Good idea to get a netbook for work, writing, and traveling

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H912w+

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I'm thinking of getting myself a netbook like an Asus Eee, Acer One, or Samsung or Toshiba.

I like this Toshiba:

Newegg.com - TOSHIBA NB205-N230 Black Onyx Intel Atom N280(1.66GHz) 10.1" WSVGA 1GB Memory 250GB HDD Netbook - Netbooks

This Asus Eee model with 10.5 hours of battery life seems decent. Probably I'd upgrade the memory and replace WinXP with Ubuntu.

Amazon.com: ASUS Eee PC 1005HA-PU1X-BK 10.1-Inch Black Netbook - 10.5 Hour Battery Life: Electronics
But this laptop also seems pretty good as well:

Amazon.com.com: ASUS UL30A-X5 Thin and Light 13.3-Inch Black Laptop - 12 Hours of Battery Life (Windows 7 Home Premium): Computer & Accessories

More powerful and a little longer battery life. Double the price.

Any suggestions? Have personal experience with any of these or others? Or know a way I can pick up a very good netbook or laptop for cheap and with Linux on it, so I can keep costs down and reliability high? :bow:
 
I'm going to give you fair warning that these things are painfully slow to do more than just some web browsing or other simple tasks. The small screen, small keyboard, and small trackpad are also annoying for extended use. Unless you just have limited use for one to begin with, I would urge you to save up a little bit longer and get a good 13-14" laptop.


Also, Linux support for laptops is far from perfect. You may or may not have things like wifi working out of the box. Just something to keep in mind. Ubuntu might have it covered by now, especially since they do have the netbook version of the OS available too.
 
I work in a retail store where we sell computers.

I would recommend a Asus Eee, HP Mini, Toshiba or the Samsung.

I DO NOT recommend an Acer.

A netbook is good if you need to do school work.

But the Asus Ultra Portable ones(13") are very good, one thing is you will not get 12 hours of battery life even if it says so(same goes for other brands the claims are squewed).

The only way these computer makers claim to get these huge battey life is simple.

Wifi is off
Hdd a low-power state or in sleep mode.
LCD backlight is on the lowest setting
CPU is underclocked
Video(if any) is underclocked

But linux support for netbooks is more than good.
 
I have an Asus Eee PC 900HA, and it's a really nice computer. It's fast enough to play some really recent games, I've got GTA SA on it, and it runs fine. So, because I'm a silly person, I say get an Asus.
 
I have a Dell Mini 9, and it is pretty handy for travelling with. However, the smaller keyboard does make me travel with a separate ultra portable keyboard if I plan on gaming (SC:BW, Diablo II) because it is just cramped for my large hands.

However, if you want to use this as a main computer, etc often, you'd be better off getting a 13" laptop, as they just are much more flexible and easier to live with day to day.
 
If you want to add some style get the Eee VX6
7slngfD02qCOWsi9_500.jpg


If you don't like that one, the 1215N is very goood.

http://www.asus.com/Eee/Eee_PC/Eee_PC_1215N/#specifications
 
Grayfox
I work in a retail store where we sell computers.

I would recommend a Asus Eee, HP Mini, Toshiba or the Samsung.

I DO NOT recommend an Acer.

A netbook is good if you need to do school work.

But the Asus Ultra Portable ones(13") are very good, one thing is you will not get 12 hours of battery life even if it says so(same goes for other brands the claims are squewed).

The only way these computer makers claim to get these huge battey life is simple.

Wifi is off
Hdd a low-power state or in sleep mode.
LCD backlight is on the lowest setting
CPU is underclocked
Video(if any) is underclocked

But linux support for netbooks is more than good.
Click to expand...

I've had Windows reporting 10 hours of battery life on an Acer Aspire One with the six cell battery. It can drop fast with anything CPU or disk-intensive, but they'll last a long time with just web browsing or running an office suite.

Hell, my MBP can last 9 hours.
 
Here is a real laptop for $300.

Although the battery life is at 5 hours it will be much more enjoyable than a netbook.

If you want linux why don't you try to install it on them. It is very easy nowadays.

I recommend Ubuntu they even have a netbook version as well.
 
I have both ASUS EEEs and an ACER Aspire. Initially, ASUS net books were of much higher quality, but the new ACERs are pretty good, and my main working computer now is an Aspire.

The new ACER net books have great battery life, 6+ hours when browsing, and some good processors. Relatively painless buy, and heck, after a week or two, you won't even notice how small the keyboard is.
 
Gf has an acer netbook. 6hrs sounds low. Can't do too much on it but she does all her office stuff on it. Plays movies well too. At $200 it was a good purchase. Not sure I would pay more as $350 or so becomes laptop territory with comparable specs.
 

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