Speaking of netbooks--- what would you recommend for ...

[palebunny]

watching instructional video tutorials on web development, web design, and small scripting projects?

(no hardcore gaming at all.)

i am a web designer and need a small 10 or 12 inch netbook to take with me to watch video tutorials, and if need be, execute things I've learned on photoshop, dreamweaver, and etc. [I usually work on a 17-inch macbook]

I usually open multiple programs up at once (dreamweaver, photoshop, and have itunes playing in the background, with a couple dozen firefox tabs open).

My friend has the Asus 1215, which is used for academic purposes. I enjoyed the weight and size, but wouldn't mind having the screen 2 inches smaller for a total of 10-inches- I'm thinking I would still be able to follow small lines of coding on the video tutorials.

Any brands that you recommend? Preferably not Apple as I love Apple but don't have the $$$ at the moment.

Also, I'm very enthused to hear any hot deals/bargains...

thank you.

 

[mnewsham]

Depending on the programs you want to run im not sure if a netbook would be able to run those kinds of programs. If you want to run dreamweaver and photoshop a netbook would not be able to run those.

 

[palebunny]

okay, so i won't run photoshop AND dreamweaver at once (sigh, i'm so scatterbrained). Nor will I have 24x firefox tabs open simultaneously too.

here are the specs for the asus 10-inch 1015, for example:

• Intel Atom Dual Core N550
• 1GB DDR3 RAM, 1 SODIMM Slot, 2GB Max; Intel GMA 3150 graphics
• 250GB SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM) + 500GB Free Web Storage ; 2x USB3.0 + 1x USB2.0
• 10.1-Inch 1024X600 WSVGA Matte Finish LED Display;802.11 b/g/n; Bluetooth 3.0; Chiclet Keyboard
• 6-cell Li-ion Battery Pack (6cells, 63W/h) / 13hrs of battery life; Windows 7 Starter Operating System (32 bit); 0.3MP Webcam

So shouldn't that be enough to play streaming video tutorials (much, much higher quality than youtube, let's say) and simultaneously run Photoshop CS3/ cs5?

 

[mnewsham]

Here are the system requirements for CS4

CPU: 1.8GHz or faster processor
Operating System: Microsoft Windows XP with Service Pack 2 (Service Pack 3 recommended) or Windows Vista Home Premium, Business, Ultimate, or Enterprise with Service Pack 1 (certified for 32-bit Windows XP and 32-bit and 64-bit Windows Vista)
System Memory: 512MB of RAM (1GB recommended)
Storage: 1GB of available hard-disk space for installation; additional free space required during installation (cannot install on flash-based storage devices)
Monitor: 1,024×768 display (1,280×800 recommended)
Video Card: 16-bit video card (some GPU-accelerated features require graphics support for Shader Model 3.0 and OpenGL 2.0)
Optical Drive: DVD-ROM drive

Here is CS5

Intel® Pentium® 4 or AMD Athlon® 64 processor
Microsoft® Windows® XP with Service Pack 3; Windows Vista® Home Premium, Business, Ultimate, or Enterprise with Service Pack 1 (Service Pack 2 recommended); or Windows 7
1GB of RAM
Some GPU-accelerated features require graphics support for Shader Model 3.0 and OpenGL 2.0
1GB of available hard-disk space for installation; additional free space required during installation (cannot install on removable flash-based storage devices)
1024×768 display (1280×800 recommended) with qualified hardware-accelerated OpenGL graphics card, 16-bit color, and 256MB of VRAM
DVD-ROM drive
QuickTime 7.6.2 software required for multimedia features
Broadband Internet connection required for online services*


As for playing video, I had an older netbook with only 512MB RAM and a single core atom and it wouldnt play youtube unless it were plugged in (it automatically down clocked the CPU when it was unplugged) However the newer ones should be fine with video.

 

[Zap]

I'd suggest at least a Zacate based notebook like the HP dm1z or Lenovo X120e (choose E350 APU). With Zacate's release, Atom no longer has a reason to exist other than to be a few dollars cheaper.

 

[M0RPH]

I'd suggest at least a Zacate based notebook like the HP dm1z or Lenovo X120e (choose E350 APU). With Zacate's release, Atom no longer has a reason to exist other than to be a few dollars cheaper.

You can frequently find Atom netbooks for around $200, half the price of Zacate notebooks... so unless the Zacates come down in price I'd say the Atoms still have a place for dirt cheap netbooks. In this case though, its does sound like he needs the additional power of a Zacate.

 

[mnewsham]

You can frequently find Atom netbooks for around $200, half the price of Zacate notebooks... so unless the Zacates come down in price I'd say the Atoms still have a place for dirt cheap netbooks. In this case though, its does sound like he needs the additional power of a Zacate.

If the previous post of the OP in another thread and the avatar are anything to go by i think "He" is a she but yes i agree an Atom isn't powerful enough for this type of duty.

 

[endlessmike133]

I'd recommend an iPad 2 tbh.

 

[mnewsham]

I'd recommend an iPad 2 tbh.

Yea the whole watching videos thing (might need flash support) and then the whole dreamweaver and photoshop thing, i dont think the Ipad is what she needs. Considering the only thing on her list the Ipad could accomplish is web browsing and itunes i highly doubt that she should get it. Please Mike i beg you... stop trolling.

 

[endlessmike133]

Yea the whole watching videos thing (might need flash support) and then the whole dreamweaver and photoshop thing, i dont think the Ipad is what she needs. Considering the only thing on her list the Ipad could accomplish is web browsing and itunes i highly doubt that she should get it. Please Mike i beg you... stop trolling.

I'm certain she can find tons of videos of what she's looking for on the iPad 2 at high res.

But okay I'll just leave it alone since she did ask for a netbook and not a tablet..

 

[mammador]

Netbooks are for light apps, social networking, Web browsing, etc.

I think getting a notebook would be better.

 

[mfenn]

A 17" Macbook Pro is actually fairly portable and gets good battery life, unlike most 17" machines. I'd probably just carry that around with me. I can't imagine getting any useful coding or image editing work done on a netbook screen.

 

[endlessmike133]

A 17" Macbook Pro is actually fairly portable and gets good battery life, unlike most 17" machines. I'd probably just carry that around with me. I can't imagine getting any useful coding or image editing work done on a netbook screen.

She doesn't have the cash right now she said; and even if she did she should never spend that much money on a MacBook Pro.

 

[mnewsham]

[I usually work on a 17-inch macbook]

She already has one...

 

[endlessmike133]

Best option for her would be to sell the MacBook and use the extra money to buy a better laptop.

 

[mnewsham]

.... but that is her primary computer....

 

[endlessmike133]

..Why cant she just take the MacBook with her?

 

[mnewsham]

That's what Mfenn suggested...

 

[endlessmike133]

....I mistook him..

 

[mfenn]

That's what Mfenn suggested...

Glad to see that somebody is paying attention!

 

[palebunny]

Hi,

Thank you so much for the informative and helpful responses.

I should perhaps shed a little more light into my situation.

I am a web and graphic designer, and I work primarily on my 17-inch Macbook Pro from a few years ago (it does not have that LED display nor the Unibody). I love my Macbook Pro deeply and it performs all that I need (though I am saving up for a 28 inch monitor, it doesn't have to be Apple).

But I also enjoy taking my MBP to my bed or sofa and watching instructional videos (lynda.com, nettuts.com) while in a relaxed position, or driving to a local city park/ bookstore and watching the clips there. The MBP, unfortunately, weighs what feels like 10 lbs, has all of 90 min of battery life TOPS, and...

SCORCHES my skin with its heat! {my dad bought me a laptop fan which I plug into the USB to help that, but once, my computer SLID off of that and crashed to the floor!!}

The bottom line is my Macbook pro is not as 'portable' or 'laptop-ish' to watch instructional videos, hence, I wanted to buy a small 10 or 12-inch laptop.

But as I was surfing for netbooks, I saw that MANY of them came with 1 gig of ram, and I also saw 2 gigs of ram selling on amazon for only $25. If I have 2 gigs of ram on my netbook, I can EASILY also run Photoshop CS3 or CS5 to implement whatever tutorial I'm learning, and run Coda and FTP to upload web files.

But this doesn't necessarily narrow my choice down- I'm totally lost as to which brand to select. Lenovo? Asus? Dell? My budget is about $300, and okay maaaaaaybe $400 only if the product is on a SUPER DEEP discount and I'm getting super bang for the buck. The iPad, while awesome, is out the que$$$tion.

It would also be excellent if you knew how to get super-good deals through various ebates or coupons. I just got a 10% off ebay tech coupon in my inbox, so I might use that too.

Thank you
-C

 

[mnewsham]

http://www.buy.com/prod/acer-aspire-...218861691.html

That is my recommendation

 

[endlessmike133]

http://www.buy.com/prod/acer-aspire-...218861691.html

That is my recommendation

HD videos will stutter like mad on that thing but it's probably the best option for your price so go for it..

 

[mnewsham]

HD videos will stutter like mad on that thing but it's probably the best option for your price so go for it..

Its got 2 gigs of ram and an e-350

 

[fffblackmage]

HD videos will stutter like mad on that thing but it's probably the best option for your price so go for it..

Brazos platform can handle HD. There is some stuttering, but it looks like 1080p content has an issue that's still being worked on (at least at the time of writing of the article). Nothing like "stutter like mad" though.

While 1080p playback improved with AMD’s 10.2 beta, it wasn’t perfect (although it was very close). AMD wouldn’t tell me the cause of the problem but it’s currently working on it with Adobe. At the end of the day I don’t believe it’s a dealbreaker, but early Brazos adapters should expect some stuttering when playing back 1080p YouTube videos. Note that 720p and lower resolution videos were perfectly smooth on Brazos.