Netbook for the wife

[Adcadet]

Hey Gang,
Hope everybody is doing well and staying warm this holiday season. It's currently about 0 F outside, and feels like -22 F with the windchill. My folks are looking for a gift for my wife (thank God our families get along so well), and suggested a price range of about $300. My wife would really like a small notebook ("netbook" is the new term for them, I guess). Here are her wishes:

- small, but still big enough to type on with her small hands
- good battery life - she needs to be able to travel for 2-4 hours, and use it for 2-4 hours
- Wifi, preferably b, g, and n (we have b at home, many of her friends have g and n)
- basic office applications - Abiword would probably suffice, OpenOffice would be OK, but it would be nice if she were able to run MS Word to make it a little easier to get work, er, I mean, other things written from a coffee shop
- preferably runs Windows but Linux would be OK
- must have USB 2 ports (duh)
- cute, and preferably in pink
- around $300, though we can go a little higher

Some options I've found:
- Lenovo S-series (could it be that we can get an "IBM"-quality laptop for <$400?
- Dell Mini-9 (though a bit pricey)
- Acer Aspire One (though runs Linux)
- Asus Eee PC (also runs Linux)
- MSI Wind
- HP's whatever it is

Anybody have experience with these?

 

[ddrueding]

I really like my Aspire One. I got the cheapest one (8GB SSD - actually slower than a 4200RPM drive!, 512MB onboard). I've already upgraded it to 1.5GB of RAM and I'm looking into either upgrading the SSD with something faster or installing the OS onto an SD card in one of the two slots (30MB/s!). The original OS was very user friendly and amazingly fast to boot, but I wanted something more powerful (WINE, etc), so I stuck Ubuntu on it. The RAM upgrade isn't easy, but the laptop+extra ram would still be under $300.

They even have a better one (1GB/120GB) in Pink.

 

[CougTek]

- cute, and preferably in pink

[...]

Anybody have experience with these?

Too much testosterone in this body to use anything that is painted pink. Sorry, but I can't help.

 

[Mercutio]

I repair too many machines that have an Acer badge on them to give them any serious consideration.

The Lenovos are not Thinkpads. They use a different ODM for everything that doesn't have a Thinkpad badge. Ideapads are pretty nice for consumer shit - but they aren't the same thing and should not be treated as such.

I've personally used MSI Winds and a couple models of Asus Eee. The annoying thing about the Eee is that they put different hardware in Window-based models than Linux ones, such that installing Linux on a Windows model is somewhat obnoxious (or more specifically, getting 802.11 working is obnoxious). Some Asus units also do not have upgradable RAM. Both the Wind and the Eee seemed OK for what they were, and I really doubt there's any benefit for one $300 notebook over another.

 

[time]

Great minds think alike, Adcadet. I just did exactly the same thing.

I was able to try out Acer Aspire One, Asus Eee PC, Dell Mini-9, Lenovo S-10, MSI Wind and Toshiba NB100.

I took an immediate dislike to the Toshiba 9" and subsequent looks didn't change my opinion: overpriced rubbish with a crappy keyboard.

The 9" Eee PC didn't impress that much either - with vertically squashed and flat keys, the keyboard is still a kid's toy. I think it's the same one from the original 7" screen model. The screen is pretty murky as well.

The Dell Mini-9 has a good 9" display, but instead of squashing the keyboard, they elected to remove the function keys! So closing a window takes a 3-key combination ... It's just stupid and there are far better net books anyway.

(Note that the Mini-12 is infected with Vista and is consequently unusable and has no battery life to speak of - but the XP version might be sweet).

The Lenovo looks more up-market than the others and has a 10" screen, but I found the keyboard too rubbery, and like many of these net books, the battery is inadequate. Maybe the next version ...

