Netbook or no?

[YoungGun21]

I have $137 in coupons at Staples. I don't really need anything. I will be going off to college later this year, but I'm planning on buying a nice, powerful 13.3" or 14.1" to be my main computer with the money I get for graduation. Should I buy a netbook? It would mainly just be a toy, but who doesn't love toys?

If you don't think I should get a netbook, please suggest something else I would buy.

 

[Decembermouse]

Don't do it, man. I know a girl with your standard N270 netbook, I've optimized/cleaned it out as much as I can, and it still can hardly even run Flash on websites, much less have MS Word and Firefox open at the same time. And forget trying to play music and do something else simultaneously as well. I used to sell these at Circuit City, and even when they were the new cool thing, we were amazed at how utterly incapable they are. I'd say, for $100 more than a netbook, get a M300 laptop. You'll still get 3.5 hours of battery life, more with undervolting. Plus, sigNIFICANTLY more processing power. So you can... you know... DO things that people tend to use computers for, lol.

(edit) also... you only need five more posts!!!

 

[taltamir]

netbooks are REALLLLLLLY slow...
get a CULV: http://www.anandtech.com/mobile/showdoc.aspx?i=3735

 

[fffblackmage]

I'd never get a netbook. I'd get an ultraportable at the very least. They used to be $1k+, but lately, they've come down in price quite a bit.

 

[EarthwormJim]

They're not as slow as you guys are letting on. Not to say that they are fast, but going to a CULV laptop can often mean double the cost.

I'm happy with my Eee PC. I got it a year ago, if ultraportables were as cheap as they are now I probably would have gotten one instead.

 

[Inspector Jihad]

i love my 13in acer timeline. performance blows my dads n280 netbook out of the water.

 

[GaryJohnson]

I've owned quite a few netbooks, and the only crazy slow experience I've had is on ones with cheap SSDs and Windows. The mechanical drive variants are fast enough for MS office and flash, but not HD. If you get an SSD variant then stick with linux.

 

[corkyg]

Save your money - you may need it after graduation.

 

[YoungGun21]

Save your money - you may need it after graduation.

It is $137 in coupons, $117 of which I have to use before April 1.

Even if I upped to 2GB of RAM and with the new Atom 450 you guys still think it would be unusable? This isn't going to be my main PC remember.

 

[Red Squirrel]

A netbook could be nice for taking notes. Just install linux and use vi. Speed wont really be an issue then.

 

[fffblackmage]

I definitely would not say a netbook is unusable because the Atom is slow as hell. It's sufficient for simple uses like web surfing and working on word docs.

You can also probably get away with 1GB of ram if you're using XP or some linux distro.

 

[msi1337]

I got a Dell Mini 10v from the dell outlet for $200, I like it. Saves me from having to carry my gaming laptop around.

I surf the web, play basic games (like plants versus zombies), basic use

I had an HP 311 12" netbook and it was pretty sweet as well.

 

[amheck]

I have a Asus 1000H and while its not a power house, no major problems with surfing and office stuff. Although I will have to say iTunes does not run well on it at all. But everything else, no complaints. After having it for a year and a half, however, I would definitely just opt for a CULV with a bigger screen. Surfing and stuff isn't that fun on 10".

 

[LOUISSSSS]

how about that dual core atom? any speed increases with that?

 

[Spicedaddy]

I'm also looking to buy a netbook or ultraportable. Have it narrowed down to the Acer 532h or Asus 1001P/1005PE netbooks, and Acer 1810tz, which is a 11.6" laptop.

I'm kinda leaning towards the netbooks... I'd put XP on it and I'm sure it'd be fine for browsing/email and Office/PDF stuff. They're smaller, lighter, and while ultraportables have come down in price, the netbooks are much cheaper.

 

[YoungGun21]

So is XP Home much faster than Windows 7 Starter?

 

[inspiron]

My brother has an acer netbook, and I must say I am impressed. I have a notebook with 4gb memory and duel processor and his is 2gb memory and CELRON processor! somehow his netbook can do things pretty fast, but gaming...

"Most" netbooks do not have a CD/DVD drive so bye bye gaming unless you buy the game via download online. And the most advance game we ever got running on his netbook was guild wars, at minimal graphic settings.

They are pretty fun just for webcam, facebook, and taking with you to go out for coffee, also to play some light games online. (flash, java, ect.)

With that coupon I say go for it, but not for you "main" computer.

Acer netbook in blue!

 

[inspiron]

So is XP Home much faster than Windows 7 Starter?

sorry for double post, but Win7 is for sure faster than xp. Had to get that out of the way.

 

[Brian Stirling]

I have the HP Mini 210 HD and it has the newer Atom 450 and is fast enough for email, MS office, and non HD video. You can install a HD video accellerator but I have a full sized laptop for HD video and don't need it on the netbook.

I upgraded the RAM to 2GB and am working to install an 80GB SSD (Intel) in place of the 250GB HD -- the SSD should make things a bit faster and reduce power consumption increasing battery life. The poor performance of early netbooks using SSD was largely a result of having a low capacity SSD and that the early SSD's were often slower in real world use than HD's.

I use the netbook for things a larger laptop isn't well suited like working on an airplane. Even my company 15.6 inch laptop is too big to use on an airplane. I opted to get the netbook and a large laptop (HP dv8t 18.4 inch) to cover all the bases.

But, if you're counting pennies a mid-sized laptop would be a better choice as the most popular sizes are often the least expensive for what you get -- best bang for the buck!


Brian

 

[Nitemare]

Have an MSI Wind U100 dual core atom that I have increased the memory to 2GB and added an HD Decoder card.

Before I upgraded it I could run MS Office 2007 and surf the web and play flash games just fine. The extra memory and HD decoder just makes for better eye candy and faster load times.

 

[hypn05]

a netbook is a good tool when you're at campus.
it light and good enough to do all the work, but CULV is better option.

 

[Spicedaddy]

sorry for double post, but Win7 is for sure faster than xp. Had to get that out of the way.

On an Atom N450?? I love Win 7 on my desktop, but I somehow doubt it would be faster on a netbook with P3/P4 class hardware.



I just found a nice deal on an Acer 1410-2817 (same as 1810tz from what I can tell). It would just be ~140$ more than the EEE 1005P I was about to order...and much more usable while still having great battery life. hmm, decision time...

 

[Rottie]

I got a Dell Mini 10 netbook it was fun at first and I can take it anywhere I want to go. I kinda dislike touchpad it doesnt have buttons but I got to get used it, I kinda miss my Compaq notebook.

 

[Spicedaddy]

I just ordered the AS1410. Reading this thread and other reviews made me realize that I'd quickly get tired of the 1024x600 res on a 10". This 11.6" will be slightly bigger, but I get Win7 HomePrem on a 1366x768 screen, and a larger keyboard.

Can't wait to receive this!

 

[Massive Overkill]

I just ordered the AS1410. Reading this thread and other reviews made me realize that I'd quickly get tired of the 1024x600 res on a 10". This 11.6" will be slightly bigger, but I get Win7 HomePrem on a 1366x768 screen, and a larger keyboard.

Can't wait to receive this!

This is what I have (configured with dual core Celeron) and it's pretty much the most powerful notebook (really just as portable as a true netbook) you can buy in this size and price.