Netbooks - advice wanted

[CathSp 10]

Hi

 

Looking for a netbook - does anyone have any advice as to the best one for good battery life

[denomis 10]

they all have decent battery life but it will depend on what you buy if you get one with a solid state hard drive it should run longer than a normal hard drive netbook but then the battery may have a larger capacity

best off just finding whats in your price range and compare them i think currys are selling one with £100 off in a sale £199 down from £299 (may be pc world)

[Eric_Collins 11]

Netto on Sheffield Lane Top S5 are selling Elonex 9" screen notebooks for £160.

[barts96 10]

samsung nc10/20 atom 1.6ghz processor

160hd ,1gb memory

battery life upto 7hours

[swarfendor437 14]

Hi CathSp,

 

I would go with barts96 advice but the competition are catching up. If you can afford it, go for one with a 9-cell battery as they will last longer before a re-charge. The other considerations are: keyboard - most are about 75-90% the size of a normal keyboard these days - also depends whose going to use it - small child might prefer tiny keys (like Asus eee701 - which I don't!). The other aspect is whether you want a shiny mirror to look in or a screen that does not show reflection. Also check out the 'mousepad' and how easy it is to use or problems it has (know someone at work who has a Dell 10" who had to buy an external mouse as it was whizzing all over the place). Lastly, check how easy it is to discern left from right click on the mouse button bar in front of the mouse pad.

 

cheers,

swarfendor43

[Ghozer 112]

the best advise I can give is no, don't, don't even think about a netbook, avoid them like the plague...

[PC Brigade 10]

the best advise I can give is no, don't, don't even think about a netbook, avoid them like the plague...

 

It depends what you need it for - if you really need to carry it with you all the time, and only need to do web browsing, maybe some occassional office work or note taking they are ok.

 

Even for these tasks they aren't great though- slow and underpowered, small screen space, cramped keyboards and cheap build quality make them frustrating to use.

 

Plus, while they can technically run the full range of software, it will be slow and alomost unusable - photo editting, video editting, playing games are all pretty much out of the window.

 

So unless you need something so small, or you already have another computer , I'd spend another £100 or so and get a full size dual core lappy with a bigger screen.

[swarfendor437 14]

It depends what you need it for - if you really need to carry it with you all the time, and only need to do web browsing, maybe some occassional office work or note taking they are ok.

 

Even for these tasks they aren't great though- slow and underpowered, small screen space, cramped keyboards and cheap build quality make them frustrating to use.

 

Plus, while they can technically run the full range of software, it will be slow and alomost unusable - photo editting, video editting, playing games are all pretty much out of the window....

 

 

The whole context of a 'netbook' is for using it for internet and chat - hence the terminology. If it's not needed for anything else then fine. My preference is for a desktop for everything else.

 

regards,

swarfendor43

 

PS And no, I don't own any netbook.

[pattricia 575]

the best advise I can give is no, don't, don't even think about a netbook, avoid them like the plague...

 

Why is that, Im thinking of getting one but in addition to my new laptop.

[Longcol 602]

Why is that, Im thinking of getting one but in addition to my new laptop.

 

From experience of a test of netbooks at work.

 

If you're only using them at home a laptop is far, far better.

 

If you want something to use out and about then a netbook might be OK (easier to carry and less obtrusive) but -the battery life isn't all it's cracked up to be, the small keyboard can be a pain and usually to connect to the internet you need an internal wireless card which from experience can be pretty hit and miss - doesn't seem to have anything like the range of a laptop which has the hardware on the processor.

 

In the right environment - say bang next to a reliable access point on a train - a netbook is OK for surfing the web and e-mail - and that's about it.

 

They are also handy for doing presentations in that they take up less room than a lap top on the speakers podium.

[anywebsite 10]

Why is that, Im thinking of getting one but in addition to my new laptop.

 

It's just because he doesn't have a use for one.

 

Netbooks are great if portability & battery life are your main concerns, but the small screen, small keyboard, slower processor & less ram limits their use.

 

Most of them seem pretty similar. Avoid the elonex one recommended above & also avoid the really cheap arm based netbooks (usually around £100, 7" screen, chinese unbranded).

 

I'm still regretting not buying the Toshiba netbook I saw in Asda a few weeks ago, it looked really cute. It was just limited stock, gone now.

[swarfendor437 14]

Why is that, Im thinking of getting one but in addition to my new laptop.

 

I think this is what pattricia is looking for!

 

regards,

swarfendor43