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Netbook advice needed.

TSE

TSE

macrumors 601
Original poster
Jun 25, 2007
4,105
3,747
St. Paul, Minnesota
Hey guys, just wondering in general about netbooks.

I will be in the netbook market in about 2-3 months. I am primarily going to be using the netbook to hold my music library (20-30 GBs) with iTunes, web browsing, Microsoft Word, and playing old computer games (before 2001) if it is capable. I want to be able to get long battery life, but I also don't like the look of most netbooks with the white plastics that look cheap. I really like the look of the Dell Mini and Toshiba Mini, but not sure if the price tag that is generally more expensive than other netbooks justifies it. I am also not interested in Hackintoshing it. I am interested in buying one for around 300 dollars, a little more or less, doesn't matter if it is refurbished or new.

-In general, what netbook best fits my uses?

-Are any new technology advances going to be put in place in the netbook market anytime soon that I could/should wait for? Any new processors, etc.?

-Is a netbook capable of playing games 2001 and older? Like Deus Ex, Age of Empires II, etc.?

-Would I be able to connect my netbook to my Apple 20" ACD with a resolution of 1680x1050?

-Are netbooks capable of handling flash while web browsing? Youtube clips, Hulu, Facebook, etc.?
 
TSE said:
Hey guys, just wondering in general about netbooks.

I will be in the netbook market in about 2-3 months. I am primarily going to be using the netbook to hold my music library (20-30 GBs) with iTunes, web browsing, Microsoft Word, and playing old computer games (before 2001) if it is capable. I want to be able to get long battery life, but I also don't like the look of most netbooks with the white plastics that look cheap. I really like the look of the Dell Mini and Toshiba Mini, but not sure if the price tag that is generally more expensive than other netbooks justifies it. I am also not interested in Hackintoshing it. I am interested in buying one for around 300 dollars, a little more or less, doesn't matter if it is refurbished or new.

-In general, what netbook best fits my uses?

-Are any new technology advances going to be put in place in the netbook market anytime soon that I could/should wait for? Any new processors, etc.?

-Is a netbook capable of playing games 2001 and older? Like Deus Ex, Age of Empires II, etc.?

-Would I be able to connect my netbook to my Apple 20" ACD with a resolution of 1680x1050?

-Are netbooks capable of handling flash while web browsing? Youtube clips, Hulu, Facebook, etc.?
Click to expand...

Not sure if you're looking for advice regarding a Apple product posting in this forum...I received today a Dell Mini10 and let me tell you.. What a let down. I nuked XP and installed win7. Both are sooo slow its unbearable. The processor (intel atom, whats used in almost every netbook) is so fricking slow. The integrated graphics suck too. Cant play 720p video. I doubt you'd get any game to run on it. Im selling mine after 6 hours with it. I got it for just a bit over $200 shipped but you get what you pay for. Im getting a macbook pro instead, what i should have gotten first
 
farmermac said:
Not sure if you're looking for advice regarding a Apple product posting in this forum...I received today a Dell Mini10 and let me tell you.. What a let down. I nuked XP and installed win7. Both are sooo slow its unbearable. The processor (intel atom, whats used in almost every netbook) is so fricking slow. The integrated graphics suck too. Cant play 720p video. I doubt you'd get any game to run on it. Im selling mine after 6 hours with it. I got it for just a bit over $200 shipped but you get what you pay for. Im getting a macbook pro instead, what i should have gotten first
Click to expand...

Wow, that's quite of a leap, a netbook to a MacBook Pro. :)
 
I think I am going to go for the Dell Mini 10v, the one I want comes down to about 335 dollars after my discounts and coupons.

So with 1 GB of RAM, is that 2x512 MBs where I need to buy 2x1GBs of RAM, 1x 1 GB where I need to buy 1x 2 GBs of RAM or what?
 
It's 1x1GB, so you'll need 1x2GB.

Be warned however that upgrading a Mini 10V's RAM requires complete disassembly of the laptop (I have a 10V on order at the moment, and debating whether to attempt this; I might see how I go on 1GB with SL to start with because I'll only need Word, Powerpoint, web and iTunes).
 
Netbooks have their uses

First off, I have the Samsung NC10. For office docs, emails, and web surfing it is fantastic; for higher end things, it suffers. But, it is a great little portable that I take everywhere.

If you want to play games, I would look elsewhere.

