Which netbook?

[Mudster]

I'm off to China in a week (trade fair) and don't fancy the idea of lugging a laptop all the way there.

Seeing as notebooks are now so affordable it seems worth getting one.

I like Dell, I have two at work and two at home so I'm always drawn to them.

I like the look of this :- DELL MINI 10v Red Netbook - Cheap DELL Netbooks. Buy the DELL MINI 10v Red Netbook at PC World.

I don't want to buy on line I just want to walk into a store and get one, however I know absolutely nothing about the spec of a machine so is this any good?

main use will be email and internet use, PDF, Excel etc...nothing more than that...

Will it do?

 

[renault12ts]

Which ever one you go for get one with a non-glossy screen. HP do one. Dell might.

 

[Mudster]

Tesco have a few offers HERE

I'm just around the corner from the huge one in Hookwood by Gatwick Airport, would the Emachine do or is it dross?

HP for the same price as the Dell......

I like Windows XP and I'm used to it, will Windows 7 be a nuisance?

 

[renault12ts]

I have Vista, my wife and 2 of my daughters have 7. All work well.

 

[wemorgan]

I'm off to China in a week (trade fair) and don't fancy the idea of lugging a laptop all the way there.

Seeing as notebooks are now so affordable it seems worth getting one.

I like Dell, I have two at work and two at home so I'm always drawn to them.

I like the look of this :- DELL MINI 10v Red Netbook - Cheap DELL Netbooks. Buy the DELL MINI 10v Red Netbook at PC World.

I don't want to buy on line I just want to walk into a store and get one, however I know absolutely nothing about the spec of a machine so is this any good?

main use will be email and internet use, PDF, Excel etc...nothing more than that...

Will it do?

I have this with Windows XP, but the 10, not the 10v. I 'think' that the difference between the two is that the 10v supports higher resolution, but best check.

I like the mini 10 and I like the price even more, £200. It's biggest fault and I can't say whether it's a Dell issue or with all small touch pads is that the cursor can at times be hard to control. I've learnt quite a few key shortcuts to compensate. But I'd recommend buying a mini USB mouse for when you use the netbook at a desk.

I use the mini 10 for MS Office 2007, Explorer 8 and even some basic numerical simulation software. The small screen is also OK to work with, but naturally a compromise to my much larger office PC. I turn on auto-hide task bar and use F11 in Explorer, this maximises the window area and makes a nice improvement.

Battery life is ~3hrs. Upgrade/larger batteries can be bought I believe.

HTH

 

[whitenemesis]

3hrs battery life is a little mean on that Dell

What about a Samsung N150 or N140 give approx 9 - 11hrs...

 

[Mudster]

I like the mini 10 and I like the price even more, £200. It's biggest fault and I can't say whether it's a Dell issue or with all small touch pads is that the cursor can at times be hard to control. I've learnt quite a few key shortcuts to compensate. But I'd recommend buying a mini USB mouse for when you use the netbook at a desk.

I have sausage fingers and can't use those keypad things so I'd get a little USB mouse.

This will be used at a desk mostly and the size is purely convenience for travelling.

 

[Mudster]

3hrs battery life is a little mean on that Dell

What about a Samsung N150 or N140 give approx 9 - 11hrs...

Yup, thats a big difference actually.

Also note the Dell has an Aton N270 processor and the Samsung is an Atom N450....

Errr. What's the difference? Being a typical bloke I assume the bigger number is better but does it make any difference for the extra £30?

 

[A210AMG]

Hello

I have a Toshiba NB200 upgraded 2gb and 320gb H/D, it also has the 6 cell battery. Last around 8 hrs its amazing. It runs windows 7 no probs and is a great little unit. Mines an Atom 270 athough in the range there is a atom 280

Big (almost full size) keyboard. There are a few in the range and think currently there is cash back / a 3G one if you need that.

Start around £250, I've been impressed with it, handy for taking on holiday. I use it to watch films also with VLC player. Also conect it to my nokia E71 for web access.


Only issue I have is the speakers could be better.


Mini Notebook NB200 - Toshiba

 

[wemorgan]

Errr. What's the difference? Being a typical bloke I assume the bigger number is better but does it make any difference for the extra £30?

