Netbooks

[Julien]

Got a family member who wants one for internet/email/reading PDF's etc.
Anyone have experience with these new computers?
Any brands to stay away from (i've been looking at lenovo/asus(eee)/samsung)?
What size screen is too small to correctly surf the web?
Looking for more of a robust machine with a great warranty (+aftersales service) than a cutting edge/bling bling model.


Sorry for the vague questions, I gave up on PCs 7 years ago and have been using a mac since and am completely out of the loop

Thanks in advance,
Julien

edit: this one caught my attention...

http://www.amazon.com/10-Inch-Netbook-Processor-Storage-Bluetooth/dp/B001QTXL82/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=pc&qid=1238238643&sr=1-1

[Trptguy]

I also gave up on pc's and am using a Mac. A colleague at work though just got the asus and it looks really good. She uses it for blogging and loves it. I would look into that.

[Jean]

Julien, that's the exact one I got a week ago. So far it's been great, I love this thing. Upgraded ram to 2gb, and unlike netbooks from other manufacturers you don't void a warranty by doing this as there isn't a seal you'll be breaking to upgrade the ram and/or the hdd. I went with this model after a couple days of research, and my main concern was quality and long battery life. If it wasn't for the battery life I would have went with the 1002 model that is thinner and sleaker looking and less of a magnet for prints. The black case on the 1000HE really shows fingerprints. I looked at the 9" screen models and those were too small and the keyboard get's too small as well. I also looked at the MSI and Dell ones and didn't like them, but haven't seen any Samsung models locally for me to check. The keyboard on the Asus 1000 and I think 1002 models is the same, and the only annoying thing is the size of the right shift key.

So far I've been using it to browse the net, read e-books in pdf, check email, remote connect to my main pc and other pc's, video playback is w/o any problems, using winamp over wireless lan is spot on as well. Tried bluetooth and the built in web-cam. It does support higher than 1024x600 resolutions, and can go much higher with external monitor if you like.

The battery life is simply amazing, I am getting close to 8 hours with heavy use.

You have an option to get one with SSD, but the size is small unless you pay a premium for a larger SSD drive. I figured they are coming down in price and going up in size everyday so I ordered one with a regular HDD (160gb), and will upgrade to a SSD or bigger hdd later. The SSD drives are basically like a big usb thumbdrive or memory card, there are no moving parts and sometimes (depending on the make/model) are faster than the regular HDD, plus they are silent.

Anyway, if you got any questions let me know. A friend of mine got the 1002 model because he wanted the thinner / sleaker case and didn't care too much about the battery life. The other advantage on the 1000HE over 1002 is the chipset on the 1000HE is N280 with a slightly faster CPU. I would also order some kind of case/bag for it, as the one that comes with it is really thin and just to protect the netbook from dust etc, it's not really a carrying bag. Not sure if this helps or not, but I've built 100s of custom PC's over the years and serviced many more. I went with Asus brand because they make quality motherboards, along with Abit and Intel. Short of me contacting Asus EEE PC Technical support before buying this netbook to confirm the highest resolution it can do (took the phone agent about 2 minutes w/o even asking me for my personal info etc..) on it's external monitor port I can't tell you how good their customer service is.

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=133664

[5spoke]

A lot of people are buying netbooks at my university and just keeping a strong desktop for their house. I guess its because its so compact and easy to take to class. I have seen probably 3 or 4 different brands and no one has complained about any of them. We are all computer engineering majors too.

[Liam]

I have an HP Mini 1010nr I liked it a lot (right out of the box) and it works very well for email etc.

Now I have tweaked it up a bit with a Runcore 32 GB Solid state drive maxed on memory and I am running Vista on it (total cost includint the netbook of about $450 when all was said and done), I have never been one to leave things alone, and it's down right bitchin for what I do on it (webmaster and publishing work as well as all the things you use a netbook for).

But like I said the stock version is quite nice and having an SSD rather than an HD makes it very portable because they are not susceptible to shock damage.

The major reason I go with HP is that they have treated me very well in the past regarding support issues.

[Emre]

I have an HP Mini 1010nr I liked it a lot (right out of the box) and it works very well for email etc.

I just bought one of these for my dad as a birthday gift. They're on sale at J&R for just $279 right now with free shipping. That price also includes Windows XP installed. It's impossible to beat at that price.

My favorite thing about the 1010NR (besides how slim and light it is) is that it has almost a full-sized keyboard. The other 9" netbooks I tried had such tiny keyboards that they were practically unusable for me. The 8GB hard-disk is way too small. But that's the price you pay. Another $20 buys you a 2GB RAM upgrade (very easy to install it yourself...you don't need any tools at all).

Now I have tweaked it up a bit with a Runcore 32 GB Solid state drive maxed on memory and I am running Vista on it

Where did you get it and how hard was it to install? I'm new to netbooks!

[Liam]

I just bought one of these for my dad as a birthday gift. They're on sale at J&R for just $279 right now with free shipping. That price also includes Windows XP installed. It's impossible to beat at that price.

My favorite thing about the 1010NR (besides how slim and light it is) is that it has almost a full-sized keyboard. The other 9" netbooks I tried had such tiny keyboards that they were practically unusable for me. The 8GB hard-disk is way too small. But that's the price you pay. Another $20 buys you a 2GB RAM upgrade (very easy to install it yourself...you don't need any tools at all).

Where did you get it and how hard was it to install? I'm new to netbooks!

The Runcore (this is a brand name) 32GB SSD is about $129 it does require some advanced technical skill to install it. Took me about 30 minutes but I'm no stranger to all manner of shit like this.

here is a link to the company I got it from: http://www.mydigitaldiscount.com/Cat...+inch+ZIF+SSDs

It takes some fabrication work etc. if you decide to do it PM me I have documents for the HP Mini service/repair and I'll walk you through it.

[Julien]

thanks jean, just bought one

[e30pwr]

wow, this was my exact thought for college next semester. thanks OP and responders, I was gonna make the same thread

[bimmerteck]

I bought a dell netbook (mini9) I upped the ram and got the biggest HD and left both linux and OSx on it. I love the looks I get from some of the other people on campus still toting around macbooks. i used to love my macbook but it is really heavy compared to the netbook, and I already did all my real computing on the mac pro in my office so it is a wonderful solution for portability.

[Emre]

I bought a dell netbook (mini9) I upped the ram and got the biggest HD and left both linux and OSx on it.

Sorry if this is a n00b question, but I'm pretty inexperienced with this kind of thing. How were you able to install and run OSX on a non-Mac? I didn't think that was possible. Do you have any links or anything where I can look into this some more?

My dad is a Mac guy. If I can install OSX on the HP 1010NR I just bought him, he'd freak.

[Liam]

Sorry if this is a n00b question, but I'm pretty inexperienced with this kind of thing. How were you able to install and run OSX on a non-Mac? I didn't think that was possible. Do you have any links or anything where I can look into this some more?

My dad is a Mac guy. If I can install OSX on the HP 1010NR I just bought him, he'd freak.

I don't speak Mac but I think the latest ones are Intel machines.

[Emre]

I don't speak Mac but I think the latest ones are Intel machines.

True. But I don't think you can install OSX on any old Intel machine. Again, I don't really know. If it's possible, I'd like to know how.