Netbook confusion/
 

hello all,
I am going to travel. im looking forward to purchase a netbook now, but im totally confused. Hoping some help from you people .

Basic requirements:
-10.2 inch or 10.1 inch screen (HD prefered)
-at least 160 GB
-most importantly : Good build, and should not broke early.
-budget - under $320

I have heard that hp's are not of good quality, their warranty states that they will either be made of new or used parts that will be equivalent to new, , not very sure about dell too.

I have done some search and currently i'm looking at degee I8B11D4 10.2 inch, samsung N210 10.1" Netbook but i'm open to suggestions .

thanks in advance......

I donated my old netbooks with the advent of Tablets

go with I-Pad best of breed currently.

Tablet deals from $200 with a contract might shop

around for those.

Samsung and Lenovo netbooks worked best for me several

years ago... amazon.com walmart.com bestbuy.com good sales

I have been travelling with a Dell Netbook for a couple of years now and like it. I put a SSD drive in it so that it would be more suited to motion while being used, but otherwise it is bone stock.

The clause about "New or Reconditioned" replacement parts is universal with all manufacturers. It avoids issues with selling OEM parts indivicually . . I would not worry about that one.

I have a Samsung NC10, which I'm very happy with (the later models allegedly achieve better battery life by compromising on speed of performance - or something).

I'm not sure I really use it for much more than a tablet could do (could a tablet handle photo and video editing and uploads?), but the interface is what I'm used to. And it's light enough to carry around all day in a backpack.

I've got the Asus Eeee and like it.

I have the Samsung N220 which I very happy with. It has a matte screen which is important to me for viewing photos and for use outdoors. The battery life is excellent - 12 hours from a charge. This is down to the better processor and the better battery newer netbooks have.
It comes with Windows 7 starter and a load of junk programmes which I threw off. & starter is fine - you can't make your own background and things like that with it, but for what I use my netbook it is fine.

IPads or other tablets are an alternative, but the iPad doesn't have USB ports or built in card readers for instance, and has a glossy screen. Not sure about other tablets. I bought my netbook just before they started coming out. I like a real keyboard, need USB ports and a card reader, so am very happy with the netbook

Rich,

How is the speed with SSD and which OS are you using? How long does the boot take?

My next netbook/ultra portable laptop is going to be SSD, no doubt.

I don't think you can get under $320 with SSD, but if you have an SSD on your netbook, it is going to feel so much faster, especially with Windoze.

Yes, the USB and card reader ports are essential for copying files and uploading photos. If a tablet hasn't got those, then you're really just looking at a big media player.

I added the SSD when I first got it . . it does add to the cost, but is worth it on a netbook.

It boots in about half the time with the SSD. Using Windows 7 Starter. Takes about 20 secs to boot but I have nothing running at boot other than the antivirus ( MSE )

Wifie has an iPad, It's OK for surfing, but I prefer the feel of a real keyboard. We use a Verizon MiFi so that we both have internet access on the road ( and in hotels that charge for network access ) It also lets us share files

I am thrilled with my Acer Aspire.

I have a question if I may. What is Windows 7 starter? Is it a trial version which expires? I too am researching Netbooks and most of them come with Windows 7 starter. I need to get on the internet, skype, upload pictures, journal, listen to music, etc. Do I need a full version of Windows 7 for this? Why don't they just put the full version on to start with?
Thank you.

Windows 7 Starter does not "expire" - it's just a light version of Windows 7 that lets you do all the basics you need but has some limitations:

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/w...1-6f4fc21c2ac0

The biggest downside I see for most people is not having Windows Media Center. I assume you'd be able to use iTunes instead; I use iTunes for viewing media on my Acer netbook when I am using XP on it. You also wouldn't be able to play back DVDs but you would need a portable DVD drive for that anyway.

You can upgrade Windows 7 Starter to a better version like Home Premium - for a price. I've seen upgrades on sale for as cheap as $30 but they usually cost more than that.

Thanks Andrew. One of the netbooks did have a Windows 7 upgrade for $30. I will check out the site. I use iTunes for music. Won't be viewing DVDS. Thanks again.

Rich,

20 seconds is pretty good. I wonder what the startup for Windows Premium is, probably 40 seconds on a netbook if the youTube vids are accurate. I timed a Macbook Air when they came out: 10-15 seconds for a power up for OS X (only has one version.)

I usually leave my netbook and laptop in standby ("sleep"), plugged in. (Standby uses very little power but will eventually drain the battery.) Resume from standby is 5-10 seconds at most. If I put an SSD in it, that would cost as much as the netbook itself costs. Fast, but I have no need for that speed. I need the large storage space (e.g. 500GB hard drive) instead.

Yeah, most people will do fine with sleep, but for me, I don't like it. On Windows 7, I usually have Visual Studio, MS SQL Server, IiS and 20 tabs open on a browser, Photoshop, Word, bloatware. I'm much harder on my computer more than others. After a couple of sleeps, Windows gets sluggish - memory corruption - I have to reboot. I've also had other problems with sleep. Google Windows 7 and sleep, you get pages and pages of problems. Nothing like a clean boot.

That's just me. Windows 7 shutdown is much much better though, on par with OS X.

SSD is also great for overall speed, not just startup, It'll get cheaper eventually but it'll takr awhile.

Windows should not have issues with memory corruption after repeated standby/resume cycles, at least on hardware with updated drivers. I used Windows 7 for about a month and never had problems with it (the amount of memory in use at the time of standby should be irrelevant; standby simply keeps whatever is in RAM alive, whereas hibernation has to save everything in memory to a file before turning power off). I don't have the problem with XP either - and that's on four different laptops I've used regularly over the years.

I have no doubt some people have had issues with standby/sleep on desktops in particular, though, in part because support for standby/resume seems not to be as important for desktops, whereas it's an integral feature of laptops. Laptops with hardware issues - battery makes bad connection, battery doesn't hold charge, lid switch is flaky - could have problems too. A relatively new laptop should not.

If you want to run big dogs like Visual Studio, MS SQL Server, IiS and keep 20 tabs open on a browser, Photoshop and Word, a Netbook is the wrong choice.

If you just want something to surf the net and check email, it is perfect. I do not have office installed on mine. If I need the heave stuff, I use a notebook

Rich, I wouldn't open 20 tabs and all of those programs open on my Acer netbook, but I do a lot more on my netbook than you seem to think is practical. [nstevey was not talking about a netbook, anyway.] For three weeks on my last trip to Europe, I used my netbook for almost everything I would normally do including doing minor photo edits and sorting photos. I'll agree it was a tad slow but as long as I was patient, it worked just fine. I have a version of MS Office installed on it and I wouldn't hesitate to use it. But I'd probably close my browser windows first!

Thanks for sharing . . I was responding to charlielover123, not nstevey