Best Netbook for under $400?

[msi1337]

If I have $400 to spend on a netbook, what would be the concensus on the best one for that price range?

I am leaning toward the Lenovo S10 due to my always being impressed with their build quality.

Other options I guess are the Dell Mini, MSI Wind, Asus EEE, and Acer

I would like to stay away from Acer as I have had issues in the past with 2 of their laptops.

looking for:

8.9" or 10" screen
Intel Atom Processor
120GB HDD or higher (SS is not necessary)

will be running WinXP on it.

Suggestions?

 

[Finnkc]

I too am looking at these. Right now I have got it down to the Mini 9 or the EeePC1000HA ... I know the 1000 is bigger then the Mini 9 however they are both about the same price (or I can get them for the same price rather).

Anyway I am trying to decide. The Mini 9 has the 16g SSD the Asus has the reg 160gb Drive. I duuno I am leaning towards the 1000HA atm just for the amount of storage. I am not too rough on my gear so an SSD isn't really a big issue for me.

Anyone with any of these got comments?

 

[dementedlemur]

If I didn't already own and Aspire One, I'd get this:
http://www.amazon.com/900HA-8-...&qid=1226593678&sr=8-3

At time of posting it's only $330 shipped, leaving $ for an extended aftermarket battery upgrade.
You can also shave a few $ off the Amazon price by getting it through another company on the right side if you'd like.

 

[Zap]

I would get the MSI Wind from Best Buy for $350 (if it becomes available) if I did not want a 6 cell battery, and an Acer Aspire One if I did want a 6 cell battery. Just personal preference.

I have a Wind with 6 cell (cost me $500, but I see they've dropped to around $450) and I really like it.

 

[Pollock]

Originally posted by: Zap
I would get the MSI Wind from Best Buy for $350 (if it becomes available) if I did not want a 6 cell battery, and an Acer Aspire One if I did want a 6 cell battery. Just personal preference.

I have a Wind with 6 cell (cost me $500, but I see they've dropped to around $450) and I really like it.

What about a 9" Wind and an aftermarket 6-cell battery? It should be more competitive in terms of value, I think (when combined with eBay cashback).

 

[Ika]

Using MS Live Cash Back, you can get a 6-cell fully loaded Wind for somewhere in the neighborhood of $350-400. Probably the best netbook for that price.

 

[LOUISSSSS]

if i were to get a netbook i'd DEF look into the Lenovo S10. it has all te build quality history of Lenovo's + the stylish size and design of the ideapads

its a winner with a 10.2in screen

 

[Pliablemoose]

I just bought an Asus 901, and have a 13000 mAh battery coming for it, I get about 5.5 hours out of the stock battery.

The 901 still has the cramped keyboard of the first gen of netbooks, but it's a GPS/emergency notebook for me anyway

 

[MichaelD]

Originally posted by: Pliablemoose
I just bought an Asus 901, and have a 13000 mAh battery coming for it, I get about 5.5 hours out of the stock battery.

The 901 still has the cramped keyboard of the first gen of netbooks, but it's a GPS/emergency notebook for me anyway

Sorry for getting OT, but how are you using your Eee as a GPS? I want to do the same with my Wind. Software and hardware you're using? Thanks!

My Wind (432US) should be here any day now and I'm 99% sure I'm going to like it because I researched it extensively before plunking down the CC.

I chose it over the competition for a number of different reasons, but the primary reason by far was the keyboard. The Eee still has that screwed up KB where the right Shift key is too small and too far to the right. I'm a touch typist and this machine will be primarly used for email/chat/office apps while on the road. A normal, comfy KB was paramount.

The 160GBHD, b/g/n/bt and 6-cell batt didn't hurt my decision either.

 

[iamwiz82]

Originally posted by: MichaelD

Originally posted by: Pliablemoose
I just bought an Asus 901, and have a 13000 mAh battery coming for it, I get about 5.5 hours out of the stock battery.

