Netbook

SachaJ

Hi all....

I'm looking for something for some basic tasks such as email, browsing, some WordPress, Teamviewer etc.... Nothing intensive enough where I think I might need a Ultrabook.

My main concern is size. I need it as small, thin and light as possible and if it had 3G, it would be a major bonus (if it doesn't have 3G I might have to velcro some sort of O2 USB dongle to the lid or something).

At the minute I'm hovering between a netbook and something like a Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 which has a 7" screen and is very small and neat. But I fear in this case what I'd gain in size, I'd probably lose in functionality. I know I can do all the tasks above on the Andriod platform but I feel I would be faster using Windows of some variation.

Budget is not of a major concern as netbooks are pretty cheap anyway. It's all about the size!

Torqay

Remote management software such as Teamviewer can be quite demanding for a little Netbook. Here's is Teamviewer running on my 1005HA (and nothing else), and that's only idling, if I'm working on it it easily spikes beyond 50% CPU usage.



Of course, this the server, not the client.

SachaJ wrote: »

if it doesn't have 3G I might have to velcro some sort of O2 USB dongle to the lid or something

Why bother, get a HSDPA WIFI hotspot instead, if you're somewhere with rather poor reception, you place the hotspot at the window where the reception is better and connect the netbook/tablet/laptop wireless. As a bonus, these gadgets do not require any connection manager to be installed and you can connect more than the 1 device. Well worth the extra few quid.

SachaJ

Torqay wrote: »

Remote management software such as Teamviewer can be quite demanding for a little Netbook. Here's is Teamviewer running on my 1005HA (and nothing else), and that's only idling, if I'm working on it it easily spikes beyond 50% CPU usage.



Of course, this the server, not the client.



Why bother, get a HSDPA WIFI hotspot instead, if you're somewhere with rather poor reception, you place the hotspot at the window where the reception is better and connect the netbook/tablet/laptop wireless. As a bonus, these gadgets do not require any connection manager to be installed and you can connect more than the 1 device. Well worth the extra few quid.

Cheers for that. I have an O2 Hotshot but I'd prefer a netbook with it integrated so it's one less device to carry. But as I mentioned before I could just velcro the Hotshot to the lid of the newbook if I can't find one with 3G (which might be difficult).

I'd only be using Teamviewer as a client (dialling into remote PC's).

So any recommendations or a small, thin, light netbook? Whatever one I get, I'll probably add and extra 1GB of RAM.

Torqay

Argos is still offering the ASUS X101 for €250 yoyos. Unfortunately, it's the black one, they're asking 30 yoyos more for the white one. The white keyboard is much easier to work with in poor ambient light. Don't get the X101CH (also €250 with a white keyboard) unless you don't mind two hours less on the battery.

The ASUS "Seashell" design should be thin enough.

There used to be some regular netbooks with built-in 3G (usually sold by ISPs with a contract) but I haven't seen any of these offers in a while. Of course, if you're into modding...

Mantel

Torqay wrote: »

Don't get the X101CH (also €250 with a white keyboard) unless you don't mind two hours less on the battery.

Does the X101CH just come with a smaller battery?

Torqay

Mantel wrote: »

Does the X101CH just come with a smaller battery?

Thanks for asking...

I just went to the ASUS website to compare the two. And the specs for the X101 there are entirely different from the Argos product page. Apparently, the X101 only has a Atom N435/455 processor (and a 8 GB "SSD"). Now this CPU is a No-No. The X101CH has the Atom N2600 which is twice as fast when it comes to number crunching.

So definitely get a X101CH, available at Argos in white, black, pink and purple, all for €249.