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Netbooks

Herzog

Herzog

somewhat damaged
Admin
Location
Wydaho
I'm so tempted to pick one of these up. Would be perfect for meetings & traveling, especially with how compact they are and I hear the battery life is really good.

Right now Dell has a deal going on where you can buy a system and get a netbook for $150 extra. Meaning you can also build a decent netbook and get another one for a not much more. Really tempted because that way Amy & I would have our own for a very good price.

My question is - who has any experience with the Dell netbooks? I'd be getting the slightly higher resolution screen & faster processor (not that the atom is fast to begin with...) but how do you like them and do they seem to be built very well? The other option is Asus but they don't offer a better screen resolution. If I went this route I'd be running a very light flavor of linux on it so that's another reason I'm not too concerned about processing power of them.

Maybe I'd be better off just getting another normal laptop...?
 
benjy

benjy

Rarely wrenches
Supporting Member
Location
Moab
I'm sure my Asus is now very outdated, but I could never go back to a normal laptop now. I take it everywhere, school, work, the bathtub... :rofl:

I just have to laugh when I see others lugging out their laptops with sweet 19" monitors, and a duffel bag to carry it in. I've been really happy with the purchase.
 
spencurai

spencurai

Vanilla Gorilla
Location
WVC,UT
I love my ASUS EEE...jamesgeologist and I bought em at the same time and they are still kicking. ASUS invented em and they seem to do em the best.
 
Tacoma

Tacoma

Et incurventur ante non
Location
far enough away
I would be very happy to get a netbook. My laptop had a 17" screen and it was ridiculous to use as an actual laptop. Netbooks seem like a great idea to me. And for a buck fiddy, hell yes I'd jump on that. I might just call Dell, I need a new desktop right now anyway. Good heads up. :D
 
TRNDRVR

TRNDRVR

IMA BUM
Location
North Ogden, UT
I have an MSI Wind U100. I bought it when I physically (bad back) couldn't handle the weight of my HP. It's now all I carry.

Couple of downfalls in mine, it doesn't have a cd/dvd, and I can't get the web pages to fit on the screen. (probably a setting I haven't found yet)

I think also when I bought mine, because of it's size that it wasn't recommended to run Vista, and it has Windows XP.

Overall, it's a fine inexpensive netbook that gets me on the web while I hang in the hotel room 3 days a week.


My .02
 
RockMonkey

RockMonkey

Suddenly Enthusiastic
Sorry, no experience with Dell, but...

I recently bought an HP because Verizon was allowing employees to buy them for $29. :greg:
I've been really surprised by how much I use it. I have a new laptop at home that now rarely gets used. The netbook is just so easy to carry around. Even at home, I use it far ore than any other computer. We took it to the Bahamas last week and it was really nice to not have to lug around a full size laptop through airports and such.

Mine has a 10.1" screen, and I use Firefox on full screen mode.

Netbooks = nicer than you'd think
 
Dirty Frank

Dirty Frank

New Member
Location
Holladay, Utah
I'd have to agree with the netbook. I have a 17" that has been collecting dust since the purchase of the netbook. I did a bit of research and a couple hours at the best buy typing on the netbooks. I settled on the toshiba because it has almost a full keyboard and almost a fullsize touchpad. I can type just as fast on the netbook as on a regular keyboard.

I am running windows 7 professional, firefox portable, office 2010 beta. All works well and fast. Great battery life too. about 6 hours streaming video and about 9 word processing or surfing.
 
waynehartwig

waynehartwig

www.jeeperman.com
Location
Mead, WA
I'm also thinking about these... I saw that Verizon has a deal going where you sign up for 2 years and they are about the same price, $150. Maybe someone can correct me and offer their opinion on the Verizon units... .:D
 
RockMonkey

RockMonkey

Suddenly Enthusiastic
waynehartwig said:
I'm also thinking about these... I saw that Verizon has a deal going where you sign up for 2 years and they are about the same price, $150. Maybe someone can correct me and offer their opinion on the Verizon units... .:D
Click to expand...

I've been really happy with mine. There are currently 3 different models. If you have an upgrade available on your Verizon phone you can use your upgrade to get a netbook at the discounted price, and then switch back to your phone. Of course, you won't have a discounted upgrade on your phone for at least another year.

