Netbook Comparison

[jhurst747]

I've only played with one netbook and really liked it but that's the extent of my knowledge. Aside from knowing what the specs actually mean, I really don't know what to advise my father on regarding his purchase of a netbook. He's looking for a small and affordable computing device to work with while away from the house.

I've seen that Walmart has a few netbooks but I'm unable to really say which netbook would be a good solution for him. We want to keep the price below 350 if possible and would like a 10" screen. I'd also really like for the netbook to contain at least 2 GB of memory. Hard drive space isn't really an issue since he would only use it for web browsing and document creation.

So out of the brands that are available, he's partial to Toshiba but I'd like to get some varied opinions about what we should look at.

Thanks in advance for your time.

 

[creativename]

I'm not aware of any netbooks that come with 2gb of memory. Its not a big deal to upgrade yourself tho, pretty cheap.
Everyone has their biases regarding this stuff, but I suggest ASUS these days. Samsung's are good, but all are well over $400. The 1000HE and HA are both pretty decent, but the newest low-priced Eee netbook is the 1005HA. These range from $300 to $380 or so. They come with varying CPU and battery. Right now, Newegg has free shipping on all of them, and u can get one with 6-cell battery (u don't want the 3 cell most likely) for $330.

 

[elperra]

Get an Asus 1000Ha 10', is great. I am typing in this now , battery is great plus price is good too I am in Canada so I paid $380 Canadian. I am very happy with it

 

[jhurst747]

Thanks for the replies. I'll check those out as well.

 

[tomwaddle]

I just read the MSI Wind lasted 7 hours playing video. The magazine said the battery was a lil big but the life is great. If you are interested, I'll find the magazine and post it here.

 

[cryptonita]

I would go for ASUS Seashell series.

 

[mereena]

I too am in the market for a netbook, primarily because I think they're cool but also because I want something lightweight that I can take to coffee shops as well as travel with. Aside from the normal web, email, and doc creation, I'd also like to do some light gaming and watch on-demand content from Netflix. From what I hear, the Intel graphics cards suck but the ones with a dedicated one are around $700.

About the RAM question, all netbooks are required to come with 1GB of RAM only. Netbooks that come with Vista installed come with 2GB. That was mandated by Microsoft for some odd reason. Upgrading to 2GB is pretty simple though and costs $25 - $30. It literally is so easy to install that even a cave man can do it

Me personally, I've decided between the Asus EEE 1005HA-PU1X or the MSI U123 netbooks. Both have virtually the same specs and are the same price, but the Asus attracts fingerprints like magnets, so I'll have to see how the MSI holds up. I've also contemplated waiting a few months for netbooks with the nVidia ION chipset and see what happens with those.

My recommendation would be to do the detailed search on Newegg for what you want and then compare them. Write them down and go to your local Best Buy or Frys and take a look at them to see if it's something that you really want, then buy it online. That's what I'm going to do if I decide I can't wait for the ION cards to be integrated.

 

[creativename]

I too am in the market for a netbook, primarily because I think they're cool but also because I want something lightweight that I can take to coffee shops as well as travel with. Aside from the normal web, email, and doc creation, I'd also like to do some light gaming and watch on-demand content from Netflix. From what I hear, the Intel graphics cards suck but the ones with a dedicated one are around $700.

GMA950 does indeed suck.

I'm a little interested in the Athlon Neos. I guess HP is the one with a system using them (dv2). Only seen a review of the first model, single core with discrete video (HD3410), which is a little silly for an ultra-thin, and the thing runs too hot and not very long. They've refitted it with a dual-core neo and a bigger battery. There are now 2 options for GPU, the 3410 and integrated x1250. presumably the integrated will run cooler. I think they're supposed to roll one out sometime soon with the HD3200 integrated. Looks quite nice too. I'll consider if they iron out battery-life and heat issues.

 

[mbarrett_3]

Get an Asus 1000Ha 10', is great. I am typing in this now , battery is great plus price is good too I am in Canada so I paid $380 Canadian. I am very happy with it

Can you watch movies on it? I'm buying one for my son who's in the Navy and wants to use it for email, websurfing, music and movies. I also need to include whatever I can to get him on the internet even if he's out at sea. Any advice would be appreciated!

 

[Cootie]

Is anyone using a netbook to login to secure work network via VPN and running Citrix sessions? If so it would be great to get your experience and feedback.

Secondly, Costco has a couple of very nice looking Acer netbooks selling with a bunch of accessories for under 300. 1G DDR2, 160 HDD nice screen (10 and11 I think). Anyone has experience with the ACERs?

What are the limitations with adding peripherals? (external drives, ports, PCMCIA cards -- most don't have pcmcia slot)