I'm thinking of a netbook...

[michael2572]

...and it's got:

• Good temperature control / not too hot where your hands rest
• Battery life! Lots of it.
• Well-laid out keyboard with no "snags" in design
• Good trackpad. Not too small, like the one on an HP Mini for example.

Proc/Mem isn't as important as I'll be dropping in an SSD, so things will be definitely fast enough. Oh, and no gaming, obviously.

I am looking at these options:

• TOSHIBA Mini NB505-N508OR EasyGrip Finish in Orange Intel Atom N455(1.66GHz) 10.1" WSVGA 1GB Memory 250GB HDD Netbook
• Acer Aspire One AOD255E-1802 Diamond Black Intel Atom N550(1.50GHz) 10.1" WSVGA 1GB DDR3 Memory 250GB HDD Netbook (little too cheap)
• ASUS Eee PC 1215P-MU17-BK Black Intel Atom N550(1.50GHz) 12.1" WXGA 1GB DDR3 Memory 250GB HDD NetBook

Can anyone recommend a netbook along these lines? Thanks in advance!

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

I'm just gonna be honest, all those you linked are crap for their price. Avoid single-core Atom at all costs. Even with an SSD they're gonna be horribly slow due to only 1GB of RAM and the CPU. HD content is out of the question, too. They also come with Windows 7 Starter, which is way too limited in features.

If you want a good all-around netbook I recommend you go AMD instead. The Acer Aspire One AO722 is at $300 at Newegg and it has a much faster CPU than all those you linked, it has a decent IGP (integrated graphics processor) that can handle casual gaming and 1080p HD content, including Flash video. It also has a good battery that most reviewers say will last 7 hours on normal Wi-Fi web browsing. The screen is 11.6" and has a 1366x768 res instead of the eye gouging 10.1" 1024x600 screens on the others. It can also handle a decent amount of multi-tasking since it has 2GB of RAM, and you can upgrade to 4GB if you want through the access panel on the bottom. It comes with Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit, too. Pick this one instead, you can't go wrong.

 

[Flamefist]

Can you try the Asus eee pad transformer with the Keyboard dock? 15 hour battery
there must be some hacks to make it run ubuntu.

 

[Ultralight]

What LOL_Wut_Axel said about the Intel Atom. It is too underpowered. Go with AMD's E-350 dual core.

You don't tell us your budget is so I suggest looking into either Lenovo's ThinkPad X120e or HP's dm1z. They are popular and I know Lenovo is selling a ton of their model. They are well built and the keyboard is good.

 

[michael2572]

I'm just gonna be honest, all those you linked are crap for their price. Avoid single-core Atom at all costs. Even with an SSD they're gonna be horribly slow due to only 1GB of RAM and the CPU. HD content is out of the question, too. They also come with Windows 7 Starter, which is way too limited in features.

If you want a good all-around netbook I recommend you go AMD instead. The Acer Aspire One AO722 is at $300 at Newegg and it has a much faster CPU than all those you linked, it has a decent IGP (integrated graphics processor) that can handle casual gaming and 1080p HD content, including Flash video. It also has a good battery that most reviewers say will last 7 hours on normal Wi-Fi web browsing. The screen is 11.6" and has a 1366x768 res instead of the eye gouging 10.1" 1024x600 screens on the others. It can also handle a decent amount of multi-tasking since it has 2GB of RAM, and you can upgrade to 4GB if you want through the access panel on the bottom. It comes with Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit, too. Pick this one instead, you can't go wrong.

Great advice. Thanks. Totally see where you're going, I see now that it's very true that the current single core Atoms really aren't worth their dime. Just a little worried about linux compatibility, it seems like generally Intel is better for that. But I'm sure I'll make it work.

That Acer looks great. Definitely a candidate.

You don't tell us your budget is so I suggest looking into either Lenovo's ThinkPad X120e or HP's dm1z. They are popular and I know Lenovo is selling a ton of their model. They are well built and the keyboard is good.

Budget is whatever it takes to get what I want. Hah. Preferably less than a grand?

Good suggestions, but just not too crazy about Lenovo or HP. I like the specs on that ThinkPad but the hardware is pretty butt ugly and the red mouse nub thing is ridiculous. I don't like the shape of HP Mini's. They are too curvy and the border around the screen is too thick.

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

Great advice. Thanks. Totally see where you're going, I see now that it's very true that the current single core Atoms really aren't worth their dime. Just a little worried about linux compatibility, it seems like generally Intel is better for that. But I'm sure I'll make it work.


That Acer looks great. Definitely a candidate.



Budget is whatever it takes to get what I want. Hah. Preferably less than a grand?

