Netbooks

G

guitardemon

Joined
Jun 8, 2005
Messages
288
I'm looking to pick up a netbook and I was wondering if anybody had any recommendations. I'm just looking for something I can get on the internet with, maybe watch some streaming videos and other light duty things. Anybody have any experience with any netbooks?
 
I've used about 5 different netbooks from ASUS, Acer, HP, Dell, and Gateway. They are all pretty much the same as far as functionality goes. Most if not all have a solid state hard drive, 1GB of Ram, couple USB ports, and no CD drive.
The Acer version was the first to crap out, the battery would not hold a charge for more than 10 minutes after about 6 months of use, and the Ethernet port was not very well designed any movement of the cable and it would pop out pretty quick.
The Dell and Gateway were pretty decent, but the performance took a dive after a couple months. Skype would lock up then the webcam stopped working, on both models.
The best one so far as been the ASUS. I've had it for over a year and it is the only one that survived. I don't use it a lot, except for testing network connections and troubleshooting at work. The lack of a CD drive is a bit of a pain, but you can pretty much download anything to a flash drive and install it from there.

I have an iPad2 and a Samsung Galaxy tab that get more use. I do a lot of email for work and the iPad is great for that. Both the tablets and the netbooks have a lot of limitations, but it all depends on what kind of use you are going to put them through. I recommend the ASUS netbook, from my own experience, it has been the best overall.
 
I've got a little HP110 that was given to me which has actually sort of worked its way into my heart. I wouldn't want to do anything heavy-duty on it, but it is surprising what it can do. It runs Photoshop just fine (the small screen is a big limitation here). It runs Cubase (serious digital audio workstation) pretty well. It's surprising how utile it is.
 
I have an Asus netbook for business travel purposes. I primarily use it for reading email and surfing in the evenings. I've used it on a couple of trips. I also occasionally use it at home instead of my desktop. I consider it a worthwhile purchase.
 
I have had my ASUS netbook for several months now. I pretty much use it all the time for internet surfing, email and the usual stuff while watching tv. Got it on sale and has not disappointed at all.
 
Hi,

I've had an Asus 1101HA netbook for over a year now. No problems, 5+ hours of run time on battery. It can do more than just surf. I can do office apps and things like that. I also can run 2D CAD with no problems.

But it's not as fast as a notebook. Video is problematic with the infamous GMA500 chipset, not Intel's best effort. No HD and full screen video is out too. But I mostly view static pages on BBS's like Blade Forums, so it's not much of a problem.

dalee
 
If you don't mind constantly side-scrolling to read a standard web page, you'll find any of them adequate. I have to warn you though, it will make you go completely insane.

Edit: You can zoom out too, but you'll need a magnifying glass to read it.
 
I just gave away my ASUS netbook. I bought a motorola xoom to replace it. Actually I just bought the xoom because I had a bunch of best buy gift certificates and didn't really need anything. After I used the xoom for a week I gave the netbook to my daughter. I hated that thing.

Netbooks are almost as big as a regular laptop
Netbooks are infinetly slower than laptops
These tablets are very fast for viewing the web, email and web streaming.

I wouldn't recommend a netbook to my x wife. they are practically pointless in my opinion. If you are doing a lot of typing I would recommend just a cheap laptop, if you just want to play on the web and watch vids and listen to music the tablets are very cool (and I said i'd never get one)
 
For simple web browsing, streaming video and occasional e-mail, I find myself using my tablet MUCH more often than a laptop. I prefer the iPad, but the Android tablets are great also, and support Flash. They're available for less money than a netbook too. One of the best things is that there is no OS to mess with and maintain. They're instant on and instant off. Extremely portable. Touch screen is so convenient for web browsing. I almost never use my laptop anymore.
 
Asus Eeepad Transformer. A tablet when you want it, a netbook when you want that. Using mine now.
 
whatever you do, get one with at least 2 GB of RAM. if you can find one with 4 GB that would be the best but I'm not sure how many have that much. for what you want, all the other specs are trivial. any of the brands mentioned above (asus, acer, hp, dell, gateway) are fine since they all offer at least some sort of free support. The last netbook we had had 1 gb of ram and it quickly became unusable with all the other crud that comes pre-installed.
 
I have a work laptop which is totally locked down (they're keen on security) So for personal use I have a Samsung netbook. It is easier to carry round, though often I end up travelling with it and the laptop. We have an ipad in the house which is great too, especially for casual browsing on the sofa.
What I like about the netbook:
proper keyboard,
one third the cost of an ipad
Better speakers than ipad - I use it as my radio when away from home.

Much improved by taking the RAM from 1 - 2 GB
 
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