Compaq mini notebook - bargain?

iamskippy

http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/ie/en/ho/WF06b/321957-321957-3329742-3832386-3832386-3943769-3965002.html

The ? in the title is because I don't know if this is a bargain but am posting in case it helps someone.

It is in Tesco at 279 euro, reduced from 299 euro.

it says 'mini notebook' but with a 10 ins screen it maybe should be netbook?

thegrayson

That model has a three cell battery so at best you will get fours hours power. To my mind that defeats the point of a ntebook, with a six cell battery they go from six hours to eleven depending on the model. Its not a bad price but for a few quid more you can get one with a decent battery.

m4rkiz

Acer Aspire D250 10.1'' Mini Laptop - Blue. 508/2999
€230.99 @ argos

heebusjeebus

Its a fantastic netbook with a gorgeous screen.
I got one last year and along with a 2gb ram stick I threw on Win7 and it works a dream.

The 3 Cell battery is a letdown but its slick design makes up for it (The Samsung NC10 with the 6 cell battery takes up far more space in a bag).

Boo8w

Stick Linux mint on it & it will use less battery & you will have all the codecs & plugins with the video Movie player they provide,;that player also stretches ,downloaded movies to show full screen ,so no black bits top& bottom

iamskippy

heebusjeebus wrote: »

I got one last year and along with a 2gb ram stick I threw on Win7 and it works a dream.

says it supports one gig? Also at 1.6 ghz would it be very fast?

cojomo2

iamskippy wrote: »

says it supports one gig? Also at 1.6 ghz would it be very fast?

I think he/she meant that they got a 2gig memory stick(probably Flash, not RAM as stated)

1.6ghz is fine for surfing the net and using programmes like ms office etc...

JOL

Thanks for the info guys, I too have been looking for a mini notebook and there is so many to choose from, it is hard to decide.

Oafley Jones

My sister got one last week. Very impressive machine. Nice sturdy, sleek design and one of the best screens I've seen on a netbook. It's almost as bright as my LED backlit laptop.

Geezer1000

I bought a Samsung N130 for €250 in power city. Great wee machine.

Alanstrainor

cojomo2 wrote: »

I think he/she meant that they got a 2gig memory stick(probably Flash, not RAM as stated)

1.6ghz is fine for surfing the net and using programmes like ms office etc...

I would say it is RAM he installed, there'd be no performance increase with a usb flash stick. These netbooks will take a 2gb stick of ram no bother.

heebusjeebus

cojomo2 wrote: »

I think he/she meant that they got a 2gig memory stick(probably Flash, not RAM as stated)

1.6ghz is fine for surfing the net and using programmes like ms office etc...

Twas ram indeed. Max it can take is a 2gb "stick". Part was "OCZ2MV6672G" in memoryc.com

http://www.memoryc.com/computermemory/ddr2sodimm/2gboczpc25400valueseries667mhzmodule.html

dowtchaboy

Geezer1000 wrote: »

I bought a Samsung N130 for €250 in power city. Great wee machine.

I got a Samsung N130 too - cost me about €275 from Amazon last November. Excellent machine - keyboard is "almost" normal sized - better than most.
That Power City price is excellent - and if same as Amazon offer it comes with Student edition Office 2007 for 1 year, not 60 days like some - should last me till my thesis is handed in!
N140 has bluetooth, stereo speakers and a 6 cell battery I think but maybe €50 more? I get 4 to 5 hours from mine with a reasonable mix of activity - enough to last all day if put into hibernation now and then, or will show 3 hours of video.
Slips into my rucksack or can carry it about in one hand (handy for porn.... ). Oh - it has a pretty sensitive WiFi b/g/n too.

ArraMusha

how do you buy one? when I click on 'find a local retailer' on that page it doesn't show anything.
Anyone know a if PCWorld/Currys would have them?

dowtchaboy

ArraMusha wrote: »

how do you buy one? when I click on 'find a local retailer' on that page it doesn't show anything.
Anyone know a if PCWorld/Currys would have them?

Which ones? The OP said Tesco had the Compaq, and I am pretty sure Currys/PC World have Samsung, DELL and most of the other netbooks - handy enough place to compare them as the specs of all these netbooks are pretty well the same - it comes down to personal preference about feel of keyboard, readability of screen, style....

billyhead

I presume they do not have dvd ROM drives. Are they only ideal for internet surfing and genreal run of the mil use of MS office etc?

dowtchaboy

billyhead wrote: »

I presume they do not have dvd ROM drives. Are they only ideal for internet surfing and genreal run of the mil use of MS office etc?

I find I hardly miss my CD/DVD - the odd time I need to burn stuff I dump it onto a USB key from the netbook, and then use my old laptop to burn the DVD. Old laptop sits at home now just doing torrents.

The form factor of the netbook screen is excellent for watching downloaded movies and TV on the train or in bed, by the way