Looking into a Netbook

SeanBest · Mar 1, 2009

Hey guys I'm thinking about picking up a small netbook. most likely a 8.9" maybe a 10" haven't really decided. Basically I'll be taking it on campus with me and use it to work on school work (Java programming) between classes. Our computer labs are pretty busy all day so I figured it'd be nice to have a small book that I can throw in my backpack. I know they're not all that powerful, but it really is just for some light web surfing and light programming between classes. Anything hardcore I do with my desktop. Please post any suggestions links reviews you have.

Also wondering about upgrade options. I know some people add more ram and a larger HDD ... if anyone has any more info about that I'd appreciate it.

Thanks to all in advance.

nd4spdbh2 · Mar 1, 2009

SeanBest said:
Hey guys I'm thinking about picking up a small netbook. most likely a 8.9" maybe a 10" haven't really decided. Basically I'll be taking it on campus with me and use it to work on school work (Java programming) between classes. Our computer labs are pretty busy all day so I figured it'd be nice to have a small book that I can throw in my backpack. I know they're not all that powerful, but it really is just for some light web surfing and light programming between classes. Anything hardcore I do with my desktop. Please post any suggestions links reviews you have.

Also wondering about upgrade options. I know some people add more ram and a larger HDD ... if anyone has any more info about that I'd appreciate it.

Thanks to all in advance.

I was lucky enough to get on a deal with my friend... he was buying a dell studio 15 and you could add a base mini 9 (4gb ssd and 512mb of ram) for 100 bucks so i handed him a benjamin and i now have a mini 9. I did upgrade to 2gb of ram just cus its cheap... 20 bucks + - 3 bucks for a 2gb ddr2 667 or higher stick o ram. The 4gb ssd hasnt given me any problems with space... using nlite i installed xp sp3 fully windows updated, office 2003, firefox, aim, google earth, standard non stripped down drivers and im only using 1.2gb of space.

I really like the mini 9 it has the best keyboard layout for any other 9 incher netbook. makes note taking a breeze in class and its friggin snappy performance wise.... 4hrs of batt life is good too. The build quality on it is bar none compared to others... and i have used the hp, acers, and asus netbooks and nothing compares...

The dell mini 10 just came out with alright specs... but if you wait the specs r gonna get better (720p screen and 2gb ram capable) but this means the mini 9's prices are going to be going down!!!

Anyways i love my mini 9 wouldnt trade it for anything!

hydrata · Mar 1, 2009

If you can wait for just a little bit longer you should have more netbooks coming out using intel's next atom (280 i think) with a slightly higher FSB and a better platform. The asus HE already uses it, but it's 400 bucks. You also have nvidia's ion platform coming out soon.
I know netbooks will continue to get more powerful, but i just think the platform they're on is so crippled right now, it might be worth waiting just 1 more month for stronger/newer platforms. Or at least that's what I keep telling myself right now, because I want a netbook too!

mercalf · Mar 1, 2009

If you're getting one now, do what 'nd4spdbh2' said and get the Dell - OR go with the Acer Aspire One.

I have the Aspire One FIRST generation Netbook and have loved it since day one. I personally like it better than the Dell (guy in my class had the dell), but that's mainly because of my dislike for Dell. But I would go with one or the other.

Also, Acer has a LOT of support for the Aspire, as they are right there with ASUS (eeePC) as the godfathers of Netbooks. They pump a LOT of time and money into their Aspire One, and take a lot of pride in it. I know that Dell has a lot else on their plate and don't know how the support would be.

SeanBest · Mar 2, 2009

I'll look into those thanks guys. Any more suggestions keep 'em coming.

Niku-Sama · Mar 2, 2009

i looked at these heavily and i do have to say the Acer seemed to be a better bulit system, i dont know about the dell i havent used on in person.

also a local store here (Fred Meyer) had one made by a company called CTX, it had a good fit and finish too but i didnt get to indepth into that one, thing over the keyboard and locked down and all

SeanBest · Mar 2, 2009

I looked into the Dell Mini 9. Basic model at $249 then just upgrade the memory.

Any idea if reloading 64 Ubuntu and using 4GB of ram is even possible? And I'm asking this about any Netbooks, not just the Dell. Suppose I grabbed an ASUS or another kind ... just wondering if it has 4GB ram would it operate even faster since pretty much everything you'd be doing could lie directly in the RAM.

nd4spdbh2 · Mar 2, 2009

SeanBest said:
I looked into the Dell Mini 9. Basic model at $249 then just upgrade the memory.

Any idea if reloading 64 Ubuntu and using 4GB of ram is even possible? And I'm asking this about any Netbooks, not just the Dell. Suppose I grabbed an ASUS or another kind ... just wondering if it has 4GB ram would it operate even faster since pretty much everything you'd be doing could lie directly in the RAM.

current chipsets used by netbooks 945GSM essentially is limited to 2gb of ram max

i played around with an acer aspire one and honestly it felt junky... the left and right click mouse buttons were in awkward spots... and the build quality just wasnt there compared to the mini 9. granted it did have a much bigger actual hd... but i wont be using more than 4gb on my netbook any time soon.

also im sure you could call up dell small business and get the laptop for round 200 w/ free shipping. Angela Smith: 1-800-456-3355 ext 9460376

SeanBest · Mar 2, 2009

I'll look into that. Thanks.

juane414 · Mar 2, 2009

The Asus netbooks and Samsung NC10 are available with 6 cell batteries for 7+ hours battery life. If I were getting a netbook for school usage I would get one of those so I wouldn't have to charge it during the day.