Good suggestions, but just not too crazy about Lenovo or HP. I like the specs on that ThinkPad but the hardware is pretty butt ugly and the red mouse nub thing is ridiculous. I don't like the shape of HP Mini's. They are too curvy and the border around the screen is too thick.

You can get what you want for less than half a grand. The X120e is made for people that either want a professional machine or run a small business. It's tough and made to be functional. I actually like the design a lot more than the other ultra-portables, and the TrackPoint is one of the best ideas ever once you get used to it. You can navigate the OS easily without having to move your finger from the middle of the keyboard. Speaking of the keyboard, it's also the best you're gonna find in any laptop under $500 hands down. The matte screen is great if you're outdoors, too. If you don't like it, though, the HP dm1z has a good keyboard but a meh trackpad. Apart from that, it's a well-built machine that can handle a lot more than the Atom netbooks. The HP mini and the HP dm1z are in different categories, so it doesn't have the same problems associated with it.

As for Linux compatibility, I don't know if I'd recommend you to go that route. You typically get significantly less battery life on these on Ubuntu, and they're powerful enough to handle Windows 7 with decent multi-tasking.

 

[tatteredpotato]

As for Linux compatibility, I don't know if I'd recommend you to go that route. You typically get significantly less battery life on these on Ubuntu, and they're powerful enough to handle Windows 7 with decent multi-tasking.

Well that's just false.

Battery life differences between Windows and Linux have always been negligible for me.

 

[wirednuts]

atom netbooks are serviceable, but the zacates beat them in all major regards. e-350 netbook sounds like what op wants.

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

Well that's just false.

Battery life differences between Windows and Linux have always been negligible for me.

No, it's true. AMD Fusion has poor driver support for Linux. Atom is better in that regard, hence why you get comparable battery life in Linux. In any case, why would you want to install something like Ubuntu anyway when the Fusion netbooks and ultraportables can handle Windows 7 inc. multi-tasking just fine? OP said he wants it for web browsing, productivity and other normal stuff, right? For that Windows is just as good, if not better.

 

[tatteredpotato]

No, it's true. AMD Fusion has poor driver support for Linux. Atom is better in that regard, hence why you get comparable battery life in Linux. In any case, why would you want to install something like Ubuntu anyway when the Fusion netbooks and ultraportables can handle Windows 7 inc. multi-tasking just fine? OP said he wants it for web browsing, productivity and other normal stuff, right? For that Windows is just as good, if not better.

Hrm well I can buy that (I missed the "on these" in your comment about battery life) perhaps.

Though I don't see anywhere where the OP said WHY he wanted Linux.

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

Hrm well I can buy that (I missed the "on these" in your comment about battery life) perhaps.

Though I don't see anywhere where the OP said WHY he wanted Linux.

Yeah, I was talking about AMD in particular. I know for a fact Intel is better in that regard, and since Ubuntu uses less resources it runs better than Windows as well.

The OP didn't say why he wanted Linux, but I assume it's because it runs better on Atom netbooks. In that case, the Fusion C-50 can run Windows 7 well, so it wouldn't be necessary.

 

[tatteredpotato]

Yeah, I was talking about AMD in particular. I know for a fact Intel is better in that regard, and since Ubuntu uses less resources it runs better than Windows as well.

The OP didn't say why he wanted Linux, but I assume it's because it runs better on Atom netbooks. In that case, the Fusion C-50 can run Windows 7 well, so it wouldn't be necessary.

FWIW I had windows 7 on a Dell Mini 9 and it was compltely usable aside from the 8 GB SSD which left like 200 megs free after installation. As long as you have 1GB of RAM you should get acceptable performance for basic tasks.

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

FWIW I had windows 7 on a Dell Mini 9 and it was compltely usable aside from the 8 GB SSD which left like 200 megs free after installation. As long as you have 1GB of RAM you should get acceptable performance for basic tasks.

Eh. I used an Eee PC with an Atom N270 and 1GB DDR2 RAM on Windows 7 and found it way too sluggish. If it can't handle me having open an e-mail client, listening to music and browsing the web--a common light multi-tasking situation--it's just too slow. I just see no real point in settling for Atom now that Fusion is here. You get higher-res screens, Win 7 Home Premium, 2GB of RAM, more expandability, 1080p HD content support, HDMI out, all for only $20-30 more on average.

 

[tatteredpotato]

Eh. I used an Eee PC with an Atom N270 and 1GB DDR2 RAM on Windows 7 and found it way too sluggish. If it can't handle me having open an e-mail client, listening to music and browsing the web--a common light multi-tasking situation--it's just too slow. I just see no real point in settling for Atom now that Fusion is here. You get higher-res screens, Win 7 Home Premium, 2GB of RAM, more expandability, 1080p HD content support, HDMI out, all for only $20-30 more on average.