The 901 still has the cramped keyboard of the first gen of netbooks, but it's a GPS/emergency notebook for me anyway

Sorry for getting OT, but how are you using your Eee as a GPS? I want to do the same with my Wind. Software and hardware you're using? Thanks!

My Wind (432US) should be here any day now and I'm 99% sure I'm going to like it because I researched it extensively before plunking down the CC.

I chose it over the competition for a number of different reasons, but the primary reason by far was the keyboard. The Eee still has that screwed up KB where the right Shift key is too small and too far to the right. I'm a touch typist and this machine will be primarly used for email/chat/office apps while on the road. A normal, comfy KB was paramount.

The 160GBHD, b/g/n/bt and 6-cell batt didn't hurt my decision either.

Streets and Trips is my personal favorite. It's still a bit of a pain to get routes in, but it's really powerful and offers features that none of the portable GPSes I have played with have ever been able to do.

Stay far away from the Earthmate software, reviews are really poor with it.

I've heard really good things about the Garmin Mobile PC software too. It looks almost identical to their standalone products OS.

Just a note, if you use nLite to shrink your Windows install be careful what you remove. I made the mistake of tossing the accessibility options for my install and S&T requires Text-to-Speech for navigation. oops.

 

[MichaelD]

Thanks for the info and recommendations, Iamwiz82. I will make sure to stay away from Earthmate. I'd imagine Streets & Trips comes with some sort of USB antenna dongle? How well does that work inside a car? Does it have to be on the dashboard to have a clear view of the sky?

It's funny how you mention nLite; it's like you've been reading my mind. :Q I am pretty sure I'm going to wipe the stock install on the Wind and start over. Don't know if I can deal with XP Home. Though from what I've read, the Wind comes with a minimal amount of crapware on it. We'll see, but most probably I'll wipe it. If I do I'll be sure to watch out for the accessibility options.

 

[iamwiz82]

Originally posted by: MichaelD
Thanks for the info and recommendations, Iamwiz82. I will make sure to stay away from Earthmate. I'd imagine Streets & Trips comes with some sort of USB antenna dongle? How well does that work inside a car? Does it have to be on the dashboard to have a clear view of the sky?

It's funny how you mention nLite; it's like you've been reading my mind. :Q I am pretty sure I'm going to wipe the stock install on the Wind and start over. Don't know if I can deal with XP Home. Though from what I've read, the Wind comes with a minimal amount of crapware on it. We'll see, but most probably I'll wipe it. If I do I'll be sure to watch out for the accessibility options.

I love nLite, it's a great program. My install has a total of 16 processes running at bootup. Considering that my freshly installed work machine has 55, there is some room for trimming

Regarding the dongle. It's on a USB cable that is about 4 feet long, so I usually stick it on the dash or shove it above the sunroof shade. It picks up a signal inside of my house, FWIW.

 

[MichaelD]

16 processes? Wow. I guess I've got a whole lot of trimming to do! Regarding nLite; I'm really paranoid about deleting necessary options. Windows "is Windows", so sometimes you're not really sure what "this thing here" does, so you just leave it in there. NLite is the greatest thing to happen to Windows since XP. Seriously.

RE: The Dongle. Thanks for the info. Methinks I've found my GPS program. :thumbsup:

 

[Finnkc]

Picked up the Eee Pc 1000HA over the weekend. So far I love it. Keyboard on the 901 was too small for me, and the 1000's screen is brighter and richer. That being said its not the SSD version but I am not too hard on my hardware anyway. Overall its a great little netbook.

 

[Bigun08]

I have the acer aspire one in blue and it is great.. i have 2 of these the first was with the solid state hard drive and that drive sucked badly so i relaced it with a zif hard drive 1.8 inch and it was really cool then.. but i saw the 120 GB hard version on the egg for 350 shipped and sold that one for this 120 GB version with XP home on it..I might swap it out for XP pro...Only complaint is that the memory up grade requires a near total tear down..i upgraded memory and i love it..hope that helps.. build quality and functionality is great and keyboard is rather large and crystal bright screen looks great..

