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Looking for a SSD Netbook

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redone632

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I've gotten sick of lugging around my ancient Alienware m5550 which weighs at least 2 tonnes. I don't think I'll get another laptop since I can do without the size and I would never game on a laptop. So the main things I'm looking for is:

Battery life - At least 4 hours
SSD Drive - Preferably 32GB or more, no simulated (16GB SSD + 16GB SDHC)
CPU - At least Intel Atom 450

I'm looking to use it just for web surfing, and playing Youtube videos, I'd also like to be able to play 720p x264 videos if possible.

It seems to be a real challenge to find Netbooks with SSD drive in them. Can I just purchase a regular SSD drive seperately and install it after?

The two netbooks I have my eye on are:

http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/18/asus-eee-pc-1201n-review/
http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/21/asus-eee-pc-1005pe-review/

I love both except for what each lacks. The battery life on the 1201n isn't very desirable, 3 hours. The performance on the 1005pe isn't up to par with what I'd like.

Is there any compromise between the two or should I just grab the 1201n and another battery? Or is there anything from CES 2010 that might be coming out soon (1 month or so, can't wait too long).

Sorry for the wall of text, I just don't want to buy another mistake (m5500). Thanks!
 
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Can I just purchase a regular SSD drive seperately and install it after?
Click to expand...
Yes, but that will cost quite a bit.

Perhaps have a look at Acer Timeline 3810t? There is a version with Intel SSD (I have that). 1.4kg, 13", 10 hrs battery life (real, with SSD, 8 with HD), ULV Core 2 Solo/Duo.

13" is much more comfortable to use IMHO. I had a 12" before.
 
It's going to be tough to find a netbook with a decent SSD in it, I think. Cyberfish is onto something - 13" is a much nicer size than 12", and a ULV Core 2 solo or dual is going to provide a lot more horsepower than any atom solution.
 
Why not consider getting a smaller laptop. Netbooks are nice, but what I have learned is that they are almost too limited to even to some internet stuff properly. I had a netbook along with my macbook and my desktop. I loved the netbook, but it's lack of power to play hd youtube made me sell it and wait a while.

Basically what I'm saying is just buy a smaller laptop, like the others said 13" is perfict
 
Thanks for all the input. I was kind of leaning on a smaller laptop, I just didn't realize they've changed that much figured the standard was still 15" - 21" I'll have to look around and come back with what catches my eye since I'll need it shipped to Canada which cuts my selection in half.
 
I agree. Netbooks are pretty limited. I only really use mine to read Kindle, checking e-mail, and looking up my son'd vocabulary words.

It plays jewelquest pretty well, but I'm probably going to just give it to my son and I'll get a new notebook. I'm thinking of replacing my desktop with something smaller and more portable.
 
I'm not a fan of eMachines/acer, so after looking around I found these

ASUS UL30A-X4 http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220632
ASUS UL30VT-A2 http://www.amazon.ca/ASUS-UL30A-A2-13-3-Inch-Silver-Laptop/dp/B002P3KMNU/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8

But I can't figure out what the $150 price difference is all about. The UL30VT-A2 does have 500GB hard drive and 16-hour battery life vs 320GB and 12-hour battery life on the UL30A-X4 but is that it? I plan on just replacing the hard drive with a 80GB SSD drive. Is there anything that I'm missing?

Edit: Apparently the graphics card on the UL30VT-A2 is much better. I don't plan on gaming on it at all, but I would like to be able to playback 1080p x.264 videos. Would that be a problem on the UL30A-X4?
 
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My HP Mini could handle 1080p playback... it pegged the CPU at 100% usage, but it'd do it. 720P was an average of about 60-90% and it was a single core Atom, so i think that most of them will do what you want... good luck with the SSD end though :/
 
CompuTamer said:
My HP Mini could handle 1080p playback... it pegged the CPU at 100% usage, but it'd do it. 720P was an average of about 60-90% and it was a single core Atom, so i think that most of them will do what you want... good luck with the SSD end though :/
Click to expand...

So I guess the main part for 1080p playback is the CPU, the GPU really only determines the screen resolution in this case. Where the GPU matters would be for games. Would I be correct with that? If so I'm going to pick up the UL30A. One last question, do the versions/configurations really matter? I see UL30A-A1/A2/X1/X2/X4/X5...
 
depending on the GPU. If you have a GPU that will decode HD video on its own (Nvidia ION comes to mind) then the CPU doesn't matter much. If not, then the CPU is stuck with decoding the media.
 
Thanks for all the help. I decided to go with the ASUS UL30A-A2 and was able to pick it up locally. I'll be getting the SSD later once I figure out which one I need.

:)
 
redone632 said:
Thanks for all the help. I decided to go with the ASUS UL30A-A2 and was able to pick it up locally. I'll be getting the SSD later once I figure out which one I need.

:)
Click to expand...

I ended up going with a RunCore SSD to replace my POS SSD that came with my HP Mini. So far I've been really happy with the performance.
 
I have the Asus 1005HA and I just use it for web browsing and aim chatting. The main plus it has about 9 hours of battery life on average use. Got the thing for around 340, and I am putting it to good use.

My 2 cents is just never use a netbook as your main computer and you will appreciate it for travel and just chilling on the couch.
 
Old thread too bad. The Viliv X70EX is the one to get from dynamism.com.
From $600 all the way up to 1400 you can get a 16, 32, or even 128 GB ssd with built-in hspa modem (ATT 3G or tmob edge sim slot) on an intel atom silverthorne @1.32GHz with 1gig ddr2, running xp or even win7. This includes sirfII gps, 7'' touch screen, bt2+edr & b/g wireless, usb, sdhc slot. mic, earphone, 1.3 camera/webcam and ir
The ultimate ebook reader if you ask me.
 
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