Netbooks

[Gitaroomaan]

I've been thinking about getting a Netbook lately. A Netbook, for those who don't know, are small, lightweight laptops for basic tasks.

I've been mulling over the MSI Wind (http://www.laptopmag.com/review/laptops/msi-wind.aspx) and the Asus EEE 1000HA (http://www.laptopmag.com/review/laptops/asus-eee-pc-100h.aspx). The specs on them are essentially identical, the only caveat being the Wind has a 3-Cell Battery while the EEE rocks a 6.

Using Live.com's 25% ebay Cashback (details here) (http://forums.slickdeals.net/showthread.php?sduid=0&t=952519&highlight=live+cashback), the Wind can be had for around $262, with the EEE coming in around $313.

Anyone have any experience with either of these badboys? I'm thinking about going with the Wind due to the lower price, as with the difference in price I could always buy a 6 cell battery and have the 3 as a spare. (3 gets about 2 hours of life, with the 6 gets closer to 5).

[harle]

I have heard great things about the MSI Wind and Acer Aspire One. It is great to see that you are taking advantage of the Ebay Cashback deal! There are some insane deals that can be had through that.

I do not have personal experience with either, but I keep hearing positive things about the MSI Wind. For $262, it looks to be a pretty good choice.

[Gitaroomaan]

My only Netbook experience was playing with an Aspire One briefly at Costco. It was pretty cool, but I think I'd prefer the 10 inch Wind over the Aspire's 8.9 inch screen. The keyboard also felt pretty crammed on the Aspire, the Wind supposedly has a close to full size keyboard.

[Heresyte]

I have the EEE 901. Due to some unexpected changes I haven't yet needed it as much as I expected to, so it hasn't gotten a whole lot of use, but I love it somewhere between a billion and 47 trillion times more than the full-sized laptop I used to have. I highly recommend netbooks to anyone who wants a laptop that's actually portable.

[KingGorilla]

Both of these are really more inexpensive laptops more than a Netbook. Acer is the only one of the two offering a Solid State Drive, as well as the bigger battery. It also offers Linux, which for the limited power of the netbook as well as MS nearly done with XP support is necessary for security and reliability.
If you want a cheap, ultralite, Dell, Acer, MSI are fine options. If you want a netbook-large battery life, fast boot times, reliability, without sacrificing much, you need a computer with a SSD and a Linux distro. Maybe if Microsoft plays ball on a mini-os like their partners want then it would be a more viable option.

Based on what you have said, you need an ultralite, not a netbook.

Cnet and Engadget have reviews of both, see what appeals to you, be sure to look at what Dell and Asus offer.

[Gitaroomaan]

I'm perfectly happy with a platter drive over a cheap SSD. In doing research, the SSD's offered in some of these Netbooks are slow and cheap. While more secure from a fall than a HDD, I am fine with that in exchange for larger space. I also want XP, I've toyed with Linux but it's not for me and my daily needs, so both of the Netbooks I suggested are pretty much exactly what I'm looking for (particularly in price, I'm on a thin budget), it's just a matter of which one.

[Goronmon]

Both of these are really more inexpensive laptops more than a Netbook.So...they aren't netbooks (small, inexpensive laptops) but they are small, inexpensive laptops? I'm not sure I follow there. :p

I've heard good things about the MSI Wind, and I've heard anything smaller can be more of a hassle to work with due to the keyboard size. You can also get one with a 6-cell battery.

[biosc1]

also want XP, I've toyed with Linux but it's not for me and my daily needs

What are your daily needs? As KingGorilla stated, you may wish to look into an ultralight instead?

These netbooks are neat and all...but they seem a bit too cramped for me...cramped keyboard wise and spec-wise...doesn't mean I may not still get one because I am a gadget-whore. :o

[Tayaya]

Most of my co-workers here have various flavors of Eee netbooks, and while I like them quite a bit in terms of portability, their tiny screens and tiny keyboards are a bit of a turn off - most of them are the original 7-incher but a few have the newer 9 and 10 inch models which are much nicer.

Boot-up time isn't bad even on XP... I booted one up cold next to my iphone and the iphone dashboard came up at exactly the same moment as the Windows Welcome screen on XP... so about 38-45 seconds. I don't like typing on them at all but for checking e-mail or what have you it would be quite tolerable. Wouldn't want to write papers on them, but light chat and web surfing use would be fine.

Anyone try out the Dell Mini-9? I was going to buy one before my more recent financial plunge with the car... I think it looks fantastic... very nice, polished product compared to the Eee PC which feels a little cheap overall (but that's improving with each new model).

Amazon was running a Clearance on the HP Mini-note, dropping them to the sub $200 range for the weekend.... that may still be ongoing.

[Gitaroomaan]

Amazon was running a Clearance on the HP Mini-note, dropping them to the sub $200 range for the weekend.... that may still be ongoing.

The mini note is incredibly sexy, but it uses a shit-tastic Via C7 processor, and the amazon one uses an even weaker one than the other models. It can barely play Youtube videos.

Keep an eye on the HP Mini 1000, which is basically the same thing as the Mini-Note but uses the Intel Atom, same as the other netbooks.

On a related note, I plopped down for a MSI Wind, should show up this week. I'll be sure to post impressions.

[Tayaya]

The mini note is incredibly sexy, but it uses a shit-tastic Via C7 processor, and the amazon one uses an even weaker one than the other models. It can barely play Youtube videos.

Keep an eye on the HP Mini 1000, which is basically the same thing as the Mini-Note but uses the Intel Atom, same as the other netbooks.

On a related note, I plopped down for a MSI Wind, should show up this week. I'll be sure to post impressions.

Yeah, I did notice that about the mini note... if you wanted it to be a decent machine the price jumped into the $700+ range... at that point you may as well buy a laptop.

