **Max Headroom** » Mon Nov 23, 2009 2:34 am

I have two Asus EEE 900HA netbooks with 160gig HD's and running on XP, with one of them at home and the other supporting my business software at work. I've only had them for just under a year, so perhaps too soon to make any sweeping statements about reliability yet. I can say though that neither has given any problems at all so far.

The home-based EEE has coped with being dropped off the dining table onto a wooden floor while still running ('cos the dog snagged the power cable!), and getting carted around occasionally on my motorcycle. In spite of a smallish keyboard and fat fingers, I don't have too many problems with speling erors

ericem · Post by **ericem** » Mon Nov 23, 2009 6:16 am

evolutionmovement wrote:I bought an ibook because I got fed up with Microsoft's unstable software drivers and propensity to collect adware thinking I'd have it trouble-free for 5 years before the software would be outdated. At about 3.5 I had a charging issue (cold solder joint on a through hole component!) and the LCD does weird green highlights sometimes (which I fixed much of when I took the case apart again and fixed a poor case design that pinched the LCD cables at the hinge). Sure, they're not huge issues, but they're both signs of poor quality in R&D and in production inspection that should not be encountered for the premium price and lower performance. My friend bought a refurbished mac laptop in 1999 and used it for 8 trouble-free years before it was too outdated.

You can't get quality anywhere anymore due to the entitled Walmart culture, so you're forced to buy cheap so you waste the least money, which only perpetuates the problem. Fuck you Walmart! A major argument for capitalism is that the competition breeds better quality and that used to be true, but now it's just about delivering the shiniest junk at the cheapest price to the lowest common denominator and the dumb masses don't know the difference because they've been conditioned by marketing and planned obsolescence for so long—to be identity-less consumers instead of builders. And where are these crap products primarily built? A communist country who gets stronger as we weaken. But ye-ha, stupid red necks, keep driving your pickups with the big American flag/eagle stickers in the rear window to Walmart and further our decline. When future history classes compare the fall of Rome to the fall of the United States they'll both find they were ultimately defeated by themselves.

Sorry, we were talking about netbooks... Some of them are really blurring the line between netbooks and notebooks now with performance and size.

your posts make my day!

SubaruNation · Post by **SubaruNation** » Mon Nov 23, 2009 6:40 am

I'm w/ dlc and what others have said.

i have a dell mini ten and it worked sweet until my warranty xpireed last month...then now its toast??? lame. i wont recommend it.

get something with at least a 11 inch screen and a decent processor.

dont get something cheap, look for quality like a smaller Dell XPS or something.

small screens tend to suck bad after awhile

entirelyturbo · Post by **entirelyturbo** » Sun Dec 06, 2009 12:53 am

My desktop bought the farm earlier this week, so I had to speed up my decision.

I ended up getting a Gateway 2030something model, with 1GB RAM, 250GB hard drive, 6-cell battery, and Windows 7 Starter. I picked it because it seemed to have the best stats for the price of $350... nothing else I looked at had a 250GB hard drive and W7 in that range. I'm gonna need the extra HD space for pictures, and I'm hearing that Microsoft will soon stop supporting XP altogether.

Unfortunately, I had to cough up another $75 for a 2GB RAM stick, as it seemed unbearably slow with just 1GB. I didn't enjoy paying another $80 for the external DVD drive either.

And I can't change my friggin wallpaper... stupid Starter!

But, being new to portable computers, I have to say that the fact that I'm typing this at a restaurant right now using free WiFi makes it all seem worth it

evolutionmovement · Post by **evolutionmovement** » Sun Dec 06, 2009 12:59 am

I hear you. I get more writing done in a local coffee shop than at home. I'm not sure why, but I find the change of view encouraging. And if the house burns down, it's right on my way out the door and won't even slow me down to grab. I could never see buying a desktop again.

entirelyturbo · Post by **entirelyturbo** » Sun Dec 06, 2009 1:12 am

It's fascinating how much influence the environment has on the human psyche.

I think my problem is that for the first year out of college, I used my computer for virtually nothing else than to dick around on the Internet. Thus, I've conditioned myself to associate the computer room with recreation/relaxation... obviously not conducive to getting work done.

And while this computer slightly underperforms my old desktop, I actually hope that will force me to spend more computer time doing something productive instead of watching the same Youtube videos over again.

MacNews · Post by **MacNews** » Mon Dec 07, 2009 6:45 am

DerFahrer wrote:I ended up getting a Gateway 2030something model, with 1GB RAM, 250GB hard drive, 6-cell battery, and Windows 7 Starter. I picked it because it seemed to have the best stats for the price of $350...

I have a very similar Gateway, it looks identical to yours but the specs are a little bit different. It's got 2GB RAM, 250GB HDD, 11.6" Screen, 6-cell battery and Windows Vista Home Basic.

It was regular price $500 Canadian, but I got it on sale for $250.

slowjoe · Post by **slowjoe** » Mon Dec 07, 2009 9:38 am

would any of these netbooks be up to the task of data logging from a car? I have a full sized laptop thats two years old that runs pretty fast with a centrino duo processor but the battery doesnt last anymore. i basically want long battery life and enough speed to use the REVscan software without lagging

n2x4 · Post by **n2x4** » Mon Dec 07, 2009 2:46 pm

slowjoe wrote:would any of these netbooks be up to the task of data logging from a car? I have a full sized laptop thats two years old that runs pretty fast with a centrino duo processor but the battery doesnt last anymore. i basically want long battery life and enough speed to use the REVscan software without lagging

No experience with the Revscan stuff - but I think the protocol and communication port speed of the factory ECU will always be slower than the processing power of a Netbook CPU. So no, I don't see any issues.

FWIW - I use a 266mhz laptop with the b10 scan software, and I use my HP netbook for monitoring and datalogging in the Megasquirt software.

magicmike · Post by **magicmike** » Mon Dec 07, 2009 7:50 pm

What's the processor and speed? That usually has more to do with the speed of things launching etc where the ram has to do with open programs bogging when you have a lot of things running. I've always bought intel pentium but have used plenty of "work" computers that had amd's they sucked pretty hard no matter how much ram you installed.

slowjoe · Post by **slowjoe** » Wed Dec 09, 2009 2:56 am

Intel Core 2 Duo T7300 @ 2.00 GHz with 2GB RAM

I'm not too worried about my computer not being fast enough

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Advice on a netbook?

Advice on a netbook?