What do you think of this netbook?

[PrinceXizor]

From newegg

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834200483

I saw a suggestion of this netbook plus an additional 2GB stick ($13) and an SSD (m4 64GB for $90) to make a pretty sweet little netbook for < $400.

What does everyone think?

P-X

Edit: I guess the real question is, how bad is the i3-330UM? It can't be as bad as the other processors they use in netbooks or did intel just fool me with the i3 nomenclature?

 

[fralexandr]

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Intel-Core-i3-330UM-Notebook-Processor.32001.0.html
it's much better than intel atom stuff
having 2 ram slots = win; many netbooks only have 1
about on par with a 1.5GHz core 2 duo
would be an ok web/office/hd streaming machine

 

[Bateluer]

Doesn't seem like a bad machine for 289. Not sure if you'd be able to find an AMD Llano or Trinity box in that price range.

 

[xapo99]

The Acer 722 is similar money, but it is slower with a dual core C-60 AMD CPU @ 1.3 (ish, not sure of exact speed) and 6250 graphics.

Might be better or not, depending on the graphics power of the Dell, but its in the same ball park.

 

[PrinceXizor]

Thanks for the replies.

It seems like a pretty good deal all things considered. I don't game anymore so the integrated graphics should be plenty. I'd love a newer AMD solution like you said but I just don't see it fitting in the price range. Plus, with my budget I can buy the lappy and the RAM and do more research on the SSD before plunking down for that.

Pretty close to pulling the trigger on this one.

P-X

 

[Rockinacoustic]

It's a nice machine, but I've read the battery life is only ~3 hours, which is pretty poor for this style net/notebook.

I still get about 5 hours on battery on my ~1 year old Acer 722 (C-50 processor) in comparison.

 

[PrinceXizor]

Got a link for the battery life?

I may be wrong, but, swapping out the SSD should help with that some.

P-X

 

[hans007]

if you don't mind refurbished, acer sells the ao722 on their ebay store for $200 shipped.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Acer-11-6-i...tops_Nov05&hash=item3a766f2eee#ht_1593wt_1396


a few other sellers sell refurb ao722s for slightly less even.

i've had a a0722 and its more than fast enough with an ssd. c-60 is 1.33 turbo, 1.0 ghz base so for "netbook stuff" its fast enough.

the dell in the OP post, is pretty nice though, its honestly more a subnote since an i3 330m is 1.2 ghz 1st gen core. so its not going to be slow. i'm guessing it'd be on par with say an E4300 core 2 duo desktop or something which isnt that horrible.

 

[Zap]

Got a link for the battery life?

I may be wrong, but, swapping out the SSD should help with that some.

It should, by a couple minutes.

Also, various SSDs draw differing amounts of power. If you are banking on it, research the issue.

idle power draw

random write power draw

sequential write power draw

Looks as if maybe smaller capacity SSDs draw less. Intel 320 draws less. Most Sandforce seem to draw less during writes (except Vertex 3?). Samsung and Marvell SATA 6G idle low, but write high.

 

[PrinceXizor]

So, I took the plunge. Too bad an SSD won't do that much for battery life. Still looking for a review of this particular unit that mentions battery life. Its not a huge deal or I wouldn't have ordered it.

Lowering screen brightness and tweaking the install should help some too.

P-X

 

[fralexandr]

newegg reviews state battery life is ~3 hours HD playback, 4-5 hours web browsing + youtube, and ~5.5 hours idle

so overall not bad, but idle/web browsing isn't too great either (given the LCD size and 6-cell battery)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...scrollFullInfo

 

[PrinceXizor]

newegg reviews state battery life is ~3 hours HD playback, 4-5 hours web browsing + youtube, and ~5.5 hours idle

so overall not bad, but idle/web browsing isn't too great either (given the LCD size and 6-cell battery)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...scrollFullInfo

You'll pardon me if I take newegg "reviews" with a grain of salt. That being said, it appears that overall this build has less than "usual" battery life. But, it also appears it has a bright panel so turning down the backlight seems like the biggest thing to do. Aside from bloatware/process pruning. Another user says newer drivers for more efficient use of the onboard graphics goes a long way too.

P-X

 

[Zap]

Too bad an SSD won't do that much for battery life.

Maybe. The "tested" numbers aren't much better (and sometimes worse!) than notebook HDDs. However, an SSD will spend less time actually active, and return to the idle state faster than a HDD. Thus, try to find an SSD that has a really low idle power draw coupled with "not bad" active power draw.

Looks as if the drives using Samsung or Marvell controllers are pretty decent at this, while giving top notch performance.

newegg reviews state battery life is ~3 hours HD playback, 4-5 hours web browsing + youtube, and ~5.5 hours idle

so overall not bad, but idle/web browsing isn't too great either (given the LCD size and 6-cell battery)

Battery life looks similar to 1st gen Atom netbooks with 6-cell, and current gen Atom netbooks with 3-4 cell battery. Not bad, plus you get the "option" of HD video.

 

[wirednuts]

the op linked to an i3 laptop for $300. thats about as cheap as it gets for i3 laptops, and id say for that size its a nice little machine.

 

[PrinceXizor]

Got one on the way. Maybe I will do my own little review when I get it. Its only fair to let others take my review with a grain of salt too!

 

[PrinceXizor]

Liking it so far. Just finished updating drivers, installing updates, removing bloat (not too much actually) and disabling a few services.

P-X

 

[usyed1]

Thanks for the replies.

It seems like a pretty good deal all things considered. I don't game anymore so the integrated graphics should be plenty. I'd love a newer AMD solution like you said but I just don't see it fitting in the price range. Plus, with my budget I can buy the lappy and the RAM and do more research on the SSD before plunking down for that.

Pretty close to pulling the trigger on this one.

P-X

amd a8 15.6 laptops were down to 325 on black friday here in the US.

i picked up 2 for buddies.. and their still running great.

 

[GoStumpy]

Still liking it?

I'm running a N-455 Atom netbook & love the size/weight/battery life :thumbsup: