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NetBooks NetBooks NetBooks

ScottAD

ScottAD

Senior member
There's so many to choose from but I know the folks here can serve up some good advice.

What I'm looking for is this...

  • $300-350 price range
  • Built-in WiFi
  • 120GB HDD or more
  • Easy to upgrade
  • Ubuntu Ready (I don't like messing with NDIS Wrapper but will if necessary)

Really what I plan on using this for is writing and researching for writing and listening to music while doing so.

So what is the best choice out there? Oh yeah I prefer blue if the netbook comes in that I'm sold!
 
Yes I meant RAM only. I know some people have done some crazy changes to EEEPC but that's not up my alley, I plan on bumping up the RAM only and in most laptops it's usually just a screw and then swapping the RAM.
 
IMO getting a "powerful" netbook is a waste of time. For most of the stuff you would want to do with one the 1GB of ram they all come with is good enough. Upgrading it won't give you any significant benefit to usability. You are better off using that money on upgrading or getting a better desktop or laptop (depending on what you use as your 1st machine)
 
Originally posted by: Dark4ng3l
IMO getting a "powerful" netbook is a waste of time. For most of the stuff you would want to do with one the 1GB of ram they all come with is good enough. Upgrading it won't give you any significant benefit to usability. You are better off using that money on upgrading or getting a better desktop or laptop (depending on what you use as your 1st machine)
Click to expand...

QFT. Skip the HDD while your at it. SSDs are really in the spirit of netbooks. Moving parts and giant HDDs is pretty much not worth it.
 
Originally posted by: Chris
Originally posted by: Dark4ng3l
IMO getting a "powerful" netbook is a waste of time. For most of the stuff you would want to do with one the 1GB of ram they all come with is good enough. Upgrading it won't give you any significant benefit to usability. You are better off using that money on upgrading or getting a better desktop or laptop (depending on what you use as your 1st machine)
Click to expand...

QFT. Skip the HDD while your at it. SSDs are really in the spirit of netbooks. Moving parts and giant HDDs is pretty much not worth it.
Click to expand...

I love my Aspire One with it's 120Gb HDD. 'Giant' HDDs is a silly statement.
 
here's how i see it.

netbook - quiet (ssd) - i hate hard drive noise!
netbook - light
netbook - hackable which is always fun
netbook - OSX/LINUX - no need to wipe a desktop and figure out drivers - its been done and is actively being done.

not powerful? You kidding me? an atom with 2GB of ram and SSD would have been badass when XP came out.

it also makes a great thin client.

$236 after tax shipped for dell mini-9 with 16GB SSD,BT,1.3MP camera,1GB RAM . ready to get hackintosh'd so my neighbor with his $2500 macbook can squirm because i do the same isht on my $236 that he does on his $2500. (he just surfs!) lol.

 
Originally posted by: Emulex
here's how i see it.

netbook - quiet (ssd) - i hate hard drive noise!
netbook - light
netbook - hackable which is always fun
netbook - OSX/LINUX - no need to wipe a desktop and figure out drivers - its been done and is actively being done.

not powerful? You kidding me? an atom with 2GB of ram and SSD would have been badass when XP came out.

it also makes a great thin client.

$236 after tax shipped for dell mini-9 with 16GB SSD,BT,1.3MP camera,1GB RAM . ready to get hackintosh'd so my neighbor with his $2500 macbook can squirm because i do the same isht on my $236 that he does on his $2500. (he just surfs!) lol.
Click to expand...

Atom processors are not that "badass". They are about as fast as the first sets of Pentium 4 processors, nothing spectacular. Plus, they are paired (currently) with the remaining supply of the craptastic 945 chipset.

They are great machines for internet, minor word processing, and a little music on the go, but if you want to do more on the go, I'd recommend getting a real laptop or get a separate desktop and save your heavy computer activities for it. Netbooks are basically supped up PDAs, not a replacement for a regular computer as some posts around here claim they are.
 
Originally posted by: Brainonska511
Originally posted by: Emulex
here's how i see it.

netbook - quiet (ssd) - i hate hard drive noise!
netbook - light
netbook - hackable which is always fun
netbook - OSX/LINUX - no need to wipe a desktop and figure out drivers - its been done and is actively being done.

not powerful? You kidding me? an atom with 2GB of ram and SSD would have been badass when XP came out.

it also makes a great thin client.

$236 after tax shipped for dell mini-9 with 16GB SSD,BT,1.3MP camera,1GB RAM . ready to get hackintosh'd so my neighbor with his $2500 macbook can squirm because i do the same isht on my $236 that he does on his $2500. (he just surfs!) lol.
Click to expand...

Atom processors are not that "badass". They are about as fast as the first sets of Pentium 4 processors, nothing spectacular. Plus, they are paired (currently) with the remaining supply of the craptastic 945 chipset.

They are great machines for internet, minor word processing, and a little music on the go, but if you want to do more on the go, I'd recommend getting a real laptop or get a separate desktop and save your heavy computer activities for it. Netbooks are basically supped up PDAs, not a replacement for a regular computer as some posts around here claim they are.
Click to expand...

^^ QFT, netbooks are NOT powerful AT ALL.

a 2005 Pentium M will run circles around it. any dual core cpu sold in ANY laptop today will run double circles around it. That is the reason i won't get a netbook for ~$400, i refuse to buy a cpu with ~1/8th the speed of today's cpus.
 
