Netbook laptops

[NJA bound]

The size and weight of this would be a lot easier to take on the road, anybody using it http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9183377&type=product&id=1218049006317

 

[Mike Jenvey]

Any ideas of battery life? I have a larger Acer but even with optimized settings, the battery endurance is poor.

Quite a few of my NJE colleagues have these mini-notebooks, seem to be very practical.

 

[goodgig]

I freakin love mine. Make sure you get an XP one, not Linux. (not that there is anything wrong with that!)

The xp ine runs about $50 more.

 

[fischman]

I bought my wife one for Christmas. Nice computer. Small. Light. Fast. The battery lasts about 5.5 hours. There are no external drives, so if you like to watch movies on the road, you are going to need to download them.

I would recommend it.

 

[Mvich]

I got a similar one recently & it does a great job. There are several offerings in this price range & some variation in screen size and keyboard size & layout. Check them out at Best Buy & Frys to see which suits you best. I went with the MSI Wind personally but there are several good contenders in this price range with 8.9 or 10 inch screens.
Acer Aspire 1
Asus Eee
Lenovo S10
MSI Wind
Samsung

Plus if you are able & willing to pay more there are 12 inch models that don't weigh much more but give a larger layout plus a CD/DVD drive.

 

[mynameisjim]

I have a 10 inch Eee PC 1000HA that I bought for around $375. I really like it. I actually haven't used up the battery in one sitting yet, so I don't know how long it lasts. At least 5 hours.

 

[gunfyter]

Asus EEE here. Linux so no viruses or lock ups.

Cost less than my Iphone so I am not worried about something happening to it like the guys lugging a MacBook around....

 

[jtf]

I've got the msi wind with a 9 cell battery. The wind has a super bright 10" screen and has worked great for me. The 9 cell battery was an extra battery for about $85 and puts the battery life at about 6 hours. The screen is bright and eats the original 3 cell battery in under 2 hours, but I knew that going in and found the 9 cell on Amazon. Check out the prices at www.newegg.com and amazon before you buy something at a box store to make sure you are getting a reasonable price. Also take into consideration how you will be using your computer. I take mine on the road for internet and movies. Without an optical drive you need a way to transfer data into the netbook if you want to watch DVDs. I already had a stand alone DVD burner that I can plug into a USB port and store the movies in the hard drive. I'm not sure if I would have gone with the netbook if I didn't already have that. The hard drives in most of the netbooks are over 100 gigs so you can jam a lot of movies in at a time and I actually find myself watching more Netflix since I get them and immediately load them into the computer and send them back for more rather than sitting on them until I get around to watching them and then having to wait for more after I send them back.

 

[Av8trix616]

I have the ASUS EEE 9", and I wouldn't give it up for anything. It's just the size of a jepp binder and fits in a chart case or duffle easily, and for everyday work or surfing while on a trip it's everything I could ask for. I have the earliest version of the 9", with the solid state hard drive, which is supposedly far more impact/vibration/temperature resistant than a standard hard drive.

The lack of a DVD/CD drive is the only thing these computers are missing, but, you can purchase a portable drive to plug into your USB port if you want, or just download your movies/music/whatever onto a portable harddrive. I do this, and I don't miss the DVD player at all. Mine's the XP OS, and I've had no problems with speed or reliability.

here's a website dedicated to the EEE. The forums are pretty good for help in deciding what model would work best for you. http://www.eeeuser.com/

 

[NCFlyer]

I've been using the Acer Aspire for about 3 months and love it.

The battery is rated at 2.5 hours but a 5 hour battery is available. Battery life hasn't been an issue for me, I rarely use it when it isn't plugged in.

I did buy a wireless USB mouse to use with it.

I have had no trouble with it so far and can highly recommend it.

 

[Singlecoil]

I just got the Acer Aspire for my wife for $299 at Costco. It looks just like the one in the link you posted. The battery only lasts about 2.5 hours on it.
I was curious about how you could watch movies on the thing and used our home computer and home network to copy a DVD movie onto the harddrive. It took about 20 minutes to decrypt the DVD using shareware software, then about 20 more minutes to copy to the harddrive over the 100mbps wired network we have. Pretty cool. I think I'll get one for my next laptop and do that or just get an external DVD for movies on the road.

 

[freeflyer14]

I have the Samsung NC10, it is awesome. I did a lot of comparison between all the models, it is the best on battery life, by far the best keyboard, etc etc. My second choice was the MSI Wind.

go here...

www.sammynetbook.com

or...

http://msiwind.net/

 

[F/O]

Another plug for the NC-10. I'm typing on it now. You will appreciate the extra keyboard and display real estate you get over the 8.9" units like the Acer. It's my only PC; I just replaced a Dell Laptop from 2003.

Look at all the positive reviews on Amazon. A lot of people like the Wind too; I never tried it. Keep in mind, though, that not only do netbooks not have DVD-ROM drives, they have relatively small Atom processors and no dedicated graphics chip. You can download and watch movies, just forget about them playing smoothly on the full screen.

 

[Crobar]

Another plug for the NC-10. I'm typing on it now. You will appreciate the extra keyboard and display real estate you get over the 8.9" units like the Acer. It's my only PC; I just replaced a Dell Laptop from 2003.

Look at all the positive reviews on Amazon. A lot of people like the Wind too; I never tried it. Keep in mind, though, that not only do netbooks not have DVD-ROM drives, they have relatively small Atom processors and no dedicated graphics chip. You can download and watch movies, just forget about them playing smoothly on the full screen.

DVD shrink is free and works great
http://www.afterdawn.com/software/video_software/dvd_rippers/dvd_shrink.cfm

After you shrink it to a file copy it to your hard drive on the netbook and open with dvd shrink and dvd quality in full screen

 

[Mach]

At least 10 inch screen is a must. The 8.9 inchers are just too small

 

[Twotter76]

I have a EEE 1000HA and its the best thing ever. Thought I would miss having a DVD drive but its very easy to burn movies to the HD. The battery life on the 6 cell model is nothing short of amazing. I can do about 6 hours surfing the web with the wireless or almost 7 if I have it turned off and am watching movies. The best part is the size and weight - I hardly even know I am carrying it. And as an added bonus its cheap so if something happens to it it can be replaced. $380 from amazon.

 

[Mvich]

I've got the msi wind with a 9 cell battery. The wind has a super bright 10" screen and has worked great for me.

Hey JTF,
I've been thinking about buying the 9 cell battery. How does it affect the balance of the computer. I know it's bigger & heavier so does it make the laptop rock backwards?

 

[acaTerry]

The 8.9 inchers are just too small

You said 8.9 inchers are too small.....

 

[fischman]

You said 8.9 inchers are too small.....

...And?

 

[FLYLOW22]

...And?

Where is Hugh Johnson??

Comment says you Hugh?