Netbooks all seem about the same

[Perryg114]

It seems that the specs on most of the netbooks I have looked at all seem to be about the same. I am looking at a SAMSUNG N130-13B which seems to have pretty good ratings. 160GB HD, 1GB RAM, N270 Processor etc.

Is there one brand that is more reliable than the others? How long can one expect to get use out of a netbook since they are about at fast as my 5 year old Inspiron 1100? Do you think they will make a netbook specific OS that will make these slow machines last a little longer than a year or two?

I am trying to get up to speed on netbooks. I was thinking of it as an alternative to the wife getting a smartphone with the $30 extra a month for a data plan. That is enough to pay for a netbook in a year. Many places in town have WiFi now so she can just pull up to a place with free WiFi and check emails etc.

Perry

 

[Schadenfreude]

Well, I'm currently using my netbook (Asus Eee900) while traveling in Asia as I'm not really doing anything more than surfing the web and checking emails. On top of that the OS I'm using is a netbook-optimized linux distribution; so I'd say if -

- you only use it to surf the web/email
- travel extensively
- want to fiddle around with linux

I'd say go for it. As far as netbook specs so - yeah, it's pretty much the same for ~80% of the models (save for hard drive type/space, maybe), but there's a platform called Ion that's - well, just a re-spec'd Nvidia 9400M GPU that does boost performance as far as netbboks go, and next year there's rumors of a successor to the Atom CPU and Ion2 platform coming out as well; all that means is there's better/faster computers on the way (as usual), so if you're not too worried about performace - and let's face it, if you're looking at netbooks, it's safe to assume you're not - it's not that bad an investment.

edit: throwing this in for good measure

http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/17/laptop-reliability-survey-asus-and-toshiba-win-hp-fails/

 

[Crono]

They are pretty much the same right now with Atom. I like the Lenovo S series and ASUS eee PC lines the best out of the ones I've used. I've always had good luck with ASUS, so I would recommend them.

For longevity, I would say at least 3-5 years considering netbooks are ideal for browsing, multimedia (HD videos excluded) and office/productivity applications. There isn't a netbook specific OS, but Linux and Windows run more than fine on them as it is, especially if you have 1GB to 2GB (and most netbooks now do). "Lighter" versions of linux like Xubuntu run even faster.

Netbooks are definitely better than smartphones if you have to choose between the two and size isn't an issue, especially if you have WiFi access at most of the places you go. Like you said, many places have free WiFi (libraries are great for this), and a lot of cities, towns, and ISPs are providing free access for certain areas.

 

[IlllI]

It seems that the specs on most of the netbooks I have looked at all seem to be about the same.

thats b/c they pretty much have to adhere to strict criteria as to what constitutes a netbook

 

[basslover1]

They are pretty much the same right now with Atom. I like the Lenovo S series and ASUS eee PC lines the best out of the ones I've used. I've always had good luck with ASUS, so I would recommend them.

For longevity, I would say at least 3-5 years considering netbooks are ideal for browsing, multimedia (HD videos excluded) and office/productivity applications. There isn't a netbook specific OS, but Linux and Windows run more than fine on them as it is, especially if you have 1GB to 2GB (and most netbooks now do). "Lighter" versions of linux like Xubuntu run even faster.

Netbooks are definitely better than smartphones if you have to choose between the two and size isn't an issue, especially if you have WiFi access at most of the places you go. Like you said, many places have free WiFi (libraries are great for this), and a lot of cities, towns, and ISPs are providing free access for certain areas.

That isn't entirely true.

The version of XP that ships with a netbook, is made specifically for them. The text has worn off my CoA, but it said something like "made for small pc," or something along those lines.

Plus, there are some versions of Linux that are also made specifically for a netbook. HP has one, and so does Ubuntu with their Netbook Remix.

 

[bliq00]

personally, I just sold my 10.1 MSI netbook. too slow for me. no way it would have lasted 3-5 years. I'm about to pop for an 11.6 netbook/notebook with a SU7300 dual core processor. It's more expensive than the standard netbook at ~$600, but it's more versatile also- 4GB RAM, 320GB hard drive, 1366x768 screen (this is a biggie) and 8 hours of battery life. and X4500HD graphics, well you can't win em all but at least it can play AVIs and DVD quality stuff which is perfectly fine for me (I hear it can even play bluray, but I'll believe it when I see it). All for 3 lbs.

 

[Rottie]

If you are considering netbook think about keyboard that is best for you I heard HP Mini 1000 has a better keyboard so is Dell Mini 10 but Dell Mini 10 is not the best netbook overall.

 

[Tom]

the standard issue netbooks aren't slow, gma950 and an Atom processor will play any video short of HD, and even play some games. There as fast as any notebook for web browsing, e-mail, etc.

But a netbook isn't a good replacement for a smartphone. Smartphone is always with you, always on, and almost always in reach of the internet, if you have verizon or sprint.

 

[maziwanka]

did you guys see this?

http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/19/asus-ion-packing-eee-pc-1201n-gets-official-gets-handled/

How would this stack up to what bliq said:

1.6 netbook/notebook with a SU7300 dual core processor. It's more expensive than the standard netbook at ~$600, but it's more versatile also- 4GB RAM, 320GB hard drive, 1366x768 screen (this is a biggie) and 8 hours of battery life. and X4500HD graphics, well you can't win em all but at least it can play AVIs and DVD quality stuff which is perfectly fine for me (I hear it can even play bluray, but I'll believe it when I see it). All for 3 lbs.

For a while I had been looking at the 11.6"er above, but if the new ion eeepc is good, ill have to think about that too

 

[krotchy]

did you guys see this?

http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/19/asus-ion-packing-eee-pc-1201n-gets-official-gets-handled/

How would this stack up to what bliq said:

1.6 netbook/notebook with a SU7300 dual core processor. It's more expensive than the standard netbook at ~$600, but it's more versatile also- 4GB RAM, 320GB hard drive, 1366x768 screen (this is a biggie) and 8 hours of battery life. and X4500HD graphics, well you can't win em all but at least it can play AVIs and DVD quality stuff which is perfectly fine for me (I hear it can even play bluray, but I'll believe it when I see it). All for 3 lbs.

For a while I had been looking at the 11.6"er above, but if the new ion eeepc is good, ill have to think about that too

Does anyone know how the dual core 1.6GHz atom will compare to the 1.3GHz Core 2 Duo SU7300?

I would expect the Core 2 Duo to be faster than anything labeled Atom, but 300 MHz faster on a stripped down architecture leaves me guessing quite a bit.

 

[Zap]

Does anyone know how the dual core 1.6GHz atom will compare to the 1.3GHz Core 2 Duo SU7300?

Well, the first Eee PC netbooks used 900MHz Celerons and IIRC those were around the performance of a single core Atom, so I'd think a Core 2 Duo @1.3GHz would outshine an Atom 330 quite nicely.

 

[tcsenter]

It seems that the specs on most of the netbooks I have looked at all seem to be about the same.

Some specs vary quite a bit. e.g. some have mechanical SATA mobile hard drives, some have mini-PCIe SSDs, some have 1.8" ZIF/LIF PATA hard drives (SSD module or mechanical).

But the designs are pretty much the same, because Intel authorized a couple different reference designs the ODM's are required to use.

 

[ch33zw1z]

Via's Nano 3000 is near...