Mini Laptops aka Netbooks

[Driftit 1964]

I would like to purchase one next week for Uni.

Has anybody got one or know a little about them?

Obviously I do not need it to do anything hard core as I have quite a powerful desktop at home.

Most reviews that I can find are not comparisons between models. But the Asus Eee-PC's seem to get good ratings and have a great battery. But come with Linux.

There is a few last year models on TM at very cheap prices. But would like a new one with a full warranty.

The Sony Viao ones seem very expensive. But have large SSD's which is attractive.

The other brand that seems to be everywhere is the Acers. They just seem to be the run of the mill ones.

The Dell ones seem kinda pricey for what you get.

Any help or suggestions are welcomed.

BTW. I want a mini for its size. I know a laptop is more powerful etc. All it will be used for is the internet and office. Typical Uni work.

[Sick Puppy 1]

For general word processing and basic internet usage, a netbook should be fine- a few things to bear in mind however:

1. It's smaller than a laptop. Okay, so what? Well, have you tried typing on one? If you will be spending a fiar amount of time typing on a small keyboard, it could be a PITA. Just a thought...

2. Not all Eee-PC's came with Linux.

[|ncary 0]

Do not purchas next week. Wait till Windows 7 comes out in about 2-3 months. (I know, the semester will almost be over)

5am just-got-home-from-work post for the win.

[R90S 2]

I have one at home which I use for general net-surfing and emails. i've used it for writing documents too, but it's not ideal . . . . I've got fat fingers! My one has an 8.9" screen, and while a bigger unit would be more user-friendly from a typing point of view, it becomes bulkier and less convenient.

The net book I bought is an Asus EEE 900HA which runs WinXP and has a 160gig hd. I have a Vodem and have found the Asus to be stable and reliable so far. I've had it for almost six months, and I take it with me frequently because it's convenient. It's handy to have a second computer with a disk drive to network with (or copy CD's from) in order to load programs, since none of the netbooks come with a disk drive.

One thing that appealed was that this netbook comes with a matte screen. while most of the netbooks (and several laptops) now have glossy screens. My last laptop had a glossy screen, and it looks cool but it's a royal pain in the @rse for catching reflections. Not vey practical in my experience.

Besides, there's nothing to stop ya from connecting a big screen, separate keyboard etc when at home (like a docking station) if preferred.

I like my netbook very much!

[my_e36 43]

I now have a Lenovo S10e with 10" screen, which I upgraded from eeePC901. They all have the same CPU (the Atom), unless it's the latest latest one.

eee is ok, decent battery (as mine came with extended battery). Mine has the 8GB SSD which is tiny and the keyboard also is a major pain for me, it just simply too small. Which is what prompted me for the upgrade.

Lenovo has a much better keyboard and 160GB HDD. I went for the one that has a extended battery which last 5 hours. I can watch 2 full length movies on it and that's with WinXP.

I am looking at selling the Lenovo as I don't use it much, give me a PM if you are interested.

[Driftit 1964]

Not waiting for Windows 7. I am running Windows 7 64bit on my PC now. There is nothing really worth waiting for that would make it better than Win XP for what I want out of it.

I am going to have a wonder around a few shops today to see them face to face.

I am not going for anything Sony anymore. As they are double the price of similar Asus and Lenovo ones.

Will have a look and the Lenovo range and let you know my e36

[greenday-rulz21 4]

Do not recommend the EEE on linux. You can't do sh*t on linux. But if they came out with XP then great!

[Sammy J 1]

i have a sony viao with the SSD and its a great laptop for travel and very happy with it

[Wervie67 0]

im thinking about getting one soon... have been looking at the dell mini 10 for its sweet look and nice keyboard (92% i think?), but your right it is expensive considering what you get (cant upgrade ram, etc). They are also bringing out a 6 cell battery for this model soon, which would be worth waiting for.

if you want good price and product try the MSI winds, very cheap and very solid. although quite a plain look.

dont worry about waiting for windows 7, the netbook edition restricts what you can do on it (how many windows you can have open at once, etc), where as windows xp will be just as fast, and easy to use.

[hybrid 1039]

I have a ASUS 901 EEE that I use for everything mobile like running my diag software on cars.

The really do rule. They are good enough to run as a daily desktop with mouse keyboard / monitor etc plugged in. If you run it at 'hyper' overclocked mode its pretty sweet. It will play most movies including 720p.