I agree, I ditched that Mini for full sized laptops in the 12-13" range and haven't looked back at the Atom. Hopefully the upcoming ARM port of Windows 8 is indicative that Microsoft is focusing on these lower performance/power efficient CPUs in the future.

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

I agree, I ditched that Mini for full sized laptops in the 12-13" range and haven't looked back at the Atom. Hopefully the upcoming ARM port of Windows 8 is indicative that Microsoft is focusing on these lower performance/power efficient CPUs in the future.

Yep. I wonder what they're gonna do about software that runs on X86, though. I think in the beginning there's gonna be a lot of software that won't run on ARM, and it adds some confusion to people since they need to choose either the X86 or ARM version when they don't know what both are.

I think in 2 years after all that clears up ARM is gonna be significant in Windows because of the low price and low power consumption, though I don't foresee it surpassing X86.

 

[michael2572]

Well, since I am kind of running out of time, I dropped the cash on that Acer C-50.

I want to run Linux and 7 on it just because I do, some things I'd just prefer to do in Linux.

Thanks again for your comments.

 

[BrandonT]

You can get what you want for less than half a grand. The X120e is made for people that either want a professional machine or run a small business. It's tough and made to be functional. I actually like the design a lot more than the other ultra-portables, and the TrackPoint is one of the best ideas ever once you get used to it. You can navigate the OS easily without having to move your finger from the middle of the keyboard. Speaking of the keyboard, it's also the best you're gonna find in any laptop under $500 hands down. The matte screen is great if you're outdoors, too. If you don't like it, though, the HP dm1z has a good keyboard but a meh trackpad. Apart from that, it's a well-built machine that can handle a lot more than the Atom netbooks. The HP mini and the HP dm1z are in different categories, so it doesn't have the same problems associated with it.

As for Linux compatibility, I don't know if I'd recommend you to go that route. You typically get significantly less battery life on these on Ubuntu, and they're powerful enough to handle Windows 7 with decent multi-tasking.

Have you compared both of these? How do the screens compare. I was leaning toward the Lenovo but the screen seems to be universally hated. And I don't really like HP. I'd like a E350 machine with good battery life, a decent (but not spectacular) screen (10-11.5"), and decent keyboard.

 

[KevinH]

Well, since I am kind of running out of time, I dropped the cash on that Acer C-50.

I want to run Linux and 7 on it just because I do, some things I'd just prefer to do in Linux.

Thanks again for your comments.

Are you able to return the netbook? That EXACT model is on sale right now @ Target for $250 with an additional 30 dollar gift card. Brick and Mortar only

http://slickdeals.net/forums/showthread.php?sduid=397701&t=3195544

I'm going to go out on a limb here with regards to your question above regarding the screen quality of the 11" machines. I'm almost certain it's the same screen being used across all the manufacturers and they're equally "not so good". I'd go to a store to check it out. It depends on what you can tolerate. I'm a HUGE stickler on screen quality and what passes ass a good screen to some is utterly unusable for me.

@ $220 for a web/surfing machine is ridiculously cheap though.

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

Have you compared both of these? How do the screens compare. I was leaning toward the Lenovo but the screen seems to be universally hated. And I don't really like HP. I'd like a E350 machine with good battery life, a decent (but not spectacular) screen (10-11.5"), and decent keyboard.

Don't really know where you saw the screen is "universally hated", to be honest. My mom has one and I use it often and the screen is great for outdoors. The advantage of the dm1z, which I have also used, is that the screen has higher contrast. Good luck with it outdoors, though. Apart from that there's not much difference.

Are you able to return the netbook? That EXACT model is on sale right now @ Target for $250 with an additional 30 dollar gift card. Brick and Mortar only

http://slickdeals.net/forums/showthread.php?sduid=397701&t=3195544

I'm going to go out on a limb here with regards to your question above regarding the screen quality of the 11" machines. I'm almost certain it's the same screen being used across all the manufacturers and they're equally "not so good". I'd go to a store to check it out. It depends on what you can tolerate. I'm a HUGE stickler on screen quality and what passes ass a good screen to some is utterly unusable for me.

@ $220 for a web/surfing machine is ridiculously cheap though.

Amazing deal, great find. OP, if you can,return the one from Newegg and go for this. It's the exact same model number. :thumbsup:

 

[michael2572]

Damn! Well, as you can see, it's from Newegg, and for computers they don't do online RMAs, but I think they would take it back as long as it's in original packaging.

That is one incredible deal. $100 less is enough to make me consider taking it back.

 

[roguerower]

I'd really suggest shying away from a netbook with Atom inside it. The E-350 is a much better product at this point in time and if you have the cash I'd go with the transformer and the keyboard.

Oh, and don't diss the nub, that is the best mouse ever made for laptops.