Torn Between Netbook & Notebook/Laptop

[larrytucaz]

I realize you guys/ladies etc probably get this question all the time, sorry if it's redundant. As the title says, I am about to make the move to a portable computer, and there are 2 models I'm deciding between. One is a notebook/laptop, the other is a netbook.

Here is a comparison.

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Netbook
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Model: MSI Wind (2008 era model--black, 1G RAM 80G? HDD included)
Price: $210 shipped
Hard Drive: Upgraded to 200G
Memory: Upgraded to 2G
Display: 1024x600, 10"
Battery Life: 2 hrs or so
Optical Drive: None

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Laptop/Notebook
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Model: Dell 600m (review link)
Price: $195 shipped
Hard Drive: 60G
Memory: 512 megabytes
Display: SXGA (1280x1024), 14"
Battery Life: 3½ hrs
Optical Drive: Yes, 24x CD-RW/DVD-ROM

I am not sure, but I BELIEVE the laptop/netbook comes with a Wi-Fi 802.11G card. Either will have XP Pro installed--either by the seller, or by me (I have XP Pro SP2).

A 3rd option, one I've somewhat lost interest in (but thought I'd throw in here), was a $150 Asus EEE PC 1000 with 1G of RAM and 40G of Hard Drive space, 2 hrs battery life, and 1024x600 10" display. It's local. For only $60 more the MSI Wind has considerably more RAM and HD capacity.

I would use it mostly for web browsing/email etc, possibly SOME Photoshop CS (but not much), some word processing (I have Office XP I can dump on there easily enough). I would install Mozilla Firefox, some basic file managers etc. Basically the aim would be for me to be able to pass time when stuck in places when out & about etc. I also carry a Blackberry Bold with me, but don't plan to "tether" it currently. I have a stand-alone MP3 player as far as that goes.

I know only I can make the decision, I guess it comes down to portability (netbook) vs screen resolution (laptop). I will also say that I would possibly use the machine in doctor's waiting rooms etc--that's more of a contingency vs being a daily thing, but with that in mind the ability of the laptop to play DVDs to pass the time would be a nice extra. (I almost purchased a portable DVD player for that very reason.) Also I tend to be a pretty heavy typist, and type in the 70-80 wpm range, so a laptop's larger keyboard might serve me better.

However, I thought I'd get feedback, comments etc regarding the better-specified aspect of the MSI Wind. 4 times the memory, 3 times the hard drive space--would that make it foolish to consider the laptop? Honestly 60G hard drive space probably would be enough, and I suppose buying 1G of RAM for it would be cheap-easy enough. I tend to weigh in favor of the laptop with its higher-resolution screen and optical drive, but of course a netbook would be smaller and this particular one has more RAM and hard-drive space for almost the same money.

Comments?

LRH

 

[ScorcherDarkly]

The internals of the netbook look quite a bit better than the laptop, with larger hard drive and more RAM, so the netbook wins there. Beyond that, as you've already surmised, the difference is in size/portability and whether you want an optical drive or not. Those are purely personal choices.

 

[MalVeauX]

Heya,

Get a netbook if you want portable long life usage. It's good enough for most web media and word processing. It's not good for photoshop editing, other than minor things (but you shouldn't need photoshop for minor things...). I have a netbook and use it everywhere I go for internet and general productivity. I type in the 80+ range and I do just fine on the netbook keyboard even though it's smaller. You get used to it the more you use it. It has a smaller resolution screen. I'm fine with it. I've yet to come across websites that truly just were terrible at 1024 wide. I've not had to scroll left/right. It hands most media fine. Heavy flash will bog it down though. But it plays Hulu full screen at 1024x600 just fine surprisingly.

A laptop is something that should have way beefier components. I wouldn't get a laptop if it was in the price range of a netbook, it's going to be a larger screen but horrible hardware. If you get a laptop get a dualcore and a 15" or bigger screen and focus on power more than portability. Laptops are crap for portability. Netbooks are for portability. Get a laptop and spend more if you want more processing power, this would be the machine you actually use way more often. A netbook is for someone who wants a mobile machine but has a primary machine that is way more powerful at home (or simply doesn't do much beyond what netbooks can do, like basic web use). A laptop is more for someone who just uses the laptop and nothing else; therefore, get one beefy enough to do most anything you need.

That's just how I see it. If you have a primary machine at home, get a netbook. Synch the two if you need to.

Very best,

 

[rudder]

I would use it mostly for web browsing/email etc, possibly SOME Photoshop CS (but not much),

photoshop will crawl on a netbook. I have used lightroom on mine... and it is slow... workable, but slow.

The only drawback I see with a netbook is the cramped keyboard. If you will use it a lot to type stuff and you have larger hands.. it may get uncomfortable. Yes the screen is smaller but that does not bother me at all. I like the portability and battery life.

 

[larrytucaz]

Thanks for the replies. Yes I do have a primary machine at home (shown in signature). I'm pretty close to going for the MSI Wind U100-035US netbook, especially since the Dell 600m may not be available after all anyway & I haven't found other laptops which suit me. Also, it occurs to me, with the larger 200G hard drive on the netbook, I could use Handbrake and convert some of my better-liked DVDs to MPEG4 clips or whatever (or buy the portable DVD player as a spare, which my wife may appreciate anyway in those waiting rooms).

Which brings me to 1 question (which perhaps is better asked elsewhere)--can Windows Media Player be configured to be able to play MPEG4 clips? On my XP Pro spare machine at home it won't play them. (I haven't tried it on my Windows 7 machine.) I'd like to use MPEG4 instead of, say, MPEG2, because it takes up less space.

 

[Informant X]

One thing that pisses me off about netbooks is they give you the recovery disk on CD instead of making a seperate partition on the HD. (Or the netbook I got was like that) I suggest that be the first thing you do when you get it is set up a recovery partition. Otherwise what happend to me was my mom who don't know any better went a site and got a virus. I was unable to get it off and joy to restore to factory defaults they give you a CD which then forced me to go out to walmart and "borrow" a usb cd drive. Ugh such a pain.

 

[JackMDS]

This is decision should be based on inner hardware of the devices comparing them as though One has to decide between two gaming Rigs.

Go to a store look at a similar Netbook and make sure that working the Keyboard is comfortable for the level of word processing that you need to do, and that the size of the screen is visually what you want to deal with.

Otherwise get a Laptop.

 

[WildW]

I think the difference here is likely minimal, and comes down to portability vs usability. I have an MSI Wind netbook, and it's fine for web/email/etc, but I find it too small to do any "work" on. Office apps like word just feel so cramped on a screen that small (the 600 pixels height is the killer.)

The laptop has a rather faster processor and should have a better (more usable resolution) screen. Memory should be easily upgradable to 1GB for not much money. I'd say if you want a portable machine you can actually work on a laptop is much better than a netbook.

The netbook is great for portability - I prefer mine to my old laptop for the ability to slip into my backpack without taking half of it up - but I wouldn't dream of trying to write a document on it, or edit an image, or much of anything. The screen is just too darned small. And Intel Atom is slow. . . it's fast "enough", but it's the first computer in years that I've noticed the processor feels slow, rather than the hard disk struggling to keep up.

 

[slicksilver]

I will never recommend a netbook to anyone other than kids. Typing is very inconvenient for most adults...at least for me and many of my friends who share the same opinion.

 

[gsaldivar]

Dell 600M is a really old model. Is that really the only "laptop" you were considering?