 

[Cattlegod]

MSI Wind - 10", 802.11b/g/n, bluetooth, webcam, 160gb HDD, 6 cell for 449, free shipping and no tax off ebay through zipzoomfly, then 25% cash back through microsoft live cash back bringing the price down to about $333 dollars shipped.

 

[Zap]

MSI Wind will be available this weekend at MicroCenter for $299 (their pre-BF sale). Didn't mention battery but did mention 120GB HDD and normal $350 price, so it is probably the same setup as the one at Best Buy (no BT, 3-cell battery, 120GB HDD). Still, really cheap for what it is.

 

[corkyg]

Originally posted by: LOUISSSSS
if i were to get a netbook i'd DEF look into the Lenovo S10. it has all te build quality history of Lenovo's + the stylish size and design of the ideapads its a winner with a 10.2in screen

Right on! Especially since OP asked for the "Best," - not the cheapest.

 

[craftech]

Although it is a little more than $400, the initial review on the Samsung NC10 seems really good (except for the touchpad).

http://www.laptopmag.com/revie...msung-nc10.aspx?page=1

Are these reliable? Anyone know about Samsung Notebooks and their reliability?

John

 

[Pollock]

I just ordered a 6-cell Wind from Mwave on eBay for $387, and got $96 cashback instantly, so $290 is an awesome price. Maybe there will be better offers in the next week, but I'm tired of waiting, and I don't think I'll have the time to look around then.

 

[boeckelr]

Pollock -

Could you please explain *exactly* how you were able to get the $96 cash back? And is that the same Mwave as www.mwave.com?

Thanks.

Mike

 

[BuckFuddy]

Does anyone here know:

1. What is the diff between the Eee PC 1000H ($479) and Eee PC 1000HA ($429)?
Is it because one has bluetooth and the other doesn't...is that all?

2. When will the dual core versions come out and will they be a LOT more expensive than the single core ones?

Not sure if I should get one now or wait a lil longer since the live cashback is so tempting

 

[Fayd]

Originally posted by: BuckFuddy
Does anyone here know:

1. What is the diff between the Eee PC 1000H ($479) and Eee PC 1000HA ($429)?
Is it because one has bluetooth and the other doesn't...is that all?

2. When will the dual core versions come out and will they be a LOT more expensive than the single core ones?

Not sure if I should get one now or wait a lil longer since the live cashback is so tempting

yeah, tmk, that's the only difference.

i went with the 1000HA. if i want bluetooth, i'll buy a dongle off dealextreme for 5 bucks.

 

[Pollock]

The 1000H has 802.11b/g/n. I think the storage capacities vary a little.

I was worried about dual-core Atoms, but after reading up, they have like 4 times the thermal envelope or something. Long story short, it's going to hurt your battery life, and for me, that's not worth whatever performance increase (plus additional cost).

If you can wait a little longer, wait and see if anything happens during Black Friday/Cyber Monday. I honestly just don't want to wait anymore - I want to have it waiting for me when I come home for Thanksgiving break.

The details - just go to live.com, search 'cheap wii' or something, and you get an offer for 25% cashback on Buy It Now items. There's a huge thread in Hot Deals and on Slickdeals and Fatwallet. This isn't really the place to explain it.

 

[ScoobMaster]

Hi gang.

I just ordered one for my wife for Christmas. These things are perfect for her (she does mainly web surfing and some word processing/office tasks). I ended up going with the Asus Eee 1000HA from an eBay authorized Asus dealer. I combined an eBay 10% coupon that I received with the MS Live cashback. $417 -10% ($41) - $104 Live cashback brought it down to a final price of $270!

I was torn between the MSI Wind 6-cell and the Asus 1000HA. Spec-wise, they are just about identical. After seeing both in person, it came down to little personal preferences. We liked the hinge design on the Eee better (it seemed a bit stronger) and my wife liked the Eee keyboard a little better. Some people that are avid touch-typsists are bothered by the tiny right-side shift key on the Eee, but my wife didn't care. They are both fine machines IMHO, and you can't go wrong with either one with the Live cashback.