Who makes the best Netbooks

[steppinthrax]

Looking to get a netbook for my daughter, would be her first computer, she is quite proficient anyway. I don't want to get anything too crazy, but it needs to browse the web (wifi) and be fast within reason. I see a lot of HPs, Acer, ASUS etc.... The price ranges (craigslist) seem to be 100 - 200.

I remember a year ago I bought a Acer Aspire One and it was slow as hell and I hated it. I believe it ran the 1.6GHz Atom. Are there certain processors I should avoid? How about RAM and other items? I also see 10.1" AND 11.1"

Thanks

 

[DaveSimmons]

You might be better off with an off-lease Dell from DFS:

http://www.dfsdirectsales.com/

A used core 2 duo or i3 Latitude or Vostro will be much better built and will come with a Dell warranty.

I'd look for 2 - 4 GB RAM, Windows 7 or 8, and a Core 2 of >= 2 GHz or an i3 of any speed. Price will be $250-300.

The other approach would be to buy some xmas Hot Deal new for $250-350. Build quality will be lower but if you don't get a lemon the specs will be much higher and you'll have a 1-year warranty. For brand new laptops a Pentium is fine.

Dead deal on $229 Toshiba - read for the build quality comments:
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2351976

 

[crashtestdummy]

I remember a year ago I bought a Acer Aspire One and it was slow as hell and I hated it.

That's what going to happen if you try to run a full-fetured OS on a netbook. Chromebooks have more or less replaced the netbook space. If you're feeling really adventurous, you could try installing Ubuntu on a Chromebook.

Thing is, you're going to be hard pressed to find anything running Windows in the price range you want, because of the cost of the Windows software alone.

 

[Matt1970]

Netbooks are typically trying to save power, (weak processors) make them small and light (less powerful battery, no CD/DVD) and cut costs (often inadequate ram). The news ones aren't as bad but for a while there they were shipping with a paltry 1GB of ram. They tried to make up for some of the shortcomings with starter/basic versions of an OS but that really doesn't help much or even ship with XP. And some were a total pain in the but to access the ram for upgrading. The advantages are a very small footprint and long battery life.

 

[Torn Mind]

The "true" netbooks are virtually dead, replaced by plethora of substitutes. The old single-core Atoms were on par with slow Pentium 4s and combined with slow 5400 RPM drives and single channel RAM, made for a miserable experience. There are some new ones still around, but are rare and not well-known these days.

Though I don't have one, I tend to favor Bay Trail tablets because they have performance, battery life, and portability that are better than the netbooks of yore. The ASUS Transformer Book T100a might be a suitable choice.

 

[NTMBK]

I have a Toshiba NB550D, which is pretty good as netbooks go. AMD C60 APU, dual core 1GHz- but it's a relatively modern out-of-order processor, unlike the piss-poor first generation Atom core, so that 1GHz isn't actually too shabby.

The main issue I have with it is the same issue I have with every netbook- screen resolution. Microsoft idiotically dictated that for a PC to qualify for a cheap Windows 7 Starter license, it could have a screen no larger than 1024x600. Tons of websites and games won't even render properly on a screen that small- especially sites which have massive banners at the top that don't go away and eat up half your screen. (I'm looking at you, USGamer.)

And guess what? In order to install Windows 8/8.1, you need a minimum resolution of 1024x768- meaning that Microsoft just made every single netbook artificially obsolete.

Don't even bother with an old netbook- they've been kneecapped by Microsoft so much that it's just not worth it. I have one of the best netbooks that you could get, but the screen problem is just too much. I'd recommend getting a dockable Windows 8.1 tablet instead- the Asus T100 seems like an excellent choice.

 

[lexco]

AMD C60 APU, dual core 1GHz- but it's a relatively modern out-of-order processor, unlike the piss-poor first generation Atom core, so that 1GHz isn't actually too shabby.

The main issue I have with it is the same issue I have with every netbook- screen resolution. Microsoft idiotically dictated that for a PC to qualify for a cheap Windows 7 Starter license, it could have a screen no larger than 1024x600. Tons of websites and games won't even render properly on a screen that small- especially sites which have massive banners at the top that don't go away and eat up half your screen. (I'm looking at you, USGamer.)

And guess what? In order to install Windows 8/8.1, you need a minimum resolution of 1024x768- meaning that Microsoft just made every single netbook artificially obsolete.

