Mini netbook suggestions

[darkside]

That is awesome. People are upset about the loss of the Mini 9 mostly because it was the best choice for a Hackintosh.

[Patman]

Are the Atom CPUs faster than the Celeron 585 found in the cheapo Toshiba L305 laptops? I looked at the netbooks yesterday, but the screen size just wasn't working for me, even though I like the idea of the product and the price tag, I just didn't think I'd enjoy staring at a 10" screen, not when I could get a 15" laptop for $350-$400, albeit with a cheap Celeron CPU.

[Patman]

Whoa! Walmart has a 17" laptop for $398 this week. It's the Toshiba L355-S7905 model. Too bad it also has a Celeron 585 CPU and battery life is around 2.5 hours, but it does have 3GB of RAM, though max screen resolution is 1440x900. What to do, what to do...

[sniper308]

Originally Posted by Patman

Whoa! Walmart has a 17" laptop for $398 this week. It's the Toshiba L355-S7905 model. Too bad it also has a Celeron 585 CPU and battery life is around 2.5 hours, but it does have 3GB of RAM, though max screen resolution is 1440x900. What to do, what to do...

What are you going to do with it?

Depending on your needs, the Netbook can be a great device, especially if you pick up one with a 6 cell battery.

I don't think I'll be able to say the same about the Toshiba. (I haven't done any specific research on that model, but...) If you want to do much heavier computing than the Netbook can do, I'd think the Toshiba would be underpowered, the battery life would not be there either, and I'd think it would end up being a disappointment.

The netbooks do what they are intended for very well. They are small and easy to take with you, and given a 6 cell battery can provide quite a bit of usage on a single charge.

[Patman]

I'm not sure.

Sure, browsing, surfing, some generic office-related stuff, some minor photo-file editing (nothing too CPU-intensive).

But after finally seeing a 10" screen in person, I had to take into account my own eyeballs not being as young as they once were and that's probably going to be my final arbiter in laptop choice if I pull the trigger on one (or I may just recycle an old one from work and drive that one into the ground).

Super-long battery life isn't a high priority (but if I went with a netbook, I'd still opt for the 6-cell battery), I don't mind being plugged in, and 2 hours is more than enough for my usual needs for a laptop.

I'm just shocked that you can get a 17" laptop for under $400 nowadays. I did swing by Wal-Mart to take a gander at it, but it was heavy, that's for sure (over 7 pounds), I did also take a look at the 15.4" Toshiba at Best Buy, and their low end $349 offering didn't feel too sluggish at that price point, and it was a bit over 5 pounds. That's just $20 more than a decent 10.1" netbook, and you get a DVD drive with it (and larger screen).

[printerati]

Originally Posted by Michael Corvin

Unfortunately there are some drawbacks. The biggest being that the track pad no longer functions as a button. You actually have to use the mouse button instead of tapping the pad. The memory card reader doesn't work in OSX (not a huge deal, IMO).

There is a hacked trackpad driver available, and someone has even written an installer/uninstaller for it, but I can't vouch for any of it since I don't (yet) have a Mini 9 of my own:

http://www.mydellmini.com/forum/mac-...installer.html

Also, the memory card reader should definitely work, although it appears that OS X is a bit finicky as far as which brands and types of cards it actually supports:

http://www.mydellmini.com/forum/mac-...-mini-9-a.html

[Michael Corvin]

Originally Posted by printerati

There is a hacked trackpad driver available, and someone has even written an installer/uninstaller for it, but I can't vouch for any of it since I don't (yet) have a Mini 9 of my own:

http://www.mydellmini.com/forum/mac-...installer.html

Also, the memory card reader should definitely work, although it appears that OS X is a bit finicky as far as which brands and types of cards it actually supports:

http://www.mydellmini.com/forum/mac-...-mini-9-a.html

Thanks printerati, I'll check that out tonight.

[SuckaMC]

Tiger Direct has the Acer Aspire refurb for $199. 1.6 atom proc, 1.5 Gb mem, 120 gb HD, Windows XP. I almost want to get this, but I can't quite justify it. Damn.

[GreenMonkey]

Originally Posted by SuckaMC

Tiger Direct has the Acer Aspire refurb for $199. 1.6 atom proc, 1.5 Gb mem, 120 gb HD, Windows XP. I almost want to get this, but I can't quite justify it. Damn.

I like ours. My wife gave me hers after moving mostly to using an ipod touch and so I immediately geeked it up a bit...installed Ubuntu 9.04 Netbook Remix this weekend on it to dual-boot with XP.

Almost everything works fine...need to do some work on the Intel graphics driver setup and install ntfs-config to auto-mount the ntfs partition, but that's about it. Pretty nice O.S.