[Inspector Fowler]

I might be getting a netbook sometime early next year.

My desktop computer is currently hanging out in the living room. I don't have a space of my own. I'd like to move it downstairs, and claim the basement as a proper man (nerd) cave. But I'm also an info/net junkie, and I miss my old laptop's ability to go anywhere.

So something to get me some surfing and docs would be great. I'm leaning towards a Linux based one (just for somethin' different) with an SSD. Like all tech purchases, I'll end up doing a ton of research before I get it, but I'm excited just to learn Linux :)

[Inspector Fowler]

Dammit. I thought I was clicking "reply" to a different thread.

[Gitaroomaan]

Well, I finally ordered the MSI Wind using ebay's Live.com Cashback program and it arrived today. With the cashback the cost was around $260, which is a bargain. I'm using it right now backstage at a theater production. Nearly everyone who walks by stops and asks "What is THAT?"

http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/picture.php?albumid=44&pictureid=262

http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/picture.php?albumid=44&pictureid=261

It's small and took me a little while to get used to, but I am very much warming up to it. The keyboard is about 92% of full size, but I'm able to touch-type with nearly the same accuracy as a normal one. The screen is LED backlit and is gorgeous. I loaded up Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory which plays wonderfully.

I've got another gig of ram coming in the mail as well as a micro bluetooth adapter (I opted for the model without internal bluetooth, saved a good $50 or so). All in all, for $260 this is a great buy. I'm still getting used to it and figuring things out, but the sheer portability of the thing (2.3 pounds) is amazing.

[Heresyte]

So something to get me some surfing and docs would be great. I'm leaning towards a Linux based one (just for somethin' different) with an SSD. Like all tech purchases, I'll end up doing a ton of research before I get it, but I'm excited just to learn Linux :)
The EEE 901 would be excellent choice, but the OS it comes with (Xandros) is absolutely worthless. I highly recommend an EEE but the first thing you'll want to do is replace the OS with something decent.

[Inspector Fowler]

The Dell Mini 9 dropped in price to $299 today for Black Friday. I jumped on it pretty quick. I paid to bump up the RAM and get the bigger SSD (32GB). It comes with Linux, so I'll be busy for a while figuring that out.

I'm looking forward to it. I always liked my laptop but it always felt more like, "Move, plug in, set up, use laptop" where a netbook seems more like, "Open, use". We'll see, though. I was surprised my wife bought off on it so quickly, but I wasn't gonna argue when she told me to buy it!

[Karak]

Well, I finally ordered the MSI Wind using ebay's Live.com Cashback program and it arrived today. With the cashback the cost was around $260, which is a bargain. I'm using it right now backstage at a theater production. Nearly everyone who walks by stops and asks "What is THAT?"

http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/picture.php?albumid=44&pictureid=262

http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/picture.php?albumid=44&pictureid=261

It's small and took me a little while to get used to, but I am very much warming up to it. The keyboard is about 92% of full size, but I'm able to touch-type with nearly the same accuracy as a normal one. The screen is LED backlit and is gorgeous. I loaded up Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory which plays wonderfully.

I've got another gig of ram coming in the mail as well as a micro bluetooth adapter (I opted for the model without internal bluetooth, saved a good $50 or so). All in all, for $260 this is a great buy. I'm still getting used to it and figuring things out, but the sheer portability of the thing (2.3 pounds) is amazing.
Awesome. And thanks for the pic. It helps to see that size comparision.

[Wraith]

This looks like as good a place as any to ask.

Amazon has their annual Customers Vote (http://promotions.amazon.com/gp/cv/purc?ie=UTF8&accessCode=A243KWKOFTXHFC) program going. One of the deals I voted for, I was given the chance to try for one (starting tomorrow morning). It's the ASUS Eee PC 900 (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001AJQ8OM/) (8.9" screen, XP Home, 900 MHz Intel CPU, 12GB SSD). The deal is they're offering 500 of these at $129.00. Their current price is $431.42; a few other sites have it for ~$350-$400.

Anyone want to talk me into trying for one of these? I've already got a Macbook (and a decent XP desktop), and this money could go to buying a Zune or iPod Touch instead.

[Heresyte]

The EEE 900 was replaced almost immediately with the 901 which is vastly superior.

[Expugnare]

I just got a Dell Latitude D430 and it is great so far. It has a bigger screen than many of the other ultra-portables along with 2 GB of RAM and decent processor.

[Goronmon]

Looks like Samsung has recently come out with a netbook of their own, the NC10.

Looks fairly decent. (http://www.laptopmag.com/review/laptops/samsung-nc10.aspx)

The crazy battery life stands out the most. If the price comes down a bit, this could be the laptop I finally pull the trigger on.

[Inspector Fowler]

Hurray! My Dell came today. So far, for basic computing, Linux seems...well...pretty much just like Windows. And also, I'm glad I have tiny hands, because the keyboard is very small.

I love the ultra-portability of it.

[KingGorilla]

Be sure you install Opera as your main browser, for whatever reason Flash works much better in there on Linux than Firefox. Then go to Hulu and go nuts, I suggest Monty Pythin's The Meaning of Life

[Heresyte]

Be sure you install Opera as your main browser, for whatever reason Flash works much better in there on Linux than Firefox. Then go to Hulu and go nuts, I suggest Monty Pythin's The Meaning of Life
Wait what? My experience has been 100% the opposite. I've been using linux as my primary OS and opera as my primary browser for 5 years, and I always have to switch to firefox if I'm going to be using a lot of flash.

[KingGorilla]

You are wrong, your experience is contrary to mine.

I dunno, you can use both. I found that in the X86 version of Ubuntu that I was using, Opera worked better with Flash that Firefox 2. I have not fired it up since flash 10 was released though.