Don't even bother with an old netbook- they've been kneecapped by Microsoft so much that it's just not worth it. Hard disk smart command failed error occurred recently.https://www.corenetworkz.com/2010/03/hard-disk-smart-command-failed-reason.html I have one of the best netbooks that you could get, but the screen problem is just too much. I'd recommend getting a dockable Windows 8.1 tablet instead- the Asus T100 seems like an excellent choice.

I have a Samsung netbook (n128) and happy with the performance.
Though it is handy in travel I really get upset with low screen and less efficiency.
http://www.corenetworkz.com/2009/12/purchased-samsung-n-128-mini-laptop.html

I know netbook is designed in a way to consume lesser space and energy but if you are planning to use it for your full day life use, better go with notebook.

 

[ninaholic37]

Though I don't have one, I tend to favor Bay Trail tablets because they have performance, battery life, and portability that are better than the netbooks of yore. The ASUS Transformer Book T100a might be a suitable choice.

Comparing my Acer netbook (N2600) to the Asus T100 (Atom Z3740) in Geekbench, this was their results:

Atom N2600 vs Atom Z3740 (Geekbench 3)
Atom N2600 vs Atom Z3740 (Geekbench 2)

2-3x faster? Interesting.

I wonder if that's enough to keep scrolling down Facebook and Google+ newsfeed without annoying lags/delays.

 

[steppinthrax]

I just got a Acer Aspire One AO751h (Intel Atom CPU Z520 1.33Ghz). It's running Windows 7 ultimate. It's actually running quite good. Not very fast but quick. It hangs a little bit here and there but not too bad. I wonder would it run any faster if I downgraded to starter?

 

[TerryMathews]

Looking to get a netbook for my daughter, would be her first computer, she is quite proficient anyway. I don't want to get anything too crazy, but it needs to browse the web (wifi) and be fast within reason. I see a lot of HPs, Acer, ASUS etc.... The price ranges (craigslist) seem to be 100 - 200.

I remember a year ago I bought a Acer Aspire One and it was slow as hell and I hated it. I believe it ran the 1.6GHz Atom. Are there certain processors I should avoid? How about RAM and other items? I also see 10.1" AND 11.1"

Thanks

Check locally for the Acer Aspire 1430Z. It's a netbook-sized laptop with a full-sized HD, two RAM slots, and a Pentium U5440. I paid $125 for mine and I love it. 5hr battery life.

 

[jae]

I bought my daughter a HP Mini 210-2145dx. What I HIGHLY recommend and would do now is just buy her an old Dell Latitude D620 or D630. Throw in a cheap, small SSD for a performance boost.

 

[Matt1970]

I just got a Acer Aspire One AO751h (Intel Atom CPU Z520 1.33Ghz). It's running Windows 7 ultimate. It's actually running quite good. Not very fast but quick. It hangs a little bit here and there but not too bad. I wonder would it run any faster if I downgraded to starter?

You can do most of the changes you would get from starter like disable Aero and setting all visual effects for best performance.

 

[jae]

You can do most of the changes you would get from starter like disable Aero and setting all visual effects for best performance.

I have an Acer Aspire One. I never used Windows on it, but Linux Mint (xfce) ran ok with 1GB ram. I'm sure with 2GB it may run Windows comparably, but I would still recommend an old Core 2 Duo laptop than an actual netbook.

 

[paperwastage]

as someone suggested, the new Bay Trail Atoms are fine for regular browsing/facebook/etc... can even do some gaming, search on youtube for videos

Using as desktop:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vELNnjdcSww
Gaming: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=asus+T100+gaming&sm=3


// owns a Dell mini 10v (~1st gen atom N270), and the Asus T100. the T100 is definitely a lot more capable than the slow Dell 10v

can open > 20 tabs without feeling slow, surf facebook/feedly, watching 1080p videos...

 

[tamm]

Netbooks....they`ve been replaced by tablets. If your daughter only needs to browse the wifi quickly:

Dell Venue Pro or a Nexus 5.

The performance, value, and battery life is good.

 

[VirtualLarry]

http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/hot-deals/1323644/

 

[ninaholic37]

http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/hot-deals/1323644/

Finally! A Windows 8 netbook that can rival the Chromebook in price. I've been waiting over a year to see this.