You guys aren't really giving the Atom credit where it is due. Its 1.6ghz and uses faster DDR2 memory. Its comparable to a 2ghz pentium 4, whether you want to believe it or not. Not to mention it has 2GB or ram. That is OVERKILL for windows XP with these light tasks.

Also, all of you people who sue your laptops as a main computer are insane. The HDD speeds in even 7200rpm 2.5" drives are horrendous. I know, because i have one. I'll tell you all this, i haven't touched my T61 since i've bought my EeePC. There is NO reason to have it anymore. The CPU (C2D T7500, 2.2ghz, 4MB L2) is overkill for what shitty HDD's laptops have anyway. Most IGP's cant do heavy media well anyway, so whats the point. Also with those "powerful" CPU's you want inside of you laptops, you are just buying them to drain your battery faster.

Laptops are meant to be portable. 14in+ laptops ARE NOT PORTABLE. Sure, you can take them places, but you have to take special care of them and batteries do not last long enough for sustained periods of time. You can not take them to the library with a study group and do a project without it dying on you. That just kills me when it says critical battery low. Lugging around a special laptop bag just to protect your laptop and all other over sized accessories. Also that bag makes you an easy target for theft. Not to mention using a 17" laptop in public just makes you look ridiculous.

What i'm saying here is that laptops have gone away from their intended uses. I have an old thinkpad that has an 11in screen and a battery that lasts upward of 2 1/2 hours. It is more useful with ubuntu then my T61 as i know it wont die on me and its portable. My EeePC is even more portable. Lasting in over 3 1/2 hours with the internet on at half brightness.
 
Originally posted by: IlllI
Originally posted by: Scholzpdx
Its comparable to a 2ghz pentium 4, whether you want to believe it or not.
Click to expand...


cant really say that w/o providing benchmarks for comparison
Click to expand...

Not even necessary.

P4 Netburst
2.0Ghz
L1: 12KB instruction cache +6kb Write back cache
L2: 256K
400mhz FSB
133mhz DDR
120nm

Intel Atom N270
1.6 Ghz
L1: 32KB instruction, 24KB Write Back
L2: 512k
533MHZ
533mhz DDR2
45nm
 
I got the NC-10. Mainly because it had similar specs as the other netbooks but i get about 7hours batterly life after i tweaked it.
2gb ram - Vista ultimate.

7 Hours batter life is simply amazing. Alothough this netbook costs 475.00
 
Originally posted by: Inspector Jihad
how do people get these nasty deals on the dells?
Click to expand...

outlet + coupons probably. always check hot deals and other deal sites before you go shopping for tech stuff 🙂
 
Originally posted by: Scholzpdx
Originally posted by: IlllI
Originally posted by: Scholzpdx
Its comparable to a 2ghz pentium 4, whether you want to believe it or not.
Click to expand...


cant really say that w/o providing benchmarks for comparison
Click to expand...

Not even necessary.

P4 Netburst
2.0Ghz
L1: 12KB instruction cache +6kb Write back cache
L2: 256K
400mhz FSB
133mhz DDR
120nm

Intel Atom N270
1.6 Ghz
L1: 32KB instruction, 24KB Write Back
L2: 512k
533MHZ
533mhz DDR2
45nm
Click to expand...

That sort of comparison doesn't prove anything.

Benchmarks on this very site show that a 1.6Ghz Atom is comparable with an 800Mhz Pentium M. HERE.
 
Originally posted by: DivideBYZero
Originally posted by: Scholzpdx
Originally posted by: IlllI
Originally posted by: Scholzpdx
Its comparable to a 2ghz pentium 4, whether you want to believe it or not.
Click to expand...


cant really say that w/o providing benchmarks for comparison
Click to expand...

Not even necessary.

P4 Netburst
2.0Ghz
L1: 12KB instruction cache +6kb Write back cache
L2: 256K
400mhz FSB
133mhz DDR
120nm

Intel Atom N270
1.6 Ghz
L1: 32KB instruction, 24KB Write Back
L2: 512k
533MHZ
533mhz DDR2
45nm
Click to expand...

That sort of comparison doesn't prove anything.

Benchmarks on this very site show that a 1.6Ghz Atom is comparable with an 800Mhz Pentium M. HERE.
Click to expand...

yea the atom CPU is f'in whack. i dont care how low the power consumption is, its too weak for 2008 (when it came out.) it can't even run 2008's OS which is Vista. maybe if the netbook cost $100-200, DEF NEVER over $200.
 
Doing a bit more looking around I think I'm going with the Acer Aspire One AOA150-1570. Looks like it has everything I want and the price for a refurb is $284.97 Not bad I think.
 
Originally posted by: Scholzpdx
You guys really think my celeron is faster then the ATOM? No way. With it being 700mhz slower, not a chance is it faster.
Click to expand...

You cannot use frequency to compare different architectures.
 
Originally posted by: Brainonska511
Originally posted by: Scholzpdx
You guys really think my celeron is faster then the ATOM? No way. With it being 700mhz slower, not a chance is it faster.
Click to expand...

You cannot use frequency to compare different architectures.
Click to expand...

Oh god..

Both the Celeron M and Atom line is based on the netburst architecture. Only the Atom is 45nm while the Celeron is 65nm.
 
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