If you intend to put either Leopard or Snow Leopard on it, the Dell Mini 9 is the most compatible. Unfortunately, the keyboard is laid out differently. Because of this, some have reported many typos.

Some users have reported success with OS X on different models besides Dells. Google for some examples.
 
...you might want to look at the Asus 1000HE and the 1005H, both have 10+ hour battery life, are very thin for a winXP machine and have chicklet keyboards... otherwise wait until Apple releases its nettabletwhatever as most other netbook companies are waiting for this to see what Apple brings to the market before they display their own newer models... good luck with your hunt!
 
surroundfan said:
It's 1x1GB, so you'll need 1x2GB.

Be warned however that upgrading a Mini 10V's RAM requires complete disassembly of the laptop (I have a 10V on order at the moment, and debating whether to attempt this; I might see how I go on 1GB with SL to start with because I'll only need Word, Powerpoint, web and iTunes).
Click to expand...

Agreed. The ram install on this is almost as much of a PITA as a hd install on a powerbook. I got a 10v, and I hated the two hour run time on it's standard configuration three cell battery. It would also not stream live video worth a darn.

I've read that there is a intel atom-nvidia 9400 combination in the works. I'm also waiting to see if apple possibly releases a tablet this week.
 
MacRumorUser said:
check out the new nokia...... it even looks like a macbook unibody ;)
Click to expand...

The new Nokia Booklet seems to me an abuse: it costs more than 800 USD, for an Atom CPU, 120 Gb of HD and a soldered 1Gb RAM. For that price range, I'd better think in a white Macbook or a refurbished...
 
LAS.mac said:
The new Nokia Booklet seems to me an abuse: it costs more than 800 USD, for an Atom CPU, 120 Gb of HD and a soldered 1Gb RAM. For that price range, I'd better think in a white Macbook or a refurbished...
Click to expand...

Agreed, for the price it is not a good value.
 
ucfgrad93 said:
Agreed, for the price it is not a good value.
Click to expand...

It seems excessive to me, too, but I think it's widely expected to end up being sold heavily subsidized by carriers on contracts, anyways, so it's probably not going to be a viable option anyways.

The Asus 1005HA (comparison to 1008HA) seems like one of the better ones on the market to me right now. Their 1101 is very nice (11", 1366x768), too, although reviews have said it has a hard time pushing things that really take advantage of the bigger screen.

The rumor mill says that Asus and Acer are both pushing back from putting out significantly new models for the rest of the year, and that netbooks are going to stay fairly static until early next year, when a new generation of netbook Atoms comes out. So in terms of buy-now/wait, it seems like late Q1/2010 will be when there will be something substantially new on the market, aside from the few that try putting the Ion into a netbook.
 
How is the Toshiba one, it has gotten really good reviews but not a lot of people have been known to be buying them?
 
I got a MSI U100. I play games on it, it works fine. It's great to carry around, it's small and not such a hassle to put on the table. Cons about having a netbook...the screen is too flippin small! my vision is getting worse because of constant use :p but...it gets a + for portability lol
 
Downsides about current netbooks, depending on which model, include small, twitchy trackpads, and funky trackpad button placements, keyboard layouts which can effect usability, short battery life on models with 3 cell batteries, and what can only be described as mattel like build quality.

For a little more than the price of a new netbook, you should be able to go on craigslist or a computer reseller and find a slightly used 13" notebook that would have a heckuva lot more capabilities than a netbook. I'd like to also suggest ubuntu netbook remix as a possible operating system. It's stable, secure, has a small footprint and is quite usable for a linux newbie. Love the look and feel of the OS, and it's quite easy to do a dual boot on a windows machine. You can surf, etc., with impunity on that OS, and reboot in windows if you have to use a wintel program.
 
TSE said:
HP just released the Mini 311 with nVidia ION. :p

Is it going to include Windows 7 when 7 comes out?
Click to expand...

I just noticed that office depot has the xp version of the 311 (1 gig of ddr3 ram and ion le graphics) for $399.

I've got a copy of win 7,and a spare 1 gig stick lying around, and I'm really thinking about it.

There's also hacks for putting osx on it, and for downloading the full ion drivers for a stealth upgrade. Decent price, usable keyboard, nice battery life, acceptable graphics for a fraction of macbook. 11" may be pretty close to the old 12" powerbook size form factor.
 
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