Best netbook available?

C

Chris.

Gawd
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Aug 26, 2006
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Need something small and compact that I won't mind beating up a bit.

Dell is out due to the right shift key non sense, so that leaves the Lenovo, Asus & Acer.

It'll mostly be used for document/powerpoint editing and quick photo editing (cropping & resizing).
 
At this point, I'm all for the Acer Aspire One. I have two friends that bought 'em - the SSD models - and it just rocks from top to bottom and all the way through.

I wiped the Linpus Linux that's installed from the factory and put a modified XP install on it - my own nLite version that's been tweaked for over 2 years now, not some candy ass hacked to shreds thing they could download and not trust, comes in at under 600MB total after being installed, is fast as hell and still does everything XP needs to do.

One of them is the 3 cell, the other is the 6, and with power savings enabled and even Wi-Fi, the 6 cell model (using that modded XP install) has been consistently running for over 5 hours before the first low battery warning even sounds off. The 3 cell manages close about ~3 hours depending on usage, with the Wi-Fi enabled.

Amazing little machines. I know for the longest time Acer was basically the Packard Bell of the modern PC world, but someone lit a fire under their asses with this Netbook. It truly is a miraculous little piece of technology and I can't wait to get one of my own sometime later in the year.

Can't recommend them enough over everything else out there right now, primarily because they're rock solid in my experience of working with them so far, but also in terms of price.

Good luck...
 
Nice.

How easy would it be to upgrade the RAM in the SSD model? My only gripe is that it only has 512MB installed, I can deal with the SSD model only coming with a 3 cell (as much as that sucks).
 
Chris. said:
Nice.

How easy would it be to upgrade the RAM in the SSD model? My only gripe is that it only has 512MB installed, I can deal with the SSD model only coming with a 3 cell (as much as that sucks).
Click to expand...

Adding another stick, 1GB to give you the 1.5GB max in the AAO, is relatively easy, yep.

Vengance_01 said:
Personally when the MSI Wind Drops, I feel that's the best netbook.
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So, now are you going to say why? :)
 
The build Quality is better, keyboard is supposed to be better 10 inch vs 8.9 on the acer and I still prefer HDs over SSD. If anything can be used as a small file server or back up machine.
 
That's probably what he meant, yes, it's priced too high right now, $550 last I saw for the 6 cell version with a measly 80GB HD... Whereas the 6 cell Aspire One can be found for $400 (either with Linux and an 8GB SSD or WinXP and a 160GB HD), even the EEE PC 901 which was everyone's target has dropped to $500 for the more expensive versions... And the EEE PC 1000 which is actually larger can be found for $450 easily (with a HD I think, not SSD). Dell's is cheaper as well under most configs.

Personally, I'm eagerly waiting for an Aspire One with a 6 cell battery to be in stock at either Newegg or Amazon and I'll probably click buy immediately... I should've jumped on it the last time I saw it in stock. It's slightly smaller than the Wind and I kinda like it's keyboard layout a lil' bit more (love the discrete Page Up/Dwn keys) even if it's slightly smaller, still much much better than the EEE PC 901 or Dell's. Build quality seems fine on it... The only issue is the SSD itself, apparently they're selling them with one of two different SSD's (a faster Samsung, and a slower Intel).

In US it seems it's the Intel only, Linux runs fine on it, but it takes a bit of work to get WinXP running smoothly on the slower SSD. However, it's very do-able, using FAT32 instead of NTFS seems to be key, some kinda driver issue. This only affects the SSD, performance is fine out of the box with the regular HD and WinXP (probably why they only sell them with WinXP and the HD right now, SSD being only for Linux variants).

So ya, another vote here for the AAO... Followed by the Wind if price is not an issue or if you simply like it better. I had dismissed the AAO originally because, hey, it's Acer... And there were no 6-cell versions originally, but now there are. That's kinda key for me, which just sunk the Dell (the horrible keyboard layout didn't help). I like the single SSD/HD arrangement +2 SD slots better than the EEE PC's split SSD as well (and obviously, the keyboard layout).

CNet crave's got a good series of shots with an EEE PC 901 and the AAO side by side that compare the size, keyboard etc. It really illustrates the differences well, look for it under the Crave section of their site.
 
strife1012 said:
Question is which netbook truly gives the best battery life?
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They're all gonna be very very comparable since they're all running the same processor, chipset, etc. Even the HD choices (where they vary the most) don't seem to make a big difference, although that will depend a lot on usage patterns. A HD may excel in sequential reads (say, watching a movie) and use comparable power to an SSD under those conditions, whereas the SSD might excell if you're just idling a lot (say, web browsing) and not accessing it much (since they do use a lot less power than the HD's, which are never idle).

3-cell versions all seem to get ya 2-3 hours across all the models, depending on usage, and 6-cell versions get ya like double that (which frankly, seems key to me for this kinda device, course you can always get a 3-cell and find a 6-cell battery later when its' more widely avaiable, and have both for long trips, etc).
 