The Acer Aspire One has a 9" screen (1024x600) and quite a nice keyboard. I was able to type without any problems (although I'm not fit to be in the same room as a touch-typist). The Linux/SSD model is as Ddrueding describes, but there's also an XP/160GB version with 1GB RAM. Unfortunately, many have an undersized 3-cell battery, giving 1.5-3 hours with the Linux version and a dead loss with the Windows version. It's obviously much better if you get the 6-cell battery.

The newer 10" Eee PC is a huge improvement over the older models, albeit at the cost of more weight and size. Battery life is supposed to be about 6 hours. No other complaints about this one except for the rather high price.

Finally, I found the MSI Wind 10" (there is also an older 9") to be easily the pick of the bunch, but you have to make sure you get one with the larger 6-cell battery (at least 5 hours life, I think). Great keyboard, great screen - I'll be buying one next year if I can't get the even better Samsung (7-8 hour battery life!).

Being on a budget, I ended up buying the Acer just like Ddrueding. There's tons of support for it on the web and it was a steal. And frankly, it's nice to have an OS that behaves reasonably (15-20 seconds boot time, no dramas with WiFi).

 

[ddrueding]

Anyone know if any of these use SATA disks? Mine has a ZIF-style IDE cable that really cuts my upgrade options.

 

[LunarMist]

Too much testosterone in this body to use anything that is painted pink. Sorry, but I can't help.

Colors should not affect function. Seems that you may have a medical problem?

 

[Fushigi]

Adcadet - Did you make a decision?

I'm looking at the Wind U120-024USfor personal use. I dislike doing personal surfing on my work machine so I've been leaning towards a netbook to have around the house & to take on the road to conferences. Portability (weight, size, battery life) trumps most everything else for what I'm anticipating. And it adds reason for not using my work laptop - a Latitude D830. The U120 has a 6 cell battery 1GB (non-upgradeable) RAM, 160GB drive, weighs 2.2 pounds with battery, etc. and costs about $350 from Amazon, Newegg, and others.

I went to a couple of stores and tried the keyboards on the HP, Acer, Asus, and Dell and didn't like the keyboards on any of them. HP & Dell are underconfigured for the price. I didn't try the Lenovo. The fixed RAM amount and lack of standard SSD are the only downsides I've noticed for the Wind but I can live with those, especially since I liked the Wind's keyboard the best.

 

[Mercutio]

I got to use an HP Mini last week. It was a bit of a slug with XP on it, but it has a decent-ish keyboard. The RAM upgrade was quite clever, a screwless system that involves using a ball-point pen or something similar to slide a lever and open the panel concealing the memory. My main complaint is the cost. The HP I was playing with was $430, which is awfully high compared to the Dell version, which is $250 every day of the week.

Also, it drives me insane that people are buying these machines with Windows on them when they're so much faster under Linux.

 

[Stereodude]

I've held off from buying a netbook myself (so far). I actually ordered an Asus eee 1000HE, but ended up canceling the order.

I've currently got my eye on the Samsung NC20 and the "HD" version of the HP 2140 with the still yet to be released 1366x768 screen. Even though we're talking about a netbook I would like something with video decoding acceleration which the basic Atom platform lacks. The NC20 can do 1080p and 720p hardware accelerated playback thanks to the S3 graphics inside it, but it's a 12.1 netbook and only has a 1 button touch pad. Still, it's an option. It also remains to be seen if the "HD" version of the HP 2140 comes with the GN40 + N280 (which Intel claims can do 720p & 1080p) or not.

Basically I'm in a holding pattern for now taking a look at the new models that are being announced and arriving on the scene until I find something that's well reviewed that has a 6 cell battery full video decoding acceleration for content up to 1080p, and a higher than 1024x600 resolution screen.

 

[Fushigi]

Well, I'd like it to run Windows so it plays well with my Windows Home Server (automated backups, etc.). I also already know XP and know what apps I'd load - Firefox with a couple of extensions, probably OpenOffice, Acrobat Reader/equivalent and maybe one or two other things.

