Another "what to buy" thread!

omb0wyn5ehpij9

Hi guys,

I'm looking for a new netbook (or possibly notebook) at the moment and i'm looking for recommendations.
I currently have a pc which I use for my main tasks and I also have a Samsung N510 (with RAM upgraded to 2GB). However, one of the hinges has snapped on it, and the other is showing signs of damage aswell (it's out of warranty). It is also a little slow for my liking so i'm starting to get fed up with it!

It will mainly be used for the internet and music. The only games that would be played on it are online flash games so no need to worry about being able to run the latest games.

My criteria would be:
- Faster than the Samsung N510
- Long battery life
- Screen size....no smaller than the N510, same size would be ideal. Even a bit bigger would be grand, but not looking for a 17" laptop!
- Bluetooth would be nice but a deal breaker
- A card reader would also be nice but again not a deal breaker
- HDMI....I have never once used it on the N510 so not too bothered about it
- Harddrive...anything over 120GB and i'm happy!

The main 2 criteria here would be the first 2 i've listed. It needs to be fast. The Samsung suffers a bit when I have iTunes, skype, msn and plenty of webpages open which is why I want something faster and more powerful. A long battery life is also very appealing (i.e. 4 or 5 hours +). After nearly 18 months, the battery on my N510 is still good for about 3.5 - 4 hours so I do not want a netbook with a worse battery life.

And for the all important bit of info....the budget!! Ideally I don't want to spend more than €250 on a netbook, but I realise I probably won't get something that fits the bill for this so there is a bit of room there for movement if the right one comes up!

So, any suggestions for me?

Thanks!

kenyard

considering your budget are you planning on ubuntu operating system? IMO its the only way you will hit your budget with a half decent laptop

if you get a 15.6" lappy batterylife tends to be lower than netbooks (4hours give or take)
current netbooks you could get 6-8hrs quite easily i guess though

looking at 250 euro mark you are talking i would think you will get e.g
Samsung N150 10.1 inch Netbook (Intel Atom N450 1.66 GHz, 1GB ram, 250GB, BT, Webcam, Win 7 Starter) for ~200 euro

if you want higher ram, then netbooks dont really offer it.
also for music etc.. assuming you dont use headphones (get a phone or mp3player then i guess) i have never known netbooks to be great on sound...


my suggestion would be to strip the ram out of your current netbook and install it in your new one. so focus on better processor and battery...

this section really needs someone to compile a list of decent laptops in price ranges for people.


i would suggest a laptop.. but then you are looking at 350-400 euro for a half decent one... for multitasking they really are much better.. netbooks are called that for a reason.. they are for quick access to the internet mainly.. or running ~1-2 applications at a time.
if you want to have your msn, skype and a few other things such as tabbed games open then you do need higher ram + a better processor to handle switching between them better

come up with an extra 100 euro and get this....

http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/Lenovo_IdeaPad_S205_1076388.html

for 250 you will get a bog-standard netbook at best.

Zonda999

+1, AMD Fusion seems to be the way to go with a netbook at the moment, thats a very capable netbook, as netbooks go, right there

what you would get for €250 would be no faster than what you currently have. if you are strapped for cash reinstall windows (wipe your pc) and get more ram. itunes will cripple a netbook so I would definitely get rid of that - or at the very least set it to run only when you need it (make sure that it's not in startup).

omb0wyn5ehpij9

Well now i've gotta get a new netbook (or it makes sense to anyway :pac:)! Charger fried itself the other night so adding that to the snapped hinge, and the second hinge isn't too far off falling apart, I think I would be better buying a new one.
Going to try stretch the budget to €300 - €350 now

budhabob

glasso wrote: »

come up with an extra 100 euro and get this....

http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/Lenovo_IdeaPad_S205_1076388.html

for 250 you will get a bog-standard netbook at best.

This Is on Dabs for €350, and is the one I'm leaning towards. The link is on a thread down the page.