I have a friend who has a Lenovo (Lenova?), dual booting Xp and Jolicloud. Jolicloud looks quite interesting to me...
http://www.jolicloud.com/
http://www.jolicloud.com/
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Netbooks are (almost) too much hassle!
- Thread starter js81
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Netbooks are all about expectation.
I've had this Dell Mini 9 with 10.5.7 and now 10.6 and I love it, it's exceeded my expectations.
I've pretty much gotten used to the keyboard totally now and type about as fast as I do on my iMac's keyboard (the only exception is using special characters).. hell it only took me maybe a week to get it done.
My only real complaint is the heat, it's fairly hot, about the same level as the iBook G3 its indirectly replacing.. which ran too hot for me.
Also, this is my only mobile computer, and I've used it a decent amount, and the more I do the more I appreciate it. I have to admit it feels snappier in some instances (opening programs, bootup, general responsiveness) then my iMac. The only time the performance has been an issue has been with flash, but I can live with it. I use it for what it's intention was, email, browser, adium, iTunes.. just light use. I'm not editing movies, not expecting HD video, just something thats miles better then using my iPod Touch, just something I can use while I'm in the living room or at lunch.. etc.
I think it's one of my best purchases in recent memory.
I've had this Dell Mini 9 with 10.5.7 and now 10.6 and I love it, it's exceeded my expectations.
I've pretty much gotten used to the keyboard totally now and type about as fast as I do on my iMac's keyboard (the only exception is using special characters).. hell it only took me maybe a week to get it done.
My only real complaint is the heat, it's fairly hot, about the same level as the iBook G3 its indirectly replacing.. which ran too hot for me.
Also, this is my only mobile computer, and I've used it a decent amount, and the more I do the more I appreciate it. I have to admit it feels snappier in some instances (opening programs, bootup, general responsiveness) then my iMac. The only time the performance has been an issue has been with flash, but I can live with it. I use it for what it's intention was, email, browser, adium, iTunes.. just light use. I'm not editing movies, not expecting HD video, just something thats miles better then using my iPod Touch, just something I can use while I'm in the living room or at lunch.. etc.
I think it's one of my best purchases in recent memory.
Netbooks are fine so long as you don't have unrealistic expectations. I bought a broken Vaio P for peanuts off eBay, replaced the broken hdd with an SSD and it's now my default traveling companion, while the MBP stays at home/work.
A clean XP install resumes from hibernation in <30 seconds, is nippy for browsing the net, the sim card slot is ace, and it plays 720p mkv's perfectly fine with the right software - all in a wonderfully portable package. iTunes performance is fine for audio, ghastly for video.
I'd hate to do work on something so small though, but that applies to any ultra portable, regardless of whether it had a weedy 1.33ghz Atom or a mobile Core i7/i5/whatever is currently haawt.
I'm a big fan of certain Apple products (iPhone/Mini/MBP/ACD), so I don't say what I'm about to say as a hater......but I do get the overwhelming impression certain people who slate netbooks completely out of hand would completely reverse their opinion were Apple to release a small form computer with an Atom inside. That's honestly not directed at anyone in particular by the way.
A clean XP install resumes from hibernation in <30 seconds, is nippy for browsing the net, the sim card slot is ace, and it plays 720p mkv's perfectly fine with the right software - all in a wonderfully portable package. iTunes performance is fine for audio, ghastly for video.
I'd hate to do work on something so small though, but that applies to any ultra portable, regardless of whether it had a weedy 1.33ghz Atom or a mobile Core i7/i5/whatever is currently haawt.
I'm a big fan of certain Apple products (iPhone/Mini/MBP/ACD), so I don't say what I'm about to say as a hater......but I do get the overwhelming impression certain people who slate netbooks completely out of hand would completely reverse their opinion were Apple to release a small form computer with an Atom inside. That's honestly not directed at anyone in particular by the way.
I'm running a Dell Mini 10V, hackintoshed with Snow Leopard 10.6.1.
With NetbookInstaller, setting the thing up is a breeze and the trackpad also works well enough.
No, the screen resolution isn't high, but hey, it's 10.1". No, it's not fast, but it's one-fifth the price of the MBA, which is the only computer Apple makes with a similar weight.
Ultimately, I'm happy at having a cheap and cheerful lightweight uni notebook (for that is what I use it for, not video editing and transcoding). Mind you, it's definitely a secondary system (this post is being typed on a 2006 MBP, which still smokes the HackBook Mini performance-wise).
With NetbookInstaller, setting the thing up is a breeze and the trackpad also works well enough.
No, the screen resolution isn't high, but hey, it's 10.1". No, it's not fast, but it's one-fifth the price of the MBA, which is the only computer Apple makes with a similar weight.
Ultimately, I'm happy at having a cheap and cheerful lightweight uni notebook (for that is what I use it for, not video editing and transcoding). Mind you, it's definitely a secondary system (this post is being typed on a 2006 MBP, which still smokes the HackBook Mini performance-wise).
See, I know of a lot of people who have netbooks and love them. I just was NOT one of them. The more I think about it, I believe the majority of my issues may be in the Sandisk pSSD that my HP Mini had. It would randomly freeze for no reason (under ANY OS) and then go on - the access light would just stay lit solid, then it would eventually go on.
When it wasn't freezing, it was a pretty quick machine. I just found it difficult to surf the web whenever I would have to wait for no reason (not wifi access, just the solid HD access light). And, the 1024x600 screen was just too constrained for me (the height).
Now, I realize that I could probably go get a new HP Mini 110 and get the high resolution screen, a standard, spinning hard drive, and Windows 7, maybe even the new dual-core Atom and nVidia Ion graphics (9400M). Would that be better? Yeah, probably tremendously. However, I'm ready for something different, but I want to stay in the same price range (I got $250 for my Mini on eBay). If I don't like the iBook, I'll resell it and then reconsider either a newer netbook or (better idea) a used Macbook Air.
When it wasn't freezing, it was a pretty quick machine. I just found it difficult to surf the web whenever I would have to wait for no reason (not wifi access, just the solid HD access light). And, the 1024x600 screen was just too constrained for me (the height).
Now, I realize that I could probably go get a new HP Mini 110 and get the high resolution screen, a standard, spinning hard drive, and Windows 7, maybe even the new dual-core Atom and nVidia Ion graphics (9400M). Would that be better? Yeah, probably tremendously. However, I'm ready for something different, but I want to stay in the same price range (I got $250 for my Mini on eBay). If I don't like the iBook, I'll resell it and then reconsider either a newer netbook or (better idea) a used Macbook Air.
I have a netbook. I didn't like it with Ubuntu, and I installed Vista. It's slow, but it gets the job done, and it gets the job done very well. The Dell is a dream to use, the keyboard is very usable after a week of getting used to it- I was touch typing in the dark last night.
As long as you don't expect to use it for anything besides word processing and some net stuff, it'll work great!
As long as you don't expect to use it for anything besides word processing and some net stuff, it'll work great!
posting from mine now. love this thing. its quick and i have never had a problem
I guess the simple answer then is "to each his/her own." I didn't like mine. I'm replacing it with a regular size laptop. Ideally I'd replace it with an Air, but I don't have the coin for that, so I'll go with what I can afford until then. 