[BartleyR7]

I've been investigating various netbooks that I'll mainly use while traveling (air, train, etc.). I have multiple other computers (OS X and Windows) I use at home and work, and this machine would be just a traveling companion. I'm looking for something with incredible battery life (useful for those international flights), low weight and overall dimensions (difficult with the battery life requirement), and good/solid build quality. I'm interested in a 10" screen (the 9" felt too small for me, and anything larger seems too bulky to be ultra portable).

Until the other day, I was all sold on the Asus 1000HE (like many have mentioned in this thread). I'm not interested in the newer 1008HA due to its 3-cell battery, but the seashell design is nice. I've recently become more interested in the Samsung N120 - a follow-up of sorts to the NC10. Does anyone have some experience with that model? I've tried all of them out at the local store, but that's very different than carrying it with you and using it on the road. I'm not a huge fan of the Acer brand in general, and it didn't seem like the Dell Mini 10 could match the battery life of either of these models (even with the upgraded 6-cell battery). The OS is not a concern for me; I would reinstall XP Pro on anything I purchased anyway.

I'd also welcome other suggestions! I'm leaving on a trip the first part of July, so I'm looking for something I can take with me before then instead of lugging the MacBook Pro.

[kuroiinu]

The Samsung N120 is a great netbook, IMO the best today (until something new comes out next month). I haven't seen it, but have been using the NC10 for a while and have been quite happy with it. The N120 improves the keyboard, battery life and has a matte outer surface, all things I prefer.

If I want to spend less, I'd go with the Asus 1000 HE, or the HP Mini 110 (biggest drawback is battery life, and small touchpad).

I've tried the Asus 1008HA - that thing is super thin and beautiful, truly a work of art. But you give up a few things, for example USB ports and battery life, plus the fact that the battery is not removable.

Of course, I am sure you know about the new 13" MacBook Pro that sells for only $1200 . It's thin and nice, although slightly heavier.

[BartleyR7]

Originally Posted by kuroiinu

Of course, I am sure you know about the new 13" MacBook Pro that sells for only $1200 . It's thin and nice, although slightly heavier.

Of course! While I'd love to add another Mac to the family, it just wouldn't be that much of a difference between carrying around my current MBP 15" (unibody). We also have an older MB 13" (unibody, purchased last fall), so I'm not ready to add another 13" one yet. How I wish Apple would release a true netbook and/or tablet...

I'm going to a local store to check out the N120 today. I'd be completely sold on it if it didn't use the slightly older Atom N270 processor. It also has a slightly slower FSB (533 MHz vs. 667 MHz, I believe). I've seen all the benchmarks of the N280 versus the N270, but does anyone have any real-life experience with the two processors? How much of a difference does it really make? It seems almost negligible to me.

The 1008HA does look nice, I will give you that. It also uses the newer Intel chipset with the newer processor (N280), and it adds 512K of L2 cache (which the older chipset of the 1000HE and N120 seem to not have, at least not that I have found).

[timewaster]

Originally Posted by BartleyR7

I've been investigating various netbooks that I'll mainly use while traveling (air, train, etc.). I have multiple other computers (OS X and Windows) I use at home and work, and this machine would be just a traveling companion. I'm looking for something with incredible battery life (useful for those international flights), low weight and overall dimensions (difficult with the battery life requirement), and good/solid build quality. I'm interested in a 10" screen (the 9" felt too small for me, and anything larger seems too bulky to be ultra portable).

Until the other day, I was all sold on the Asus 1000HE (like many have mentioned in this thread). I'm not interested in the newer 1008HA due to its 3-cell battery, but the seashell design is nice. I've recently become more interested in the Samsung N120 - a follow-up of sorts to the NC10. Does anyone have some experience with that model? I've tried all of them out at the local store, but that's very different than carrying it with you and using it on the road. I'm not a huge fan of the Acer brand in general, and it didn't seem like the Dell Mini 10 could match the battery life of either of these models (even with the upgraded 6-cell battery). The OS is not a concern for me; I would reinstall XP Pro on anything I purchased anyway.

I'd also welcome other suggestions! I'm leaving on a trip the first part of July, so I'm looking for something I can take with me before then instead of lugging the MacBook Pro.

I'm happy with my aspire one.
most international flights have ac outlets so battery longevity should not be an issue.
for me, the most important is weight. The bigger the battery, the heavier it is.

[kuroiinu]

Originally Posted by BartleyR7

I'm going to a local store to check out the N120 today. I'd be completely sold on it if it didn't use the slightly older Atom N270 processor. It also has a slightly slower FSB (533 MHz vs. 667 MHz, I believe). I've seen all the benchmarks of the N280 versus the N270, but does anyone have any real-life experience with the two processors? How much of a difference does it really make? It seems almost negligible to me.

I've compared the Asus 1000HE (which has a N280) to the Samsung NC10 (which has a N270). The 1000HE plays video a little smoother although that could be due to more than just the CPU. There is a speed comparison discussed here: http://computershopper.com/laptops/r...-eee-pc-1000he

Originally Posted by timewaster

I'm happy with my aspire one.
most international flights have ac outlets so battery longevity should not be an issue.