Great if all your doing is what 95% of people use there computers for.

ASUS is about to release the new intel dual core atom processor .. so it may pay to wait for that one? How ever the 1.6ghz atom still works sweet for most things.

You probably want to get one with HDD and not just SSD. I have the 4gb C and 16gb D driver version which work well except the D is a lot slower than the C SLC driver and you cant really run the OS from it. and the 4gb does get quite small quickly running XP. You can upgrade these however just get HDD in something like the EEE 101 or what ever your pref is.

[Driftit 1964]

Once again cheers for the info. Just spent the midday driving around in the shitty weather checking them out at various stores.

Prices are all over the place which is annoying. There is so many different model numbers also. And hardly any differance between models.

I quite like the HP Mini with the 10.1 screen. Very nice looking. Was only able to find the 270 processor. Is this the latest? Or is the 280? No 280's in the store though.

Had a go with the Acer one also. 8.9 screen. I don't think I will go for this one though. The 10" screen seems to be the go for me. The Acer also felt a bit flimsy.

The only other brand the stores I went to had was the Asus. A very nice machine. But all of them only had the small 8gb SSD drive. I think I would prefer something a little bigger to be honest.

I would however go for the Sony if it was less than $1000. But it is not. Far from it. But such a nice machine.

Was not able to see the Lenovo up front. But I see Playtech has them over the shore. They seem a very good price and still come with everything the other models have.

Do you think I should bother with one that has a Sim Slot? E.g. Has built in 3g via Vodarape or Telecon?

This is the Lenovo

http://www.playtech.co.nz/product.php?acti...ail&id=7406

This is the current Dell

http://www1.ap.dell.com/nz/en/home/noteboo...s&cs=nzdhs1

The 10 and 10V have diff processors. The 10V has a Z530 which I have not seen on other mini's

This is the current HP's of which I like the keyboard and style.

http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/nz/en/ho/WF...57-3832382.html

Not seen the MSI. But will look it up.

[Driftit 1964]

Ok here is the diff between the Z530 and N2** processor.

http://ark.intel.com/Compare.aspx?ids=36331,35463,

Looks to be heaps of bugger all. Worth the extra $150?

Was just playing around and built a Dell with the 280 Processor for $800 delivered. 160gb hdd and a 10.1 screen.

But this got me.

WIRELESS NETWORK CARD Dell Wireless 1510 802.11n Half Mini-Card

Does this mean the dell does not have it built in?

Edited August 1, 2009 by driftit

[Wervie67 0]

here you go man, a few different options. probably the / one of the cheapest avaliable . but reviews are good with them (cheap and solid). quite plain looking though...

http://www.msimobile.com/level2_productlist.aspx?id=3

think some of these have upgradeable ram aswell

[Driftit 1964]

Looked into the MSI Wind's. Going to go and check one out. They come with the newer 280 processor yet are the same price or cheaper than than the other brands which are still running the 270's.

http://www.playtech.co.nz/product.php?acti...ail&id=7667

Also comes with a 6 cell battery from standard.

[320guy 0]

Do not recommend the EEE on linux. You can't do sh*t on linux. But if they came out with XP then great!

Cant do sh*t on linux? noob.

My sister got a asus eee, 20gb linux version. The XP version is like 16gb. I installed a nlited version of xp for her. Its pretty good, although the keyboard is hard to type on, unless you plug in a USB keyboard.

[greenday-rulz21 4]

Cant do sh*t on linux? noob.

Cheers man.

[Wervie67 0]

Cant do sh*t on linux? noob.

I think hes meaning the linux that comes standard on the eee pc. which you cant do sh*t on

Edited August 2, 2009 by Wervie67

[bmw_guy 0]

Hit up windows 7.

So good, been testing it on my laptop for the past week.

Runs mint

[RvT 9]

WIRELESS NETWORK CARD Dell Wireless 1510 802.11n Half Mini-Card

Does this mean the dell does not have it built in?

We are using a Dell 10 Mini as a Laptop for when we are travelling around NZ abroad and want email and connections but don't want to take a boat anchor. It has a built in wireless so I just park up inside a McDs overseas and I am online. Very impressed with the unit and speed considering its size.

At work we have about 20+ Dells running 24/7 and only one has ever played up and that was a power supply. Having been through most brands in the 90s, we won't move away from Dells due to reliability. Some of these machines have been switched on for 10 years now and no hardware maintenance !!!