Intel® Atom? Processor N270 (512K Cache, 1.60 GHz, 533 MHz FSB) with SPEC Code(s) SLB73

Intel® Atom? Processor N450 (512K Cache, 1.66 GHz) with SPEC Code(s) SLBMG

The N270 is 1.6GHz 32bit and the N450 1.66GHz 64bit, so for £30 I'd say it was worth it. I imagine the true benefit would be seen with a 64bit OS (doubt that's standard on a netbook).

 

[jasonyw]

These little netbooks are ideal for travelling, was thinking of buying one, gosh all these train travellers got new toys after Xmas watching DVD video traveling home after work from Liverpool St to East Anglia to kill the one hour travelling time no bother always late old and slow train, just sit back and enjoy.

Then yesterday I noted Intel released new 2010 Core i3, i5 and i7 processors. Instead of getting these cheap netbook at £199, it old hat soon, as new processors are on the way. Dell has already released Alienware laptop with these new core i processors. Only Lenovo got i7 processor in their products. http://reviews.cnet.com/processors/intel-core-i7-965/4505-3086_7-33366836.html

 

[A210AMG]

^ up to a point I agree but wait for a i3 there will be the iS3 or what ever the next model is.

What ever you buy is out of date as soon as you buy it. Thing is with a netbook its not designed to replace your normal desktop / PC its an extra gadget to take around with you.


A cheap £199 or less one will surf, run office, watch movies and do everthing you ask of it for normal use.


I agree the i3 etc will be better (currenly have these on order at work and they make use of the aero part of windows 7 especially in 64 bit).


All depends what you want and how much you want to pay.

 

[whitenemesis]

If you are lugging it around weight is important, right up there with battery life..

Whatever happened to PDAs? Do people still use them?

 

[Mudster]

A cheap £199 or less one will surf, run office, watch movies and do everthing you ask of it for normal use.

That's what I needed to know......

This is something I can put in my briefcase and forget about...

May as well get a cheapy, I have a decent laptop.

 

[A210AMG]

^ exactly, If I want a powerfull machine I don't want to sit infront of a 10" screen while I use it.

£200 will get you what you need, get a slim slip case for £10 to protect it and away you go.

 

[fuzzer]

My asus has been around the houses , 2 years old.. travelled more miles than id care to think of and still look new even tho its used all the time and its.... pearl white

Its the 10" model which makes the keyboard bigger and it runs windows xp and office 2007 fine. Battery life is around 5 -6 hours and ive got no complaints.

My money would be on a wee asus model or the lenovo X10 i think its called..

 

[jasonyw]

If you are lugging it around weight is important, right up there with battery life..

Whatever happened to PDAs? Do people still use them?

Blackberry

 

[crockers]

Why not check Dixons taxfree. Save the VAT. You can pre order it and pick it up at the airport before you leave. Save lots.

I like the Samsung products. Believe PC world have special offer. As PC world and Dixons are same group you may get it cheaper.

If all you want is a product to access email via wifi. Why not look at iPod touch. Music too and fits in your pocket.

 

[crammy69]

Ive been using my Asus Eee Netbook daily for 14 months now. Its only 9" and runs XP. I use if mainly for surfing in the evenings, and sometimes for watching BBC Iplayer when all the tvs are in use by the wife/kids. I also do some Excel work on it and a litte wordprocessing. I now only use the main Dell PC for loading music into Itunes (as the Netbook doesnt have a CD drive) before copying the files over to the Netbook via USB stick / "Logmein"- this means the Netbook is effectively also my Ipod as well!. I get easily 4 hours out of each charge, and I wouldnt be without it. I have 'Logmein' loaded so I can connect to the home pc for any files I hve forgotten if I take it on holiday with me.

My advice, buy a cheap £200 one, with as much harddrive (160gb) as you can get, and get the bigger screen (10"). No point getting a much bigger screen as the battery life drops off.

 

[jasonyw]

I have been offered 133 netbooks mainly ASUS and Samsung for £15K @£115 each, there must be a lot of junk there being returned within 14 days of purchase.