In the netbook market..

[hennessy1]

I was thinking of getting a netbook for my little sister for Christmas. I was looking into the ION netbooks. My first concern or question is in reality what will she be able to do with one. I know they are not made to replace the power of a full notebook.

She does alot of youtube video watching, itunes, ms word, email, internet, online flash games. I am wondering if this particular product will be useful for her or more of a hindrance.

I know that ION 2 is suppose to be released before end of '09 but I don't think that it will be here in time for Christmas or anytime near there. So I was wondering is there any particularly good ones out there that run the ION or should I steer clear of them? I have been looking at the HP mini 311 but manly for the support plans they offer as well and can be persuaded away if need be.

I appreciate any help thank you.

 

[Zap]

She does alot of youtube video watching, itunes, ms word, email, internet, online flash games.

I'd say go for one of the small notebooks with a CULV processor. Atom chips are not quite powerful enough to run HD videos/flash and while the ION can, you have to jump through hoops of having the right driver and right Flash version to enable acceleration. Much easier to just have a CPU powerful enough to run the stuff. You can get single core units like the Acer Timeline in 11.6-13.3" screen size (almost netbook sized) for probably the $550-650 range, and maybe the $700 range for an Asus UL30 series. The ones with the SU4100 and SU7300 CPUs are dual cores, and pretty fast for something under 4 pounds.

 

[Parasitic]

Go with CULV if she won't be playing real games. Even with Ion, Atoms are still terrible.
However if you still insist, Lenovo S12 has Nvidia Ion as an option.