You must travel first or business class . In coach, you usually don't get power outlets, even on intercontinental flights, except on a few airlines and planes.

[Raul3]

The Acer Aspire One is fine. We got one last December at Costco, and then I upgraded the battery and now it lasts for more than 6 hours without problem. I bought the battery at ebay. I also installed Win 7, RC1 right now, and it runs just perfect.

Most of the netbooks, of the same generation, have the same components, same motherboard, hard drive, screen, etc. So just check the the keyboards and find the one you like more.

[darkside]

I'm loving my 900HA after a few weeks of use and I'm actually learning to touch type on the tiny keyboard. For 10" books the 1000HE seems to be one of the best reviewed. My wife is now considering getting a netbook since she likes mine so much and she is also trying to decide between the Samsung NC10 and the Asus 1000HE. The 1000HE seems the better deal and may be the one she gets.

[BartleyR7]

Originally Posted by darkside

My wife is now considering getting a netbook since she likes mine so much and she is also trying to decide between the Samsung NC10 and the Asus 1000HE. The 1000HE seems the better deal and may be the one she gets.

Was there any particular reason she was looking at the NC10 instead of the N110 or N120? Just curious, since I've been looking myself (mainly at the 1000HE and the N120).

[Chrisedge]

I bought the 10.1 Aspire One, and upgraded the HD to 500gb....lasts forever on battery (6 cell)...Love mine

[timewaster]

Originally Posted by kuroiinu

I've compared the Asus 1000HE (which has a N280) to the Samsung NC10 (which has a N270). The 1000HE plays video a little smoother although that could be due to more than just the CPU. There is a speed comparison discussed here: http://computershopper.com/laptops/r...-eee-pc-1000he


You must travel first or business class . In coach, you usually don't get power outlets, even on intercontinental flights, except on a few airlines and planes.

I just flew nyc to Berlin on Contitnental coach a few weeks ago.
All seats had power plugs.
I also flew nyc to Hong Kong last year on Cathay Pacific coach. All those seats had power plugs too.

Check seatguru.com

[kuroiinu]

I use seatguru quite a bit. Cathay Pacific is one of the few airlines that offer power outlets in all seats on their international flights. Continental, like many airlines, offer power outlets in economy only on certain planes like the 767 or 777, and often only in the front economy seats that they give to preferred flyers. 747 planes which are still used for a large number of flights, typically don't have power outlets anywhere in economy (except for a few cases like Cathay Pacific).

[darkside]

Originally Posted by BartleyR7

Was there any particular reason she was looking at the NC10 instead of the N110 or N120? Just curious, since I've been looking myself (mainly at the 1000HE and the N120).

Sorry, it was the N110 she was looking at. My mistake on that one. It is the newer netbook from them and it got really high reviews, but the price is also a bit higher and the battery life is shorter than the Asus 1000HE. She still hasn't made up her mind on it.

[BartleyR7]

Originally Posted by darkside

Sorry, it was the N110 she was looking at. My mistake on that one. It is the newer netbook from them and it got really high reviews, but the price is also a bit higher and the battery life is shorter than the Asus 1000HE. She still hasn't made up her mind on it.

I'm still trying to make a similar decision. I keep going back and forth between Asus and Samsung, both being very well-received in their own rights. I did notice that the N110 has a longer battery life than the N120. Some reports even put the N110's battery (6-cell 5900mAh, rated for 9.5 hours) better than that on the 1000HE.

Unfortunately there aren't any local stores that sell these models. I'd love to pick them up and physically look at them before I decided on which one to purchase.

As a side note, Samsung's website is still listing CompUSA as the only local retailer where I can purchase the N120. Interesting...

[kenbuzz]

Sellout.Woot.com has the ASUS Eee PC 900/XP today for $179 (+$5 s/h) for a refurb. Celeron 900MHz processor, 1GB RAM, 16GB SDD, Webcam, XP Home. 8.9" screen, WiFi, weighs 1 kilo.

[writer106]

I have been thinking about buying a Netbook to take to work with me for when I have downtime. My boss is cool with us bringing personal laptops to use with the office Wi-Fi. I kind of want a netbook because I wouldn't want to haul my 15 inch laptop with my work laptop that I have to work everyday.

[timewaster]

Originally Posted by kuroiinu

I use seatguru quite a bit. Cathay Pacific is one of the few airlines that offer power outlets in all seats on their international flights. Continental, like many airlines, offer power outlets in economy only on certain planes like the 767 or 777, and often only in the front economy seats that they give to preferred flyers. 747 planes which are still used for a large number of flights, typically don't have power outlets anywhere in economy (except for a few cases like Cathay Pacific).

my flight to/from Berlin was a 757-200. All seats had power outlets.