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#1
08-15-2009, 12:48 PM
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Opinions needed on mini laptops
I was just at Target earlier this morning, and in the electronics dept. I happened upon three mini laptops with a price range of $325-$350+ (really don't remember). One was an Acer Aspire with a 10.1" screen. They look pretty cool and very convenient. I've seen them before and have thought of getting one but never got too serious enough to buy one until now. Price seems attractive. I actually dig the compact size. When I got my Dell Inspiron 8500, the thing was the bigger screen. Back then bigger was better but that meant a heavier laptop, and my Dell isn't light. I've never really took advantage of its portability for that reason--just too heavy to lug around. I've mainly used it at home, but rarely since I have a desktop. I bought it sort of on a whim when my desktop crapped out and a friend suggested I get a laptop since he got one from Dell. I think the weight is one of the main reasons I don't carry it around much. So now with these mini laptops, I think it will encourage me to get more "work" done when I'm out and about. I'll probably use it for word processing and Internet. Most places offer free WiFi, and I think many of these mini laptops have wireless connection built into it already. These things worth it or are they just cheap, disposable gadgets? Which models to get if they are worth getting?
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#2
08-15-2009, 01:25 PM
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Netbooks are great values for most people. For some, there are too many compromises in screen size, keyboard layout and overall processing power, but I would venture that they are clearly in the minority of PC users.
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#3
08-15-2009, 02:01 PM
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Check out Dells and look at the Outlet site. My niece bought a mini from them. New in box but it was a canceled order. Dell has them for $359. She is quite happy with hers.
__________________
Sent from an agnostic abacus 2014 C250 21,XXX my new DD ** 2013 GLK 350 18,000 Wife's new DD** - With out god, life is everything. - God is an ever receding pocket of scientific ignorance that's getting smaller and smaller as time moves on..." Neil DeGrasse Tyson - You can pray for me, I'll think for you. - When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours.
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#4
08-15-2009, 02:20 PM
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You'll get better deals online.
www.tigerdirect.com and www.newegg.com Keep in mind that they don't have DVD drives. So reinstalling XP or whatever will be a battle and a half. Other then that you'll be fine with whatever. Try and get something with 1gb of ram or more. Anything less and you'll be wanting more. Consider purchasing an external DVD drive. It's kinda hard to believe, but when you don't have a DVD drive you'll find you need it more then you thought.
__________________
-Typos courtesy of my mobile phone.
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#5
08-15-2009, 03:05 PM
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ASUS EEEPC with Ubuntu is your best option. ASUS configures it quite well and they are good value for your money.
__________________
99 Gurkha with OM616 IDI turbo 2015 Gurkha with OM616 DI turbo 2014 Rexton W with OM612 VGT
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#6
08-15-2009, 03:42 PM
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Quote:
The downside is theres no optical drive, and the smallish Atom processor gets overworked sometimes. Ubuntu downloads and installs via a USB thumb drive. Being Linux though, it requires (at least for me) some dinking around with config files to get it working right. For somebody who wants a turnkey system, I'd say wait for Windows 7.
__________________
1985 380SE Blue/Blue - 230,000 miles 2012 Subaru Forester 5-speed 2005 Toyota Sienna 2004 Chrysler Sebring convertible 1999 Toyota Tacoma
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#7
08-15-2009, 03:44 PM
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x2 on the asus... It's the better one on the market, or so my friend who tested the dell, asus, and acer told me. Get the one with the atom 280 processor however...
The asus has by far the best battery life...
__________________
All it takes for evil to prevail is for good men to stand by and do nothing. Too many people tip toe through life, never attempting or doing anything great, hoping to make it safely to death... Bob Proctor '95 S320 LWB '87 300SDL '04 E500 wagon 4matic
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#8
08-15-2009, 04:16 PM
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Netbooks...that's what they're called
 Thanks for the links, okyourabeast. Newegg is a great place to buy stuff, have done business with them. Forgot all about them. I've not bought any gizmos and gadgets lately, so I'm way behind on what's the latest thing. Ugh, computer and electronic research is not as exciting as it used to be. Too much info and I don't know what's "good enough." Never heard of the Intel Atom until now Btw, the Tiger site has a refurbished HP netbook for $279 (something like that) with good reviews. Tempting.
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#9
08-15-2009, 04:55 PM
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__________________
1985 380SE Blue/Blue - 230,000 miles 2012 Subaru Forester 5-speed 2005 Toyota Sienna 2004 Chrysler Sebring convertible 1999 Toyota Tacoma
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#10
08-15-2009, 07:23 PM
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my wife has a dell mini that i find aggravating to use. the keyboard layout is so small and the mouse/finger pad thing is very sensitive. she loves it though. and we got an external dvd drive to solve that issue.
__________________
1985 300D - 1984 Euro 280E AMG Clone (SOLD) - 1978 280CE (SOLD) - 1983 300D (SOLD) - 1981 300D (SOLD)
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#11
08-15-2009, 09:58 PM
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I would go with the MSI Wind for $290 at newegg with free shipping. It has the usual Intel Atom structure, has windows XP & a 160gb hard drive. The advantage to the MSI Wind is that it has arguably the best keyboard among the netbooks & a good price for what you get. The drawback is that the battery is 3 cell.
__________________
1980 240d 1999 SL500
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#12
08-15-2009, 11:15 PM
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Personally I hate netbooks with a passion
Try imaging 65 of them without optical drives. It was a nightmare since I only had 3 USB drives capable to run Ghost off of. Ugh. 
__________________
-Typos courtesy of my mobile phone.
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#13
08-15-2009, 11:28 PM
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Quote:
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#14
08-16-2009, 12:45 AM
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You can find some real laptops (with a hard drive and optical drive) for cheap, so look @ those before you decide on a netbook. Personally I think netbooks are great if you just surf and word process.
__________________
1985 CA 300D Turbo , 213K mi
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#15
08-16-2009, 01:46 PM
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Quote:
My solution was to just use a USB to IDE/SATA Adapter and either use an optical drive, or any old hard drive. Works perfect. I put windows 7 on my sister's Acer Aspire One in about 20 mins. I also upgraded its internal SSD to a 16 gig Super High Speed drive....80Mb/Sec Read, 20Mb/Sec Write. Its zippy quick. And it has 1.5 gigs of ram. Runs Win7 perfectly. If I were to buy one I'd probably go with the EeePC though....better graphics and overall specs. She doesn't need big space (and it has CF slots too).....light and sturdy was the requirement.....so a solid state drive was a good idea. And overall even with some upgrades over the past year it only cost $330 so far....and she used it for 3.5 months in Germany. Compared to what a laptop costs its no contest....and they are so much more portable!
__________________
-diesel is not just a fuel, its a way of life-  '15 GLK250 Bluetec 118k - mine - (OC-123,800) '17 Metris(VITO!) - 37k - wifes (OC-41k) '09 Sprinter 3500 Winnebago View - 62k (OC - 67k) '13 ML350 Bluetec - 95k - dad's (OC-98k) '01 SL500 - 103k(km) - dad's (OC-110,000km) '16 E400 4matic Sedan - 148k - Brothers (OC-155k)
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