After maintaining a Linux machine for a while to run Folding I'm still not that comfortable in it. Part of that is me, I'm sure, but things that I've gotten used to are different enough that I don't want to deal with it in a one-off situation. And things just seemed a little harder than they ought to be. Sort of like how some XP folks complain about how things are different in Vista.

And I really don't want to have to teach anything to my wife. She would want things to behave exactly as they do on her XP machines. Which, yes, includes using IE.

Stereodude, I understand where you're coming from. Especially WRT processing/decoding power. However, I've got a hard limit of a 10" screen size. Any more and the portability factor is reduced.

 

[Handruin]

Dell was offering the basic Mini 9 for $185 a few days ago on bensbargains (running Ubuntu). The coupon might still be live if anyone wants one of these to play around with. If not, it might come around again.

 

[Stereodude]

Stereodude, I understand where you're coming from. Especially WRT processing/decoding power. However, I've got a hard limit of a 10" screen size. Any more and the portability factor is reduced.

The 12.1" size of the NC20 is probably my biggest hangup on it. I wish someone would come out with a netbook using the nVidia Ion platform and a 10" screen. That would be

The Dell Mini 10 could be an interesting one if they get their HD ( 1366x768 ) screen out soon. They're using the GMA500 chipset (Poulsbo) which has full video decoding capabilities with the Atom. Unfortunately, it's expensive and they haven't made the 6 cell battery version available yet.

 

[Adcadet]

Went with the Acer Aspire One. For both me and the wife (who has small hands) the keyboard is a bit cramped, but battery life is good enough. And it's pink, which my wife says is "hawt".

 

[ddrueding]

The 8" screen on my Acer Aspire One is clearly smaller than it could be. I like the size, and the keyboard is great, I just wish they had put in a screen that used the full size of the lid (probably 10"). That would have been perfect.

 

[Fushigi]

The new MSI Wind 123, coming this month supposedly, uses the N280. I think this paired with a Vertex SSD would be a killer portable for around $700. The MSI site doesn't say it but the reports are noting expandable RAM up to 2GB and up to a 9 cell battery.

 

[Stereodude]

I'm more fascinated by the Samsung N120.

Though I dream of an nVidia Ion powered netbook with the 1366x768 screen.

 

[Fushigi]

The keyboard layout of the Samsung, specifically the arrow keys, would get to me. I disklike having keys next to the up-arrow and the Wind's keyboard is the best I've seen in a netbook when taking this into account with only part of the right shift key in proximity.

And from an aesthetics POV I dislike the huge bezel even if it does allow for beefier speakers. If the form factor is the same as the N110 it would also be heavier and thicker than the MSI.

The battery life would certainly be nice, though.

 

[Stereodude]

I expect it will end up thinner due to it's slightly larger size, but that remains to be seen.

 

[timwhit]

One of my coworkers bought a Lenovo Ideapad S-10. This is the first netbook I've used. It seems pretty nice. Battery life appears to be around 3 hours. It came with a 160GB hard disk and 1GB RAM. He bought a 2GB chip and I installed it for him. I still think the screen resolution is a bit small though (1024x600).

 

[Fushigi]

Stereodude - If it does that would be great, but the keyboard would still make me look elsewhere. It's probably the number one differentiator I'm looking at (with 6+ cell batteries second).

timwhit -Sure, the screens are small. But my usage pattern is what a netbook is meant for. Not as a replacement for a notebook/desktop but as a complement. The netbook would be what I wouldn't mind taking to a coffee or sandwich shop to surf for a bit while enjoying a beverage/snack. I'm envisioning tossing it in the car pretty much whenever I head somewhere.

It's also small enough that I could keep it to the side in the family room so if a web site was mentioned on TV I could pull it up right there w/out having to get up & go to my den. That's possible with my work laptop but at nearly 8 pounds it's more than I want to lug around. It simply lacks the same degree of convenience. And I'm rare in that I really do prefer to not do personal PC stuff on my work machine.

