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inesilio

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 16, 2010
4
0
My first post. Go easy on me! :)

This is not meant to be a naïve whine as to why Apple don’t enter the netbook scene. Their reason for doing so is both obvious and convincing.

Having said that I’m in the market for a 10 inch portable (think of it as a tender for my 15inch MBP) and if a 10 inch MacBook were ever to sell at the $/€/£ 700-900 it would be a no brainer. However tight margins may be on netbooks, it looks like $/€/£ 500 will be (unnecessarily) going to a competitor.
The MacBook Air is a beautiful machine but its lightness isn’t enough – I need the compact dimensions as well.

I’m thinking at the moment of a Vaio W running on Ubuntu (hackingtoshing sounds messy and hell will freeze over before I actually use Windows on one of my own computers – irrational maybe, but there you go…)

So my question is – Mac users using netbooks, what are you using and how are you finding it?


NB: I’m well aware of netbook limitations – so I’m not really interested if you don’t use one because the keyboard is irritating, it’s assembled poorly or it just isn’t powerful.
 

chrono1081

macrumors G3
Jan 26, 2008
8,446
4,146
Isla Nublar
I have an Asus eeePC and I love it. Its a 10 inch model (I owned a 7 inch and 8.9 inch model but found the screen on the 7 inch too small and the 8.9 inch was nice but was really thick.)

For me the 10 inch size is perfect. I run Ubuntu on it and its great and fast for general web browsing and email. I use it whenever I travel and don't want to carry a bigger laptop.

IMO everyone needs a netbook :D
 

Abstract

macrumors Penryn
Dec 27, 2002
24,835
847
Location Location Location
I heard this Lenovo X100 just came out. ;) It's under £500, which may be around the same in Euro.

11.6" screen (i.e. it's still MUCH smaller than a 13.3" laptop, but with less discomfort that you may experience on a 10" netbook), and it's cheap.


I know you said that you didn't want to hear people talk about whether they personally felt that a netbook was too small. I don't actually think this. I think netbooks can be very useful and good. However, I do think the keyboard is a bit too cramped to be 100% comfortable for typing, even on a 10" netbook.

This Lenovo probably overcomes that particular issue, and so you'd be set. ;)

Also, you get a decent screen resolution, and probably some decent CPU power for this class of computing.
 

ibglowin

macrumors regular
Jul 1, 2005
216
3
I use one of these!

Dell Mini 10v



Very easy to hack. Works like a charm. Picked it up for only $229 just before the holidays. :D
 

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J&JPolangin

macrumors 68030
Jul 5, 2008
2,593
18
Close to a boarder, in Eu
...you might want to wait until after the apple event at the end of the month... many PC manufacturers are holding off releasing their new models to see what apple comes up with...

I have an eeePC1000H (already ~2 years old at this point)... and the newer 1005's or the 1000HE's with the N280 Mobo/Atom are much faster and have much greater battery life.

I'd recommend an Asus model over an Acer... the Toshiba's are also pretty nice.

The Sony's are way to expensive for the same specs and the Dell's don't seem to have as good battery life but are said to be very easy to "hackintos" if that floats your boat...
 

mkrishnan

Moderator emeritus
Jan 9, 2004
29,776
15
Grand Rapids, MI, USA
I have an eeePC1000H (already ~2 years old at this point)... and the newer 1005's or the 1000HE's with the N280 Mobo/Atom are much faster and have much greater battery life.

These have actually been supplanted now by the 1005PE series, which uses the N450 Pine Trail Atom. So far, the first few Pine Trail netbooks don't seem to generally be much faster than the N280 netbooks, but they make about 25% battery gains, so in the case of going from the 1005HA to the 1005PE, stated battery life goes from some 10.5 hours to 14 hours. :eek: I think this is supposed to mean some ~7 hours of video, even.

But right now, they have kind of hit a speed wall with that approach, and proper dual core netbooks that use mobile Atoms and get good battery life seem a ways off yet.
 

Gav2k

macrumors G3
Jul 24, 2009
9,216
1,608
I have a samsung nc10 haz1uk the one with built in hsdpa. Grat for travelling and can squeeze 9 hours outta the supplied battery but I also purchased an exteded battery with gives over 12 hours of web browsing.
 

inesilio

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 16, 2010
4
0
I have an Asus eeePC and I love it.

Interesting. If it didn't come with Ubuntu pre-installed, did you have any h/w problems once you'd installed it?

Apple netbook users buy the Macbook Air.

Agreed but if, as in my opening post, the physical dimensions of the machine are just as important it doesn't quite fit the bill.
If it were just weight and width that interested me I'd have one already!

I heard this Lenovo X100 just came out. ;)

Interesting call. Technically it probably does the job quite well. But gosh it's an ugly machine!:eek: Even if it's relatively cheap I'd still like it to be pleasing to look at from time to time!!

Dell Mini 10v



Very easy to hack. Works like a charm. Picked it up for only $229 just before the holidays. :D

Nice! They're not bad looking machines either, which is not something I ever thought I'd say about a Dell!!

...you might want to wait until after the apple event at the end of the month... many PC manufacturers are holding off releasing their new models to see what apple comes up with...

Good call! I'd already decided that a tablet would be of absolutely no use to me whatsover. I'll still probably want one though! I hadn't thought of the effect the event will have on competitors' product releases though.