I have found the the Asus Eee PC 1000H with 80GB HD, XP Home, and 6 cell for 440$. With the slightly bigger screen and keyboard is worth it over the Acer. Everything is upgraded via one access panel on the bottom with the Asus.
 
try as i might i cannot escape the conclusion that netbook+GMA945=pisspoor

i have high hopes for AMD's system on a chip thingy next year:
DX10 graphics not software emulated DX9
dualcore CPU not in-order singlecore
GPU not manufactured at .13u with four and a half transistors!
 
Yea I agree. That would be sick to see a ATI 3200G + low powered Dual Core K8 in a netbook. Come on, I know its possible!!
 
I'd wait for the dual core Atom to make its way west before I hopped on the netbook wagon. Right now they all have almost identical specs, and there's bound to be an evolution soon.
 
for ~$400 you can get a laptop with 2 gigs of ram and dualcore cpu. They might not be as portable, but i can't imagine spending the same price for netbook specs.
 
I really, really like my X61S. Great bat life, durable, does what its supposed and feels like its well made.
 
Vengance_01 said:
Yea I agree. That would be sick to see a ATI 3200G + low powered Dual Core K8 in a netbook. Come on, I know its possible!!
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This looks to be the closest you'll get for now, but at $800 MSRP it's not exactly cheap.

What I really want is a netbook with a touch screen that's good enough for me to write on. There's really no way to take notes in engineering classes with a standard keyboard. Sadly, early reviews of the gigabyte netbook disappoint.
 
My girlfriend wants to get one for school but we can't seem to find any! She would like a netbook with Windows XP and really likes the Acer Aspire One but BestBuy is out of stock (they are no longer carrying it) and absolutely no one online that I've seen even sells them anymore. Amazon has been out of stock / preorder for quite some time and NewEgg doesn't even have the Windows versions.

How is everyone getting the Acer Aspire One?

EDIT: Actually, looks like NewEgg has some in stock. Not sure where the blue one or other colors or configurations are though.
 
Vengance_01 said:
Yea I agree. That would be sick to see a ATI 3200G + low powered Dual Core K8 in a netbook. Come on, I know its possible!!
Click to expand...
Most likely not going to happen because of the power requirements. You have very little space to fit battery and cooling solution in a netbook. Even the new dual-core Atom 330 with 8W TDP is too much for netbooks and manufacturers have to wait for lower TDP model.
 
Did you ever consider the Voodoo Envy? I know it is kind of on the higher end of the price scale - but it's a seriously sweet machine.

Uses intel graphics media accelerator X3100 - which should allow for quick photo editing.

Also - it's really compact - .7 inches thick and just over three pounds. Carbon Fiber chassis can also hold up to wear and tear.
 
aop said:
Most likely not going to happen because of the power requirements. You have very little space to fit battery and cooling solution in a netbook. Even the new dual-core Atom 330 with 8W TDP is too much for netbooks and manufacturers have to wait for lower TDP model.
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you havnt seen fujitsu's 9" lifebooks with the core 2 duos....they cost 2 grand but they're the original "netbook".older ones = transmeta and touchscreen for the (slow) win.

asus has one with a geforce chip + atom

a few bucks worth of copper and heatpipe and, believe me, they can handle 8 watts. it just costs more to have effective cooling, which goes against the whole idea of 'cheap'....
 
JessMyz said:
Did you ever consider the Voodoo Envy? I know it is kind of on the higher end of the price scale - but it's a seriously sweet machine.

Uses intel graphics media accelerator X3100 - which should allow for quick photo editing.

Also - it's really compact - .7 inches thick and just over three pounds. Carbon Fiber chassis can also hold up to wear and tear.
Click to expand...

my sister has one, its pretty nice.. voodoopc did a good job in designing it.


that being said, you are comparing a 2 (or is it 3) thousand dollar laptop with netbooks which cost 300-400 dollars.

of course the envy is going to be "better". but is it worth the price? no.
 
omega-x said:
you havnt seen fujitsu's 9" lifebooks with the core 2 duos....they cost 2 grand but they're the original "netbook".older ones = transmeta and touchscreen for the (slow) win.

asus has one with a geforce chip + atom

a few bucks worth of copper and heatpipe and, believe me, they can handle 8 watts. it just costs more to have effective cooling, which goes against the whole idea of 'cheap'....
Click to expand...
Kinda ruins the idea of "netbook" when the price is around $2k. Yeah, UMPCs have been around forever but the new cheap netbook concept is something new.
 
IMHO, there really isn't anything else to consider other than the aspire one or the EEE 1000H. if you can afford the 100 dollars more, the extra 1.3 inches, double RAM, and double capacity battery definitely make the 1000H laptop better by a mile.... so thats what i'd say is the "best" of the netbooks...

PS: for anyone that wants a "hands on" of sorts, and lives in Manhattan, head to J&R downtown, in their netbook aisle, they have a Asus 1000h and an MSI Wind right next to each other, side by side.... really awesome if you want to "feel" the difference between the two in person.
 
