Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Netbooks, whats your thoughts?

crazycat

crazycat

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Dec 5, 2005
1,319
0
Whats do you guys think of the new netbooks from dell and other companies? how well do they work?

I played with one for about 10 mins but i found it to slow for normal work, i much rather use a MacBook even thou its a big bigger i find the extra power and screen to be well worth the weight.
 
My friend uses an Advent netbook with XP running on it for work and it does pretty well. Of course it hangs a bit if you try and run too many apps at any one time, but for single tasks it is fine.

However, I wouldn't buy one, I might buy a MacBook Air though :)
 
Wirelessly posted (iPhone: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 2_2 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/525.18.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.1.1 Mobile/5G77 Safari/525.20)

I agree with you, a MacBook is well worth it to me as well. There are many people that enjoy notebooks by Dell and others though.
 
Netbooks are for those who want a lightweight option to be able to surf the web, do e-mail and light application support.

For these tasks, Netbooks are great.

For more CPU intensive tasks or those who need a larger screen, a regular laptop would be better in most cases.

Some folks prefer to have a desktop and a Netbook. Others use their laptop as a desktop replacement.

Bottom line, it depends on the individual. :)
 
I have gotten sick of carrying my Macbook pro around, so have been looking to buy a netbook.

I have held off because i'd like one with built in 3G HSDPA capability. I would rather not have to use Windows (no way i'd bother with linux) but it looks like Apple will force me to.
 
Not much into it...MB is much better to due regular tasks etc. I guess Netbooks are only for doing lightweight work and it weighs less I suppose. Normal notebooks weigh from 5-10lb...Maybe it's the weight that makes some people want to have one but for me I wouldn't buy one and I don't want to use an windows on my netbook anyway..
 
Solemony said:
Normal notebooks weigh from 5-10lb...Maybe it's the weight that makes some people want to have one but for me I wouldn't buy one and I don't want to use an windows on my netbook anyway..
Click to expand...

I think it's the combination of price, weight and size. They are very portable. You also wouldn't have to run Windows on them. There are multiple Unix-like OS that already work for the bulk of them.
 
I've been going through the same thing for the last couple of months. I built a Shuttle computer and it died. I rescued the hard drive and have it connected to my old dell laptop... Only thing is the dell is on vista and takes about twice the time to boot up as my old 12" PB G4. Thus I was going to get a mac Mini or a netbook... But with all this going on about the Mini (ie nothing :mad: ) I have been leaning towards the netbook again.

I am not sure about yourself, but I would only consider one with at least a 10" screen and reasonably large keys. At least that way if you do want to get on the internet for a while, or you are doing some typing it is at least somewhat comfortable. Obviously as pointed out by other ppl - you cannot really look at doing much more on it of course!

:)
 
I've an Advent 4211 (rebranded MSI Wind) and find I use it more than my MacBook for normal use (internet, PIM, WP, watching movies on iTunes etc). For video encoding and such like, I generally use the MacBook, although the Advent can handle it if necessary. Unfortunately my little "dear" broke the screen a couple of days ago (ungrits teeth).

A netbook is great if you want/need a small footprint and light weight, and a relatively low price. It's ideal working in support of a more powerful machine, or it can function well as a standalone machine if your needs are not too demanding.
 
Srai-W said:
I am not sure about yourself, but I would only consider one with at least a 10" screen and reasonably large keys. At least that way if you do want to get on the internet for a while, or you are doing some typing it is at least somewhat comfortable. Obviously as pointed out by other ppl - you cannot really look at doing much more on it of course!

:)
Click to expand...

MSI Cough
 
j26 said:
MSI Cough
Click to expand...

I have looked at this, but I am sure I read somewhere that wifi didn't work when os X was installed? Is this what you are hinting? Sorry - been a long day! We don't get advent here in Singapore (well, not that I am aware of) but there is a number of others (Axioo, Acer, Dell, HP, MSI, LG, Gateway, no :apple: of course ;) )
 
Srai-W said:
I have looked at this, but I am sure I read somewhere that wifi didn't work when os X was installed? Is this what you are hinting? Sorry - been a long day! We don't get advent here in Singapore (well, not that I am aware of) but there is a number of others (Axioo, Acer, Dell, HP, MSI, LG, Gateway, no :apple: of course ;) )
Click to expand...

I'm told ;) that a simple hack will let the wireless work, or else the wireless module can be swapped for a Broadcom based card. It's also easy to add an extra gig of ram and swap out the hd for a larger one, and then everything's tickety boo.
 
j26 said:
I'm told ;) that a simple hack will let the wireless work, or else the wireless module can be swapped for a Broadcom based card. It's also easy to add an extra gig of ram and swap out the hd for a larger one, and then everything's tickety boo.
Click to expand...

I was looking at the link you had on earlier... but is there anywhere that gives a step-by-step guide? I would love to take the plunge and whilst I have absolutely no training in computers have some clues... but I would need to have somewhere that could answer any questions (from the beginning!!!) :eek:

Hmmm, feels like I am leaning the netbook way again! Especially with no new Mini on the way! :rolleyes:
 
Srai-W said:
I was looking at the link you had on earlier... but is there anywhere that gives a step-by-step guide? I would love to take the plunge and whilst I have absolutely no training in computers have some clues... but I would need to have somewhere that could answer any questions (from the beginning!!!) :eek:

Hmmm, feels like I am leaning the netbook way again! Especially with no new Mini on the way! :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

There are a couple of step by step guides depending on the install method, and as log as you follow them exactly they should work. The important links thread has links to them.
 
