Our recent netbook post got a huge response. They are almost unanimously loved. A few dissenting opinions were present though. A few people mentioned that until this generation arrived, they were buying used subnotebooks for exactly the same reasons.
If you’re in the market for a new machine, Obsessable’s netbook comparator has all of the current models broken down by feature.
And the eee has a bigger hard drive! Remember kids, using a standard one is OK as long as you’re prepped to replace it if it fails!
Also, virtual disks are faster, with cheap flash drives now are easier to move around, keep and store too- also, re-installing if MUCH faster off a pen drive.
Life is better without disk drives for me. I haven’t used the dual 16X dvd copy setup in months because i’d rather keep everything as ISO’s… and don’t even get me started on Bluray. Give me a corsair flash drive any day.
Here’s to hoping flash media continues to improve until everyone can operate the way I do. It’s quite convenient.
Posted at 12:45 pm on Dec 6th, 2008 by J
@j: Flash drives ftw!
Posted at 1:24 pm on Dec 6th, 2008 by pski
Take a look at:
http://products.liliputing.com/
Posted at 5:59 pm on Dec 6th, 2008 by alex
I still refuse to use the word n3tb00k. They are, and always will be, laptops. Aside from the cost issue, they are the original old definition of a laptop.
Posted at 10:59 am on Dec 7th, 2008 by BigD145
I like the idea of a netbook which would be better on the go then my notebook and speed is not a issue since would only be used for browsing the internet. They do need to hit the $200 price mark to justify when already have a notebook.
Hacking the Machine – Trying to take back control in our increasingly technology driven world
Posted at 12:03 pm on Dec 7th, 2008 by hackingthemachine
I still can’t believe laptops these days come with non (easily)removable cd-roms. Who really uses optical drives a day to day basis? The space is much better used on my laptop(thinkpad) to hold another battery or hdd. Even if you couldn’t use the drivebay for other things besides the CDROM, just having the less weight and less power usage is a real benefit.
If I was buying my system again now, I would probably go for a netbook and a desktop, opposed to a nice laptop.
Posted at 12:15 pm on Dec 7th, 2008 by jjrh
Since the idea of ultraportables (extremely rarely below $1000) is not new, the only new idea related to the netbooks is them being cheap (but still more expensive than they’re worth) and the sluggish processor.
Since legitimate cinema issues are only on DVD or Blu-Ray, and definitely not on flash drives, I will not use them at all, not even as a temporary method, until either ultraportables become cheap, or netbooks solve their processor/chip problems that are severely limiting their performances.
Posted at 12:18 pm on Dec 7th, 2008 by floreign
The problem I have with netbooks are the ones that come with 3-cell batteries.
and that site isn’t completely accurate.
my eee pc 1000 has a 160gb hard drive, wireless n, and xp home.
if a netbook can only last 3 hours, why get it when i can get a system with a core 2 duo with the same battery life?
one thing i’d like to point out about those who bash netbooks because of their computing power, i know plenty of people who are happy surfing internets on their phone.
Posted at 2:12 pm on Dec 7th, 2008 by _matt
anyone remember the philips velo 1? the grandpappy of netbooks. tiny ass greyscale screen, like 4.5in or something. built in 14kbs modem, as wireless was unheard of in ‘98′. ran WIN CE on a 30something MHz proc. like 8MB storage but served it purpose well. (mobile data input,email,business contacts,greyscale porn) and the killer? around 20hr battery life. and a touchscreen… in 1998 it was no problem, why the hell now? it was cheap too, like $250.
Posted at 12:31 am on Dec 8th, 2008 by TripleOG
I wanted to add a few thoughts. After my posting in the netbook bashing comments, A friend sold me an acer one for $200.
It’s a lot better than the eees I had used. Gone was the cheap plastic and in its place was less cheap plastic. A real 2.5″ sata drive that I could upgrade to 7200rpm isn’t too bad also.
Am I coming over to the other side? Not quite.
Years back I got one of the first released sony vaio U3s in Japan. It was not bad at the time. Transmeta crusoe, 6″ xga lcd, 1gb ram, 1.8″ pata hdd and usb 1.1. its about two thirds the size of this acer one. It cost about $1400.
Things are getting better, but they are not even close to perfect yet.
If HP could get the aesthetic/build quality of the mini note, with the atom + discrete gpu combo on some next gen chipset for $500, that would be nice.
I don’t know if the market would bear it though.
I’d never pay $400 for this machine but I will admit it has a place. It should be fun to see what comes next year.
Posted at 1:42 am on Dec 8th, 2008 by Aaron Andrusko
I’m not jumping on the “bashwagon”, but I do think that any device with a screen lower than 1024×768 is only useful with a custom, purpose-built browser that takes the tiny real estate into account. I can use a browser on my WM phone, or the iPhone version of Safari, or one of the several browsers for Nokia’s “internet tablets”, but each of them has to redesign user interaction from the ground up to be worth a damn. My problem with many of the smaller/lower-end netbooks is that they tend to drop under the critical pixel count but stick you with desktop-type browsers (at least out of the box).
Posted at 7:31 am on Dec 8th, 2008 by Coderer
I very much agree on the resolution issue. At least the contrast ratio is good on the led display, otherwise it would be a write off.
The F11 key is your friend for sure.
Posted at 7:59 am on Dec 8th, 2008 by Aaron Andrusko
Great post. I found the MSI Wind for $299. Might pick one up for my Girlfriend’s Daughter. We just need something cheap for her so she can stop using our computer for teenage crap (you know MySpace, etc).
Posted at 7:58 pm on Dec 8th, 2008 by yuppicide
Make sure before you get one of these you check out the CPU benchmarks… you might be [unpleasantly] surprised.
Posted at 4:14 am on Dec 9th, 2008 by mike
I have had small computers for many years, including a 9″ Everex i486 DX laptop, a Compaq WinCE “palm top” with a 5″ mono display, and one of the earliest “real computers” of miniscule proportion, the Atari Portfolio, which had an 80C88 cpu, at 4.9mhz, 128k of ram and apps in a 256k rom. It also had a non-backlit mono display, and a text-only interface, using a special modified DOS. It also used standard AA batteries, which could power it for over 2 weeks! There was no “internet” in those days, but it could connect to a BBS (google it!) with its primitive modem which, if I recall correctly, used sounds from the speaker to dial and connect using a regular telephone handset. (I tried, but was never able to get it to connect over my old Motorola “brick phone”.) It was pretty cool in its day, but alas, I lost mine when I put it on top of my car and drove off, and never saw it again….
I just bought an MSI Wind U100 to replace my Acer Aspire One that was stolen after I had it only 3 months. Both are great machines, serve their purpose well, and are inexpensive, even compared to the “original netbook” eeePC. Sadly, the concept of the netbook has been co-opted to being just a inexpensive mini-laptop, and not really true to the original concept. The original concept was, (at least as it appeared to me to be) a SMALL, CHEAP, DURABLE device that cold be used to surf the internet, create and edit office docs, and maybe play some media files. There are some new ones coming soon, such as the HiVision $98 netbook, which very much resembles the original eeePC. While I am enjoying my new MSI Wind, I will probably get one of these also.
Posted at 10:39 am on Dec 15th, 2008 by geo
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LOL at the macbook Pro comment. I’ve got one open here and it’s HARDLY faster than my eee 1000h- in both specs AND actual use.
Posted at 12:42 pm on Dec 6th, 2008 by J