MSI Wind with 6 cells. I got mine for 478 shipped. Live.com cashback +50 dollar MSI factory rebate. I get a hair over 5 hours battery life with Wifi turned on and associated to an access point (and surfing of course) with brightness at 3/8 (there are 8 settings). Most people use brightness at level 4, which IMO is too bright.
 
quick comparison between the MSI wind and the 1000/1000H

keyboard on wind is much more tactile and has proper shift keys.

keyboard on eee 1000 has a little bit of flex and continues the clusterfuck of the misplaced right-shift key, but overall i'd take the Eee for the underclock/overclock hotkey and overall design.
 
DanNeely said:
brucedeluxe169: for those of us in the rest of the country, could you post a comparison mini review?
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Well... i personally did *not* notice the keyboard "flex" that everyone keeps talking about.... and I knew about it going to the store and actively tried to see what it was all about.... but really couldn't see it...

I'm a lefty... so the misplaced right side shift key isn't a problem at all for me :) but I can see how that would be a problem for most people....

in my personal opinion, the case styling and built are *much* nicer on the MSI.... primarily because they used their heads and went with a matte finish, instead of the glossy crap that Asus went with.... seriously... wtf is up with that...

I did like the hotkey on the 1000H to easily adjust between power saving and overclocked modes.... its really convenient and works really well .....

also, picking both of them up, I couldn't feel any weight difference, BUT.... this was at J&R.... both laptops had their batteries taken out... I think that with the 6 cell, the 1000H would probably be noticably heavier

at current prices, i'd take the 1000H over the Wind... but if the Wind were priced at or near the 1000H, i'd go for it instead, simply because the shiny, glossy finish on the 1000H drives me nuts

full disclosure though: its a matter of preference about how *much* the gloss drives people nuts.... my girlfriend didn't mind it nearly as much as I did (but still preferred matte), but the 1000H's extra battery life won her over.... so i ended up buying a 1000H for her (b'days tomorrow). She also a lefty... so that shift doesn't bother her at all either....
 
I bought the 1000h. AT the time when I purchased it (8/21) it was the only 10 inch netbook with a 6 cell battery that was available.

In the 10 inch market, get the wind or the 1000h. Whatever is cheaper, i don't think you'll lose out with either one. However the 1000h is easier to upgrade and won't void a warranty. Also the 1000h has better speakers, includes bluetooth (the wind doesnt?), and has a multi touch track pad (i remember there was some hooplah about the wind not shipping with synaptics touch pads, has this been resolved?).

Same for the 9 inch netbooks, I'd say get an acer aspire one simply because it's the most feature packed for the least amount of money. I liked the aspire one a lot, especially the keyboard, but ultimately the 9 inch screen was just too small for me.

Overall I am pleased with my 1000h. It is my only computer, I sold a 14 inch single core acer laptop to buy the 1000h.
 
Note that Aspire one keys are 85% of normal laptop key size, while Wind is 92%.

Given a choice between the One and a Wind, I would probably have gone with the Wind, but not at the current ridiculous cost difference.

If you want to wait, the AMD netbooks will probably kick the crap out of the Atom based ones due to better processor and similar battery life from a more efficient chipset.
 
Yea but when are the AMD ones supposed to come out :[ My fingers are itching looking at the 1000H :[
 
after getting my girlfriend's 1000H in the mail today, i have to say, the biggest drawback for me is that the 1000H does NOT have full windows vista support!

the asus ACPI driver does not work under vista, so all the function keys (except display brightness) will not work, and most importantly, the super hybrid function doesnt work......

apparently Asus has no plans to release a working driver for vista.... so yea.... huge drawback for me, because general vista performance seems great with 2GB of ram installed.....
 
Why would you want to run vista on what is essentially a 5 year old cpu performance wise? Every netbook review I've seen with vista finds it rather slow/sluggish on the atom and C7.
 
I want to see a 3g-supporting netbook out there. If the Aspire One had built in bluetooth and the capability to add a 3G card, it would be a winner..
 
I own an AAO and love it. Can't wait for OneLinux to come out and replace this garbage Linpus Lite.
The 3 cell battery is a downer but I never need it for more then 3 hours on the batter so it doesn't matter to me.
 
I've not seen any speculation with a date on the rumored AMD chip. The one I'd be interested in is when the Via Nano comes out. Based on H's benchmarking the nano is faster in almost every benchmark. The two exceptions were one bench that really performed well with HT, the second being the power delta between idle and max power. The nano was running on a beta board with a chipset that IIRC is older than what will be going into the released systems. If the release chipset comes out better than the old one intel's using it might have better net performance.
 
ZerazaX said:
I want to see a 3g-supporting netbook out there. If the Aspire One had built in bluetooth and the capability to add a 3G card, it would be a winner..
Click to expand...

Just like with the Dell netbooks, the hardware connections exist, so 3g is the intended purpose in the future, but you'll just have to wait a bit for the models with the full hardware.
 
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