Netbooks

[Gary Rubin]

Hi all,

I'm seriously considering getting my wife a netbook. Anyone have any recommendations? Any models to avoid?

Thanks,

Gary

[Daryl]

Hi all,

I'm seriously considering getting my wife a netbook. Anyone have any recommendations? Any models to avoid?

Thanks,

Gary

Have you considered this one?

[Gary Rubin]

Have you considered this one?

Well, that probably reduces the chances of it being stolen, especially since most people would mistake it for an ugly throw-pillow. And there's no need to worry about figuring out which is yours at the airport security line.

[hooovahh]

My wife has a Acer netbook, I think this is the one. We got it when they were still using XP instead of Windows 7, and it was about $50 cheaper. Got it for $230 after discount. It came with alot of crapware but that's expected. Runs great, very thin, very light, and has a great battery life.

I don't know this from experience, but I guess the Windows 7 "Starter" is giving people issues. They started putting the Starter edition of Windows 7 on netbooks to cut cost and it has alot of features removed

Windows 7 Starter does not include:

• Aero Glass, meaning you can only use the “Windows Basic” or other opaque themes. It also means you do not get Taskbar Previews or Aero Peek.
• Personalization features for changing desktop backgrounds, window colors, or sound schemes.
• The ability to switch between users without having to log off.
• Multi-monitor support.
• DVD playback.
• Windows Media Center for watching recorded TV or other media.
• Remote Media Streaming for streaming your music, videos, and recorded TV from your home computer.
• Domain support for business customers.
• XP Mode for those that want the ability to run older Windows XP programs on Windows 7.

Yeah so if you get a new netbook with Windows 7 don't expect to be able to change the desktop background...or join a domain...or play DVDs (even if most don't have optical drives). Here's another link with people complaining about Windows 7 Starter.

Just another reason to stick with XP, or upgrade your self.

Edit: But if I were to buy another it would be the Dell mini 10 just so I could install Mac OS on it, and learn how to use the Mac OS. I'm not an Apple fan, I just want to figure out how to use it. Here's a video, it seems to run great.

Here's the how to:

http://gizmodo.com/5389166/how-to-hackintosh-a-dell-mini-10v-into-the-ultimate-snow-leopard-netbook

[Phillip Brooks]

Hi all,

I'm seriously considering getting my wife a netbook. Anyone have any recommendations? Any models to avoid?

Thanks,

Gary

I bought an Acer One 751h last summer ($384) and it came with 2GB of ram and a 250 GB drive. It's OK, but the graphics (GMA500) combined with Vista make it a dog for Flash or video. The computer comes with Vista Basic, which was not eligible for the upgrade to Windows 7. If I had known that, I would have bought a 1 GB model loaded with XP and then upgraded the memory. Vista and the GMA500 just don't play well together.

(Note: LabVIEW 8.6 runs reasonably well!)

Linux SUCKS on this combo, but there is a variant of Ubuntu Netbook Remix (JoliCloud) that merges some older GMA kernel drivers with 9.10 and it works fairly well; I boot it from a 16GB SDHC card in under a minute.

I would look at the 11.6 size screens as these are 1336 x 768 rather than the 1024x600. At 600 pix high, you scroll way to much when reading web pages.

Acer seems to be waiting for the new Atom processors and Ion 2 to come out before upgrading their line. I would choose something that has an Ion graphics processor, Windows 7, 2GB of ram.

(EDIT Maybe this one? Asus 1201n)

When I pay off my Xmas bills and find one like this, I will replace the current 751h; the kids will be happy to take it!

Edited January 7, 2010 by Phillip Brooks

[PaulG.]

Hi all,

I'm seriously considering getting my wife a netbook. Anyone have any recommendations? Any models to avoid?

Thanks,

Gary

I would shy away from Dell. They used to be great (I had two Dells in a row) but for a while I have heard nothing but complaints. Poor customer service. Poor warranty work. Rumor has it it happened shortly after Dell closed down their US-based customer service center and moved it overseas.

[Gary Rubin]

My wife would mostly just use it for word processing and email, so a lot of those Windows 7 Starter limitations might not matter too much.

I saw that HP just announced a model based on the new Atom. I guess others will be following suit soon.

[Eugen Graf]

A little addition - LabVIEW and Netbook

[Eugen Graf]

Sorry if anybody didn't understand my last message. I mean LabVIEW isn't compatible with poor display resolutions, which netbooks have. As you can see on my screenshot the three buttons are not visible on the screen.

I have DELL Mini 10 with Ubuntu installed. I'm very happy with this netbook

[Daryl]

Sorry if anybody didn't understand my last message. I mean LabVIEW isn't compatible with poor display resolutions, which netbooks have. As you can see on my screenshot the three buttons are not visible on the screen.

I have DELL Mini 10 with Ubuntu installed. I'm very happy with this netbook

You might be able to fix that by adjusting your DPI setting. I had the same issue on a DELL Inspirion and changed to DPI from 96 to 120 (or vice versa, I foget now)

[hooovahh]

You might be able to fix that by adjusting your DPI setting. I had the same issue on a DELL Inspirion and changed to DPI from 96 to 120 (or vice versa, I foget now)

I remember using Linux (I think it was Yoper) and it had a "Virtual Resolution" setting that would be handy in this situation. It would do a basic resize of your whole desktop to a specific resolution. It was probably pretty intensive on the graphics card but I never noticed.

I've yet to see this type of utility for Windows but it would be handy in situations like this. However it may make some text unreadable if you shrink it. In my Linux example I was increasing the resolution past what actually was outputting.

[Phillip Brooks]

Sorry if anybody didn't understand my last message. I mean LabVIEW isn't compatible with poor display resolutions, which netbooks have. As you can see on my screenshot the three buttons are not visible on the screen.

I have DELL Mini 10 with Ubuntu installed. I'm very happy with this netbook

That's why I selected a netbook with 768 vertical resolution.

Just before I bought my netbook, Darren had posted his experience with LabVIEW on a netbook in this blog entry.

Based on the CES press releases I've been reading, many of the newer netbooks offer 1366 x 768 on 10.1 or 11.6 screens, so LabVIEW should be good to go.

[njg]

I bought my wife a Dell Mini 10V with Windows 7 Starter for Christmas and we've been very pleased with it so far.

Can it do everything that a larger, more powerful PC could do? No, but it doesn't need to. My wife clearly expressed that as long as it did email, web, and Word well that portability was more important than features/power. The only limitation of the starter edition that has been annoying is the inability to change the background. (and it appears people have been working on a way around that)

Despite the limitations, I have appreciated some of the new features of Windows 7 over XP - mainly the improvements in allowing the primary users to have standard accounts and then providing an administrator password when necessary for installing programs or changing system settings - a feature vital for a household with a young child.

[Gary Rubin]

I ended up getting a Samsung N150, on the recommendation of our local PC shop. In the process of uninstalling the bundled crap and installing the stuff I want.

No time for an opinion yet, other than it looks pretty nice and feels solid.