Love my HP Mini 110! Using it right now actually. I had the original 7" EEE PC and I didn't care for the tiny keyboard.

What o/s do you use? A friend had a bit of bother with h/w after installing Ubuntu.
 

Paul B

macrumors 6502
Sep 13, 2007
270
0
My Asus EeePC 701 and 900 have been major disappointments because of their problems (battery drain on both and the slow SSD on the 900).

If I were to do it all over, I'd get a Dell Mini 9.
 

Abstract

macrumors Penryn
Dec 27, 2002
24,835
847
Location Location Location
Interesting call. Technically it probably does the job quite well. But gosh it's an ugly machine!:eek: Even if it's relatively cheap I'd still like it to be pleasing to look at from time to time!!

Not pretty, but any guy who claims to know his tech will give you a lot of respect when they see you carrying around a Lenovo. People respect Thinkpads like they would respect a pocket-watch or something, even if they'd never wear one themselves. Bad example, but I'm just saying... ;)

It's one of those cases where a product looks so nerdy, it must be cool!!
 

Consultant

macrumors G5
Jun 27, 2007
13,314
34
17" MBP is a man's "netbook."

I carry my MBP around about every day. If you are going to carry a bag for netbook anyway, there is no point to having a netbook except for budget constraints, as netbooks are pretty much laptops with power of 3, 4 year old computers.
 

mkrishnan

Moderator emeritus
Jan 9, 2004
29,776
15
Grand Rapids, MI, USA
Nice! They're not bad looking machines either, which is not something I ever thought I'd say about a Dell!!

The next gen Mini 10 is just in the process of coming out, and it's supposed to have a 1366x768 screen and the Broadcom Crystal HD card as options, which should allow it to play high quality fullscreen Hulu and Netflix, and Youtube HD, without trouble. This is another one I'm actually really interested in. There's a similar HP out now, but it has some quirky design limitations, like not offering 802.11n and Bluetooth at the same time, and it has one of those batteries that sticks out at an angle and makes it not fit in bags well.
 

thegoldenmackid

macrumors 604
Dec 29, 2006
7,770
6
dallas, texas
17" MBP is a man's "netbook."

I carry my MBP around about every day. If you are going to carry a bag for netbook anyway, there is no point to having a netbook except for budget constraints, as netbooks are pretty much laptops with power of 3, 4 year old computers.

I do this, but also have a Dell Mini 9.
 

brendu

Cancelled
Apr 23, 2009
2,472
2,703
Dell Mini 10v



Very easy to hack. Works like a charm. Picked it up for only $229 just before the holidays. :D

I really like how you are running macosx on the mini10 but you still have the windowsxp sticker on it... classy


OP: I would say a Mini10 hackintosh is the way to go... if i didnt have a macbook I would have one of those.
 

eddiehaskell

macrumors regular
Jan 25, 2008
120
77
17" MBP is a man's "netbook."

I carry my MBP around about every day. If you are going to carry a bag for netbook anyway, there is no point to having a netbook except for budget constraints, as netbooks are pretty much laptops with power of 3, 4 year old computers.
I can see a few reasons for considering one. Most netbooks are under 3lbs which is much lighter than full size laptops. Another reason is external dimensions. When I go to a restaurant or the library, it feels weird pulling out a huge laptop that takes up a ton of space. Lastly there is the cost issue - if my netbook is damaged/stolen while I'm out, I will only lose $200-$300.
 

flopticalcube

macrumors G4
I have an Asus EeePC 1008ha running Windows 7. Its extremely light (about 2lbs) and very small, even for a 10" netbook. After using it for a few months I probably should have gone for a 1005ha as it has better battery life, easily accessible RAM and no little plastic doors to get to the audio/usb. I find that while the keyboard and trackpad itself are nice, the size is just a little bit too small for my fingers. Next time I will go for an 11" netbook with a slightly larger keyboard. The only other thing that irritates me sometimes is the 1024x600 screen. Hopefully the new crop coming out will have higher resolutions. Other than that, you can't really complain for $350.
 

inesilio

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 16, 2010
4
0
17" MBP is a man's "netbook."

It may be a man's netbook but you'll be crying like a baby when somebody reclines on it in economy class!! Either that or you'll probably be arrested on arrival for what you've done to the person sat in front!! :p
 

thegoldenmackid

macrumors 604
Dec 29, 2006
7,770
6
dallas, texas
It may be a man's netbook but you'll be crying like a baby when somebody reclines on it in economy class!! Either that or you'll probably be arrested on arrival for what you've done to the person sat in front!! :p

I use it fine in there. The only annoyance is that you can't fit a drink on the table, but iThink that applies for the 15" as well.
 

couto27

macrumors 6502
Nov 10, 2008
264
0
lisboa,portugal
Apple netbook users buy the Macbook Air.

its true , i had a hp mini 1110 ,for just 2 weeks i sold it and bought a used mb air revA

10 reasons to buy a macbook air inset of netbook

1- 13" vs 10" you will note when browsing some of the webpages doesnt fit in a 10" screen, a real pain in the ass for some.
2- air has much better performance
3- bought weight almost the same
4- you have a original mac
5- air has no issues with future snow updates
6- air is not made with cheap material
7- future resell value of the air
8- price diference between a used macbook air revA VS netbook is less than $200.
9- better grafic cards on the air
10- backlit keyboard with larger trackpad

i advice everyone to buy a used macbook air insted of a netbook.
 
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