Otherwise you can add a dedicated netbook line to your account for $59.99 per month.
 
waynehartwig

waynehartwig

www.jeeperman.com
Location
Mead, WA
RockMonkey said:
I've been really happy with mine. There are currently 3 different models. If you have an upgrade available on your Verizon phone you can use your upgrade to get a netbook at the discounted price, and then switch back to your phone. Of course, you won't have a discounted upgrade on your phone for at least another year.

Otherwise you can add a dedicated netbook line to your account for $59.99 per month.
Click to expand...

Hmmm I'm due for a replacement phone.... :D

If you use that offer, do you loose the phone? Or is the netbook just an addon? We need our cells, but I have an air card that I probably woldn't need anymore if I got the netbook....
 
RockMonkey

RockMonkey

Suddenly Enthusiastic
waynehartwig said:
Hmmm I'm due for a replacement phone.... :D

If you use that offer, do you loose the phone? Or is the netbook just an addon? We need our cells, but I have an air card that I probably woldn't need anymore if I got the netbook....
Click to expand...

You can use your phone upgrade to "upgrade" to a netbook, then just switch your service back to your phone.
How long have you had your air card? If you're due for an upgrade on that, you can use it to get a netbook.

I canceled my home internet a while ago. Next month when Chicky's phone is eligible for an upgrade I'm going to use it to get a MyFi, then turn her phone back on, and switch the netbook service to the MyFi and use it as my home internet connection. It's much faster than Blue Zone, and about the same money per month (for me). Also, I can take it with me when I travel. :)
 
spencurai

spencurai

Vanilla Gorilla
Location
WVC,UT
You can get a droid phone and tether it with PDAnet...its pretty slick and it just uses your data plan on your phone.
 
waynehartwig

waynehartwig

www.jeeperman.com
Location
Mead, WA
RockMonkey said:
You can use your phone upgrade to "upgrade" to a netbook, then just switch your service back to your phone.
How long have you had your air card? If you're due for an upgrade on that, you can use it to get a netbook.

I canceled my home internet a while ago. Next month when Chicky's phone is eligible for an upgrade I'm going to use it to get a MyFi, then turn her phone back on, and switch the netbook service to the MyFi and use it as my home internet connection. It's much faster than Blue Zone, and about the same money per month (for me). Also, I can take it with me when I travel. :)
Click to expand...

Air card is about 4? years old now. That's how I found the Netbooks, looking to see what upgrades were available on the card. :D

What is MyFi? Blue Zone? Are you speaking in Verizon geek talk ;)
 
Cruiser

Cruiser

look what i can do!!
I work in a service center and see tons of Dells with issues, however have never seen a Asus come in. Now, it could be that they kick ass, also could be they sell less of them... I vote go for Asus. In my experiance Asus products dominate in reliability...:)
 
Herzog

Herzog

somewhat damaged
Admin
Location
Wydaho
cruiser said:
I work in a service center and see tons of Dells with issues, however have never seen a Asus come in. Now, it could be that they kick ass, also could be they sell less of them... I vote go for Asus. In my experiance Asus products dominate in reliability...:)
Click to expand...

I'm still mad that I can't find an Asus w/ slightly better resolution. I know it's not much, but it means a lot to me for some reason.

Anyways, what problems specifically are you seeing when the dells come in for service?

edit - here's one but it's 12" screen instead of 10".
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220660

I want the 10" at 1366 x 768
 
Caleb

Caleb

Well-Known Member
Location
Riverton
I've never really used a netbook for an extended amount of time. I always get bored with them after a short while . We did bring some Dell Mini 10's in for work for our QA department. We set them up with Windows 7 which went right on without any problems at all. Just need to load it from a USB drive. IMO, the netbooks are more of a novelty than a usable computer. If you're trying to replace a smart phone then they may be the ticket, but as a replacement to a laptop, I think you'd get sick of it real quick. Email, web surfing, etc sure...but actually using it as a computer...frustrating. ;) I've though many times about getting one, but I know after a week it'd be sitting in my desk drawer not getting used. I do prefer my 13" laptop to my 15" though. I think 13" is the perfect size. Completely usable, I get a good 4+ hours of battery life. I don't have a wimpy mobile processor, I can have up to 8GB of memory, fullsize keyboard, about the same weight as a netbook, probably just as thin as well. A bit more money, sure, but IMO completely worth it.
 
waynehartwig

waynehartwig

www.jeeperman.com
Location
Mead, WA
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