netbooks

[gary in ohio]

One year people want 17" laptop screen with 300gb of disk, next year 8" with 4gb of ssd..

I doubt I would get a ssd netbook but some of the new little laptop are peaking my interest. I want a big disk and enough memory but a small carry laptop would be nice.

 

[haven]

The key question seems to be, "Will the netbook be your
only computer?" If yes, then people would want one with
the larger screen, roomier keyboard, more disc capacity, etc.

If the answer is no, then the cheaper, more portable netbook
with smaller screen and lighter weight seems more attractive.

Chip Haven

 

[lowenbrau]

The key question seems to be, "Will the netbook be your
only computer?" If yes, then people would want one with
the larger screen, roomier keyboard, more disc capacity, etc.

If the answer is no, then the cheaper, more portable netbook
with smaller screen and lighter weight seems more attractive.

Chip Haven

Exactly and thanks for the correction, the little computer I bought is Acer, with the three cell battery.

 

[Mlachica]

I really like the concept behind these. They seem really functional as a second/third computer that's super portable. I'm considering adding the acer aspire one to my land cruiser for gps and movies etc.

However, I would prefer not to buy an external cd/dvd drive. Would I be able to run mapping software like national geographic without an optical drive? How?

How would my boys watch the movie Cars on the acer?

 

[eugene]

My laptop has an external drive. I've used it so few times I can name them all, frist two times were reinstalling windows, third was installing linux, 4th was installing linux on a bigger drive, then 5th was installing topo2008 and northamerica nt, then 6th and 7th were for yet another bigger hard drive and installing again.
Most any mapping software you can either copy to the hard disk or it will install itsself completely, only a few lamy copy protection schemes on games require the cd/dvd to be present.
If you want to watch dvd's buy a $99 portable dvd player and save the laptop.

 

[LandCruiserPhil]

This Saturday Walmart has a Compaq 15.4 laptop for under $300....I was looking at netbooks but at that price I will forgo the Netbook.

 

[bigreen505]

Looks like the little Eee PC is done, so if you want something smaller than 10", buy now.

 

[eugene]

This Saturday Walmart has a Compaq 15.4 laptop for under $300....I was looking at netbooks but at that price I will forgo the Netbook.

I bet its a presario. The home lines like presario, pavilion, inspiron are not built to the same specs as somehting intended to be actaully carried around. What will happen is after a couple trips the hinges will wear out and the display will fall flat all the time.

 

[LandCruiserPhil]

I bet its a presario. The home lines like presario, pavilion, inspiron are not built to the same specs as somehting intended to be actaully carried around. What will happen is after a couple trips the hinges will wear out and the display will fall flat all the time.

Thanks for the heads up on quality....looks like my daughter now will getting a laptop for birthday to be used at her desk at home.:birthday.sml:

 

[eugene]

Theose low end presarios, pavilions, inspirons are ok for desktop work but I've not been impressed with them for actual laptop use. I'll take a latitude or another business grade.

 

[Roktoys84]

Looks like the little Eee PC is done, so if you want something smaller than 10", buy now.

The Acer Aspire One has an 8.9" screen, and rates better than the EEE in most reviews.

 

[targa88]

Just picked up the Acer Aspire One - quite impressed with this little package.

 

[haven]

Dell recently introduced a netbook called the Inspiron Mini 9. It's a model that places light weight and durability above other characteristics. To meet those goals, the Mini 9 has an 8.9 inch screen and a solid state drive. Unlike other models (Acer Aspire One, I'm looking at you...), it's very easy to upgrade the memory slot and hard drive. The Mini 9 is made by taiwanese computer maker Compal.

Shortly after the Mini 9 arrived, rumors of a larger model with 12 inch screen began to circulate. It turns out the rumors are true. Here's a review of the Dell Inspiron Mini 12:
http://apcmag.com/scoop_we_review_t..._supersized_yet_superslim_12_inch_netbook.htm

From the article, here is a photo that shows the difference in size between the Mini 9 and Mini 12:

The Mini 12 will be released in Japan first, and will find its way to USA by January 2009.

The Mini 12 suffers from a couple of obvious faults. First, it will ship with Windows Vista. Second, it is limited to 1GB RAM. Third, it uses a standard hard disc. There is no option for a solid state drive. Fourth, the price will be close to $US700.

Now, Dell is nothing if not market-savvy. So I expect that some time after the Mini 12 is introduced, Dell will offer a less expensive model using the same form factor.

Chip Haven

 

[haven]

Oops, Dell introduced the Mini 12 to USA today, with shipments starting in early December. The lowest price Mini 12 at introduction is $549.

As the photo in the post before this shows, the Mini 12 is considerably larger than the Mini 9. But it's by no means a large laptop. Dimensions are 11.8 x 9 x 1 inches, weight 2.72 lbs with 3 cell battery.

In comparison, the MacBook Air measures 12.8 x 9 x 0.75 inches and weighs 3.0 lbs.

I expect the Mac programmer community will work overtime until they get Mac OS X to run on the Mini 12. (OS X already can be made to run on the Mini 9.) The MacBook Air costs a whopping $1800. The Mini 12 will provide most functions of the Air, at a savings of $1000. But I digress...

The Mini 12 is the first computer I've seen using the Atom Z520/Z530 processor, codename Silverthorne. The processor in the Mini 9 is the Atom N270. Both are single core processors. The difference seems to be that the Silverthorne line was designed to operate using less power.

The Silverthorne processors are paired with a new controller chipset. The US15W system controller and GMA500 graphics controller also use less power than the chipset used with the Atom N270 does.

The power savings are needed because the larger 12 inch LCD uses more juice. The end result is that the Mini 12 and Mini 9 run about the same length of time on a given battery.

The problem I see with the Mini 12 is that the US15W can only address a maximum of 1 GB of RAM. The Mini 12 ships with Windows Vista, which, in my experience, does not run at all well with 1 GB RAM. Windows NT or Linux would be a much better choice for limited memory. The Mini 9, using the Intel 945GSE chipset, can address more than 1 GB.

I think most people would easily adapt to the Mini 12. The screen of the Mini 12 has a resolution of 1280x800, up from 1024x600 in the Mini 9. This will make more web pages fit without the need to scroll horizontally. Many 13 and 14 inch notebooks have a 1280x800 display. The Mini 12 is 3 inches wider than the Mini 9, so it has a keyboard that is close to full laptop size.

Today, base price of the Dell Mini 12 is $549. That includes a 1.33 GHz processor, 40 GB hard drive, and a 24 Wh battery, good for up to 3 hours of use.

Step up to $599, and you get a 1.6 GHz processor, 60 GB disc and a 48 Wh battery (6 hours of use). Add another $50 to get an 80 GB disc and a two year warranty.

I expect that at some point in the future Dell will introduce a Mini 12 with a version of Linux, and take $100 off the price of the Mini 12.

Chip Haven

 

[daverami]

Here you go!

http://www.itechnews.net/2008/11/11/asus-u6v-b1-bamboo-ultraportable-notebook/