Ahhhh....

j26 said:
There are a couple of step by step guides depending on the install method, and as log as you follow them exactly they should work. The important links thread has links to them.
Click to expand...

Ahh, excuse my ignorance but do you mean here on MacRumors? :eek: I have looking through MR for a number of years, only signed on this year, but I don't recall seeing that? Or is that on the other link? Let me search for a bit... :eek:
 
Thing I hate about netbooks is the tiny keyboards and stupidly tiny trackpads (or lack of one in Sony's case).

I mean, if I were to have a dream netbook, it would be an 11" screen, full size keyboard (can trim the erase and enter key on the right hand side a little bit to fit) but trackpad the size of the original MBP's (of course, without the button, whole trackpad is a button).
 
Kilamite said:
Thing I hate about netbooks is the tiny keyboards and stupidly tiny trackpads (or lack of one in Sony's case).

I mean, if I were to have a dream netbook, it would be an 11" screen, full size keyboard, but trackpad the size of the original MBP's
Click to expand...


That would be impossible.

Stare at a plastic white MacBook. You may be able to trim it to 12.something inches, but that's it. My old 12" PowerBook was only as wide as the keyboard, so that would be the limitation on size already.

People don't really realize that the difference between 13" and 15" isn't the same as the difference between 10" and 12", or 7" and 9". Two inches becomes increasingly negligible as the size of the screen increases. An 11" MBP would be much smaller than even my old 12" PowerBook. Just look at a Sony TT. Also notice how it would be impossible to fit a large-sized trackpad.



Anyway, my dream setup would be a 15" MBP (or 17", perhaps?) and a 10" HP Mini-note 2140 (with 1366 x 768 res screen coming in summer). The new Sony P may be a good substitute, but the HP is probably better. It's also made from aluminium. :)
 
Abstract said:
That would be impossible.

Stare at a plastic white MacBook. You may be able to trim it to 12.something inches, but that's it. My old 12" PowerBook was only as wide as the keyboard, so that would be the limitation on size already.

People don't really realize that the difference between 13" and 15" isn't the same as the difference between 10" and 12", or 7" and 9". Two inches becomes increasingly negligible as the size of the screen increases. An 11" MBP would be much smaller than even my old 12" PowerBook. Just look at a Sony TT. Also notice how it would be impossible to fit a large-sized trackpad.
Click to expand...

Don't think you fully understood me. I'll make a mockup later to show you.

The trackpad of the previous MBP's, but without the clicker.

By no means is this an 11" MBP - don't know where you got that from.

And the Sony TT - they could have put a trackpad on there, but they went for a long rectangle shape (really wide screen) as opposed to 16:9 or 16:10.
 
depending on your needs and wants a netbook can be a great device and the good thing about them is that there is plenty of choices right now.

i got the dell mini 9 back in october and i use it pretty much every day. the pros of the dell was that it was a bit less flimsy feeling than the rest of them as well as not sacrificing too much with the keyboard really. the letter keys are pretty close to standard size all with a bit of small changes here and there. works well enough for the cost. great for browsing, chat, todo/cal, word etc on the go where i dont need much power at all, but more than my iphone is capable of. another good thing is that i was able to get OS X running on it, albeit with some quirks.
 
millerj123 said:
I think it's the combination of price, weight and size. They are very portable. You also wouldn't have to run Windows on them. There are multiple Unix-like OS that already work for the bulk of them.
Click to expand...


True, but I have never experience one before but I've seen one in costco...It's kind of small for me to read...considering I'm like half blind. The MB is all I need for school work :)
 
Kilamite said:
Don't think you fully understood me. I'll make a mockup later to show you.

The trackpad of the previous MBP's, but without the clicker.
Click to expand...

Well all Macs, regardless of whether they're iBooks, MacBooks, PowerBooks, MBPs.....have the same full-sized keyboard. The only time Apple has compromised on the size of the keyboard is on the iPhone. You may have to wait until Steve Jobs dies for them to compromise.

Let's say that Apple will only make a laptop as wide as their current keyboard. What I'm saying is that my old 12" PowerBook, which left no space on either the left or right side of the keyboard, was pretty much as small as Apple can go using the standard keyboard. It also had a small trackpad, and yet was still big enough for a 12" screen.

I'm not saying an 11" laptop is impossible. It obviously isn't. However, it may not be possible for Apple unless Apple were willing to start making smaller keyboards for smaller machines. Sony doesn't mind making a sliiiiight adjustment to their keyboard size to make it happen, but Apple only has one size.



And I don't know where you got the impression that Sony used some weird aspect ratio for their TT, but it's a 16:9 screen (1366x768 resolution). It's nice.

By no means is this an 11" MBP - don't know where you got that from.
Click to expand...

You're right, but when did I say that? I'm just comparing what you're asking for to the smallest laptop Apple has ever made, and it was a PowerBook.
 
I Want to get one, seem useful for web browsing, which i do alot, but then if i could afford it, i would go for a MBA.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back