Educate me on netbooks

[Robinhood4x4]

I know nothing about them. What am I missing if I get a lower end one? What features are must haves? What features should I avoid? Any brands I should avoid?

[troyboy162]

i have an old 7" ASUS EEEPC with the celeron cpu so thats an old one now. it has trouble with streaming video like youtube...its often choppy.

must haves:
-windows operating system or ability to change to that(linux dosnt have navigation programs)
-gig or more of ram or ability to upgrade to that(512 works but is a pinch point for the system)
-keyboard that works for you(there all small but your hands might like one better then the other)
-screen resolution you can live with(mines some weird 800x480. it works but 1024x600 would be alot better and more compatable with web pages)

toss ups:
-hard drive vs flash drive. hard drives give you lots of space but flash drives are indestructible. mine is my gps too so throwing it in the truck and the vibrations are never a concern with flash drives. it was tough to make the 4 gig flash drive be enough room for windows but you can make it fit.

the brands are probably all the same by now. look for the what cpu and what graphics chip they provide. there was talk of fancy graphics making its way to net books soon so that may be out by now.

[Robinhood4x4]

Awesome. So is asus a reputable brand? My wife's boss has a refurbished one that gave her trouble and she said it was a pain to deal with customer service.

[Cebby]

Subscribed.

[L33T35T Tacoma]

We have 2 Acer AspireOne netbooks in my house, in fact I'm typing on one right now. Some of you may have seen me at Pismo with my netbook. Most netbooks have some pretty awesome battery life as it is, and i recommend getting the extended battery life battery. I have the extended battery life on mine, I can sit around on battery power for up to SIX HOURS some times.

I'd recommend getting one with Windows XP, its simple and fast. I actually do most of my internet browsing on my netbook. I've grown very accustomed to the smaller screen. I also use Google Chrome for internet browsing because it is very streamlined and allows the maximum viewing area.

http://www.walmart.com/Acer-10.1-Min...op/ip/10974902

getting the 6 cell battery is key. Choose your color and you're down the road

I love these little laptops, I use mine daily and my parents have one for traveling. It is very easy to throw in your carry on, and the power cord is very small also and has Velcro ties to bundle everything up

[CJM]

Asus is what I want and will be getting, I like acer but they just arent as good.

[DHC6twinotter]

My parents picked up an Acer AspireOne, exactly like this model, except theirs is blue:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834115662

They love it. They travel almost half the year, so they use it mostly for email, Skype (has built in camera) and maybe an occasional document to print. They are running XP Home and Open Office. They have the larger battery as well, and it lasts a while. It is really light to carry on the plane, and if it gets stolen in some third-world country, they are only out $350 instead of $900+.

Asus is probably a better brand, but it was $50 more for the exact same thing, so they just went with the Acer.

My parents also went with the 160 gig HHD, instead of the smaller SSD. They needed the extra space more than they needed solid state drive. Supposedly, it's really easy to upgrade the RAM on these things too.

I would recommend getting at least a 10" screen. We had looked at a 9" Asus, but even though it was just a bit smaller than the 10" model, it made a huge difference when trying to type. 10" seems to be about the standard now anyways.

Lee got OSX to work on his Dell Netbook:
http://www.ultimateyota.com/index.ph...6&topic=8096.0

I don't think any Netbooks come with an optical drive, so you will have to install programs off a thumb drive. This threw me for a loop at first, but is actually super easy once you know how to do it.
http://www.ultimateyota.com/index.ph...6&topic=7554.0

Anyways, just my $.02.

[CJM]

^ Externally powered optical drives are very cheap these days. Downside is they usually need a 110v power source or take up 2 usb ports.

[L33T35T Tacoma]

^ Externally powered optical drives are very cheap these days. Downside is they usually need a 110v power source or take up 2 usb ports.

Not necessarily true. I have a Lite-On external USB drive which has the capability to use 2 USB plugs, but I only use 1 plug and it works fine.

I recommend the normal HDD, I tried one with a SSD and it was soooo freakin slow, unbearably slow. I returned that and got the 160 gig model.

[Robinhood4x4]

I just asked my wife if she meant her boss uses an Acer and not an Asus and it turns out it's an Acer.

Women.