Buying a netbook for the first time

[jesterb84]

Greetings,

This is my first time buying a netbook and am seeking some advice. I want to buy one for my mother, and she will basically use the netbook for the following requirements:

- Browse the internet (Firefox)
- Listen/stream music (iTunes/Winamp)
- View photos
- Watch movies (DVD, and other movie file formats)

My thinking is that the first 3 requirements are fairly low-powered requirements in that it really doesn't take much of a CPU to handle. The concern I have is her ability to watch movies as I'm not sure how fast these Atom processors are.

She will primarily watch movies which are of DVD to 720p quality (i.e. no massively-high definition 1080p bluray rips, etc.). Will one of those N455 or the newer N550 dual/core be able to handle this?

I know the new N550 dual cores are out now and as I am a little budget-constrained, was looking at the ASUS Eee PC 1015PEM-MU17. I'm aiming somewhere in the vicinity of $300 give or take $20-$40 or so.

Would something like the 1015PEM-MU17 be suitable or are there better options for the same price?

 

[hans007]

i'd get the acer aspire 522. its got hdmi out, a720p screen and a dual core 1 ghz amd fusion.

$320 ish at amazon (though i'd recommend buying a 2gb stick of ram to add to it, since it only comes with 1GB). i think if you want to watch movies it is worth it. plus you get a real 720p screen.

 

[M0RPH]

I don't know if you've used netbooks but I'll tell you that the 10" screen is really not very fun for watching movies or even browsing pictures.

You might want to consider something like this Toshiba 15" with the Fusion E-350 (http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...uctId=11195112), currently on sale for $350, $305 after a coupon that is available (let me know if you need it).

Is portability and long battery life really that big of an issue for your mom?

 

[Zap]

I would also recommend something with an E-350 APU. Typical 10" netbooks don't even have enough resolution to handle 720p video, and the ability to play them back (without ION/CrystalHD) can be iffy depending on bitrate.

Unfortunately $300 is pure Atom territory, unless you can find one with a C-50 APU for that price. It is like an Atom with ION, but with better battery life. Looks like hans007 already mentioned one.

 

[wirednuts]

i think 10" is too small too. 12" would be my perfect size. i dont like 15" laptops because of the portability, but definitely 10" leaves just a little to be desired.

amd fusion is the way to go. atom chipsets are years old now, and theyre still not horrible but the graphics solution is really good on the new amd chipsets (and good 3d means good 2d experience these days. browsing the web on a gpu accelerated system is a delight).

 

[hans007]

i think another alternative to fusion is a used CULV laptop. acer 1410 laptops go for under $300 on ebay. and they are probably cpu wise faster than fusion ones and almost all of them have 11.6" 1366x768 screens.

 

[jesterb84]

Thank you so much for the informative replies. It appears that people are recommending either an AMD Fusion-based setup (i.e. Acer Aspire One 522), or a full 15" notebook solution. I checked the specs on the Acer Aspire One 522 and it looks really nice. The 1280x720 resolution, dual-core, and 3D acceleration seem to be just what I'm looking for. This seems to be quite an improvement over my intial ASUS Eee PC 1015PEM-MU17 selection.

 

[mammador]

Netbook don't have an optical drive, so your mom couldn't watch DVDs from a netbook.

I would suggest a low-end traditional notebook.

 

[jesterb84]

Netbook don't have an optical drive, so your mom couldn't watch DVDs from a netbook.

I would suggest a low-end traditional notebook.

Yes, what I had meant were DVD rips and not the actual DVD optical discs.