Even when getting out of town for a weekend I might have to take my work notebook but I would just leave it locked up in my trunk and only get it if an emergency came up. The netbook would be fine to surf in the room, watch a pre-downloaded movie, or even take poolside to read an e-book or something. At under 2.5 pounds it opens up a lot of flexibility.

 

[Stereodude]

Dell is now taking orders for the Mini 10 with the 1366x768 screen, so maybe we'll see some more movement in that direction. Of course the Mini 10 has the GMA500 graphics chipset that's apparently pretty anemic when compared to the already less than impressive GMA950 found in the 945G chipset...

Where are you Ion?

 

[Chewy509]

Where are you Ion?

Asus N10Jc close enough?

http://www.asus.com.au/products.aspx?l1=5&l2=75&l3=792&l4=0&model=2586&modelmenu=1

The only issue, is the screen res: 1240x600 or there about's from memory. (I know it's definitely not 1366x768).

 

[Stereodude]

Asus N10Jc close enough?

http://www.asus.com.au/products.aspx?l1=5&l2=75&l3=792&l4=0&model=2586&modelmenu=1

The only issue, is the screen res: 1240x600 or there about's from memory. (I know it's definitely not 1366x768).

And it's $$$. I'm thinking more in the range of ~$400.

 

[CougTek]

The only issue, is the screen res: 1240x600 or there about's from memory. (I know it's definitely not 1366x768).

WSVGA : 1024x600

Reference

1240x600 would almost be 21:10 ratio. To my knowledge, no screen (single panel, not dual/triple panels) has a ratio beyond 16:9. What would be the point anyway?

 

[Mercutio]

2.1:1 is a valid widescreen format that some movies are shot in.

 

[Stereodude]

I think I found a netbook worth giving a shot, but HP is on crack. They want $30 tax and $22 shipping.

I'll wait a few weeks until it's available from places that don't charge either.

 

[ddrueding]

Screen is great, battery looks good. I wish it took 4GB of RAM.

I'm currently benching one of these as a potential upgrade for my Aspire One.

 

[Stereodude]

The 6 cell battery doesn't exactly blow my skirt up. link

 

[Stereodude]

I'm currently benching one of these as a potential upgrade for my Aspire One.

You're a crazy man with too much money.

 

[ddrueding]

Granted, it does cost more than the netbook and all the upgrades I've already done (RAM, BT) combined, but boot time is the most important thing for a netbook. Hopefully this will cut boot time in half, the stock SSD is painfully slow.

 

[Stereodude]

I don't think I can stomach that 6 cell battery on the HP 2140. Back to the drawing board... Too bad Samsung doesn't offer the 1366x768 screen on any of their netbooks. I guess I'll just keep waiting.

 

[ddrueding]

For the record, it isn't recognized in the Acer. I'll try it in my Asus R2H...

 

[Stereodude]

You mean the Mtron SLC SSD when you say "it" ?

 

[timwhit]

For the record, it isn't recognized in the Acer. I'll try it in my Asus R2H...

What is your personal computer budget a year anyways?

 

[ddrueding]

You mean the Mtron SLC SSD when you say "it" ?

Yup.

 

[ddrueding]

What is your personal computer budget a year anyways?

It can vary quite a bit depending on what moonlighting projects I can get. But some of the toys are for work, and there I have a more substantial budget.

 

[Stereodude]

The new Samsung N120 and N110 are now both in stock at various e-tailers.

I'll admit the N120 is very tempting to me despite lacking a 1366x768 screen.

 

[Stereodude]

Well I gave in and bought a N120.

 

[ddrueding]

Let me know how it goes. I've basically come to the conclusion that my Aspire One is fine for web stuff, but I really want a small full-featured machine. Even playing with the idea of a Shuttle SFF for photo editing on trips.