Netbook, where to begin?!

Springerman

Hi there,

So I was getting a laptop for my OH, but now I think she would prefer a netbook. She only needs it for internet, storage, and media (music/photos). I don't know where to start with them, or if there is any difference between them!

Any insight from past/current experience would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

phill106

Very little in the difference between current netbooks. All with similar price and specs. Most come with windows 7 starter which is missing some basic features of windows like the ability to even change the desktop background, so something to take note of.
Bought the other half a hp mini 1000, she loves it. I did double the ram to 2gb though, which made a BIG difference to being able to do a few things at once.
Upgrade is a 2 minute job and the memory is not expensive, so if you buy one with 1gb, see about upgrading it asap.
If you see any with windows xp or vista on it, run the hell away from them, they are older stock.
Also remember that netbooks have no dvd drive, so good idea to make a backup using a large memory stick, even though there is a recovery partition.

dazzday

Really cant look beyond this for the price:

http://www.pixmania.ie/ie/uk/10463093/art/asus/eeepc-1011px-black.html

Dual-core with 6-cell battery (11hrs+ quoted...probably translates to ~8Hrs light browsing).
Buy a stick of "gb Ram for ~€20 and it will be flying

marco_polo

Not sure what the budget but Ideapad S205 is a decent machine sort of an inbetweener between a netbook and a laptop. It is signifigantly more powerfull than netbooks with an Atom processor, but is still a very managable size @11.6 inches and 1.5 KG and come with a the full home version of windows (better than starter edition).

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lenovo-Ideapad-Notebook-Windows-Premium/dp/B004TQQCAS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1313755147&sr=8-1

BULLER

Just some facts to help you make ur mind up:
Ideapad uses the E350 (amd's new netbook chip) , 18.5W max usage.
Asus uses Intels new N570, 8W max usage. It is however 7% slower on average from most benchmarks.
As far as I know both are Duel Core.

beno619

BULLER wrote: »

Just some facts to help you make ur mind up:
Ideapad uses the E350 (amd's new netbook chip) , 18.5W max usage.
Asus uses Intels new N570, 8W max usage. It is however 7% slower on average from most benchmarks.
As far as I know both are Duel Core.

AMD E350 trumps any atoms and are also capable of light gaming.

machalla

Cheap options here

£150 for a netbook that should be adequate if not spectacular.

http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/products/area/netsale

The Samsung here is a nice little machine too. I have had the Asus Variants before and can also recommend them.

Although some of the i3 based laptops out there are so cheap these days its hard not to recommend them over a netbook apart from portability.

Copper_pipe

dell mini 10v with 2gb ram

PaddyBloggit

dazzday wrote: »

Really cant look beyond this for the price:

http://www.pixmania.ie/ie/uk/10463093/art/asus/eeepc-1011px-black.html

Dual-core with 6-cell battery (11hrs+ quoted...probably translates to ~8Hrs light browsing).
Buy a stick of "gb Ram for ~€20 and it will be flying

Found this on laptopsdirect:

http://www.laptopsdirect.ie/ASUS_EEEPC_1011PX_Netbook_in_Black_1011PX-BLK011S/version.asp

Same name but different specs ... how come?

I'm in the market for a netbook too ... the Pixmania one looks good but I've heard of a lot of customer dissatisfaction with Pixmania ... after sales/warranty issues etc. ?