FudgeNuggets · Mar 2, 2009

I like both the Mini-9 and the MSI Wind.... they both have OS advatages that other netbooks don't have which I cannot mention here.

ou_phidelt · Mar 2, 2009

Depending on how much battery life you need check out the HP Mini 1000. The Best Buy version a $350 seems to be the best deal on them. It has a 10" screen in a form factor about the same size as a most 9". The keyboard is absolute heaven. By far the best I have used in netbook. The mouse button's being on the side is a little weird but I am a tapper so I never use the left click, just for right click. The compromise is worth it for the keyboard. Since you are using it to take notes that is something to keep in mind. The downside is the battery life, only around three hours.

I messed around with a mini 9 at Best Buy and it seemed dreadfully slow. I don't know if they had screwed it up of if the SSD in it is that bad. But it was noticeably more sluggish than the HP Mini and the Asus 1000H. If you need long battery life the Asus 1000HE seems to be the best ticket.

nd4spdbh2 · Mar 2, 2009

ou_phidelt said:
Depending on how much battery life you need check out the HP Mini 1000. The Best Buy version a $350 seems to be the best deal on them. It has a 10" screen in a form factor about the same size as a most 9". The keyboard is absolute heaven. By far the best I have used in netbook. The mouse button's being on the side is a little weird but I am a tapper so I never use the left click, just for right click. The compromise is worth it for the keyboard. Since you are using it to take notes that is something to keep in mind. The downside is the battery life, only around three hours.

I messed around with a mini 9 at Best Buy and it seemed dreadfully slow. I don't know if they had screwed it up of if the SSD in it is that bad. But it was noticeably more sluggish than the HP Mini and the Asus 1000H. If you need long battery life the Asus 1000HE seems to be the best ticket.

i will say that the smaller mini 9 ssd's (the 4 and 8gb) have REALLY slow write speeds and the ones you will see in the stores are non tweaked versions of xp running on ntfs.... for the smaller ssds on any netbook running xp should idealy be ran on FAT32 tweaked.... as fat32 writes FAR FAR less to the disk.

SeanBest · Mar 2, 2009

I should've mentioned that I plan on just running Ubuntu. All the Java work I do is in jGrasp and my school has Linux servers so I can actually access them easier in Linux (terminal ftw). Using my home desktop I use Puttty and FileZilla. We use Novell mounted drives and it's easier to mount and unmount my drives and access our servers in Linux because every time I have to turn in a program I have to use a submit system that run several tests and actual debugs etc. via the server and returns an error report so Linux is my preferred OS for this Netbook.

I looked into the Samsun NC10, but every place I look it's close to $500 and is only capable of holding 1GB of ram these places say. I'm a huge Samsung fan, but would prefer to upgrade to 2GB of RAM.

As for hdd size 4GB SSD should be enough for a stripped down version of Ubuntu, but if I have the choice I might invest in a larger SSD upgrade or upgrading it myself, Found a few sites showing how and it seems fairly simple, but I'll llook into that some more first.

I see Dell is selling the mini 9 for $99 now ... really wish I knew someone ordering a Dell right now.

nd4spdbh2 · Mar 2, 2009

the mini 9 is super easy to upgrade... 2 screws and you expose the ram, ssd, wifi and wwan if you buy it... dont buy the ssds from dell they are cheap and have slow write speeds.... get a runcore 16gb or keep the stock 4gb

SeanBest · Mar 2, 2009

If only I knew someone buying a new computer right I'd grab that $99 one in a heartbeat.

boarderjw · Mar 3, 2009

SeanBest said:
I looked into the Samsun NC10, but every place I look it's close to $500 and is only capable of holding 1GB of ram these places say. I'm a huge Samsung fan, but would prefer to upgrade to 2GB of RAM.

i own a samsung nc10 and it holds up to 2GB of RAM. not sure where you're finding that info but it's wrong. even the samsung website states that the nc10 holds up to 2GB. the hard drive is also upgradeable.
i have all good things to say about the samsung nc10. it seems like i use it for mostly the same stuff you plan on using it for. light surfing and some programming. i take it to school every day and i don't need to bring the charger. the battery lasts over 7 hours. the keyboard is also very nice. i can't really tell the difference from my laptop keyboards. so overall, a very good buy. the price is a little higher than other netbooks but i think it's worth it. in any case though i got it from sams club so if i didn't like it i'd have 6 months to return it.

Slayn · Mar 3, 2009

I like my MSI Wind a lot. The Samsung NC10 seems to be the top dog but it is quite a bit more expensive and at that point its almost like buying a regular laptop. I do like the low weight of the netbook though compared to a standard laptop anyway.

nd4spdbh2 · Mar 3, 2009

i will recommend if you do get a mini 9 get the 8gb ssd... its 3x faster write speeds and 2x read speeds of the 4gb ssd. the 8gb does ~ 21MB/s write and 75MB/s read.... 4gb does ~ 7MBps write and 35 read.

Needless to say i got an 8gb commin from someone that upgraded to a runcore 64gb for 35 bucks shipped....

AlucardCasull · Mar 4, 2009

How can a SSD be slow? I thought that was the point for them to be faster than normal disc.

Looking into a Netbook

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Similar threads