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Which netbook to choose?! Edit: Chosen! MSI Wind FTW

sikkinixx

sikkinixx

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Jul 10, 2005
2,062
0
Rocketing through the sky!
I am going back and forth on which 'netbook' to buy.


I had an Eee PC 701, but my dad wanted it for work/travelling so he bought it from me for the money I paid for it (~$450), now I need a new little laptop for classes/travel.

Originally I was gonna get the Eee 901 but at $600? I think not, thats only a bit away from a used/older macbook which would be far superior.


I have an MSI Wind pre-ordered right now http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=31089&vpn=U100%2FBLACK&manufacture=MSI%2FMicroStar but shipping keeps getting delayed and they have dropped the original 6-cell battery in favor of a 3-cell. I like the size with a 10" screen as a bigger keyboard. I also favor the HDD over the SSD just because of size and longevity. What I don't like is the price, over $600 after tax.


So I am leaning towards the Acer Aspire One http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=30747&vpn=LU.S020A.011&manufacture=Acer as it is just over $420 after taxes etc. 8.9" screen is still nice, build quality is said to be very good, looks nice to boot. Bigger keyboard than the Eee which is great. I don't like the 8GB SSD all that much, and the trackpad as it has the side buttons not under the pad. It too has a 3-cell battery but for $200 cheaper I think I could live with it. I worry about upgrading the Ram, as it is supposed to be tricky and voids the warranty. I also wanna put Windows XP on it (as I have a spare license) but it seems a little iffy.

index.php

I don't know what to do! I would love to save the money as I need a new monitor for my PC and the Acer + a Dell Ultrasharp would only be a bit more than the MSI. But I don't wanna be stuck with a crappy laptop.


The choices.....
 
I really like the Acer. I was really interested in the EEEPC, but I may like that Acer more! My vote goes for that one.
 
Wow, that Acer looks great! Does it come with the 3-cell, 6-cell, or both? I may have just found my next gadget purchase. The price is right, too. It might be time to sell the MacBook and use the money to buy one of these plus a refurb iMac?
 
I have had the oppurtunity to have both in my hand for a few days each.
the eee 701 is tiny, tough and gets alot of looks from people.
the keyboard is pretty small but not too bad for a secondary computer.
the RAM is upgradeable to 4GB when you do it yourself.

the Acer AspireOne - well bigger screen, bigger HD, bigger footprint, much much faster processor. not as tough as the eee, the eee I just throw in my backpack and foget about it, the Acer One have to treat like a laptop.
the RAM is not upgradeable.
the computer store by my house sells them for $365, so I may pick up one for myself to carry around
the eee's are $349 for the 4Gb ones
 
cleanup said:
Wow, that Acer looks great! Does it come with the 3-cell, 6-cell, or both? I may have just found my next gadget purchase. The price is right, too. It might be time to sell the MacBook and use the money to buy one of these plus a refurb iMac?
Click to expand...

it comes with a 3-cell, with 6-cells selling for ~$100 cdn for what I have seen. Later models with Windows are coming out in August but the price will probably be higher cuz of licensing fee's.

Leareth said:
I have had the oppurtunity to have both in my hand for a few days each.
the eee 701 is tiny, tough and gets alot of looks from people.
the keyboard is pretty small but not too bad for a secondary computer.
the RAM is upgradeable to 4GB when you do it yourself.

the Acer AspireOne - well bigger screen, bigger HD, bigger footprint, much much faster processor. not as tough as the eee, the eee I just throw in my backpack and foget about it, the Acer One have to treat like a laptop.
the RAM is not upgradeable.
the computer store by my house sells them for $365, so I may pick up one for myself to carry around
the eee's are $349 for the 4Gb ones
Click to expand...

The Ram can be upgraded, it just requires you to take apart the machine. Several people around the web have reported doing it. But, yuk, who wants to void their warranty with a brand new machine??

I do agree that the 701 is really tough. Mine got beat up but still worked awesome.
 
I was set on the MSI Wind since it has (had?) bluetooth and an Intel Atom. A few months back it was that or a Celeron (IIRC) EEE, but I believe the new EEE has an Atom too.

I'm likely to go for the Atom. Though I heard the Wind has a much more comfortable keyboard. I'm kinda torn there since I want a system for essay work, portability and a few older games.
 
raggedjimmi said:
I was set on the MSI Wind since it has (had?) bluetooth and an Intel Atom. A few months back it was that or a Celeron (IIRC) EEE, but I believe the new EEE has an Atom too.

I'm likely to go for the Atom. Though I heard the Wind has a much more comfortable keyboard. I'm kinda torn there since I want a system for essay work, portability and a few older games.
Click to expand...


Just a little FYI. Recently picked up a MSI wind for my uncle in the rebranded form of the ADVENT 4211 available only at PC World stores.

It's the exact same MSI wind that still hasn't been officially released only in a mixture of macbook black and macbook air silver and black keys.

The best thing about it ...... it retails at £70 / €120 Cheaper than the exact same machine with the MSI logo on.

€379 £280 for the Advent or €499 for the Wind ? I just can't work out why the wind is so much more...

...


I have a white Acer Aspire One with 120gb 1gb Linux on order and expect it to ship beggining of August. I'm gonna mess around installing different os's on it.. At €320 it's a safer bet than messing up my €1700 Mac Book Air.
 
MacRumorUser said:
Just a little FYI. Recently picked up a MSI wind for my uncle in the rebranded form of the ADVENT 4211 available only at PC World stores.

It's the exact same MSI wind that still hasn't been officially released only in a mixture of macbook black and macbook air silver and black keys.

The best thing about it ...... it retails at £70 / €120 Cheaper than the exact same machine with the MSI logo on.

€379 £280 for the Advent or €499 for the Wind ? I just can't work out why the wind is so much more...

...


I have a white Acer Aspire One with 120gb 1gb Linux on order and expect it to ship beggining of August. I'm gonna mess around installing different os's on it.. At €320 it's a safer bet than messing up my €1700 Mac Book Air.
Click to expand...

I ended up getting a Wind, apparently Windows XP doesn't work so well on the Acer models with the 8GB SSD. I like it so far. The Advent branded ones are apparently (just from words about the web) of lesser build quality than the MSI versions.

XnavxeMiyyep said:
http://www.crunchgear.com/2007/11/15/os-x-on-an-asus-eeeeeeeeeepc/ if you're feeling really ambitious! ;)
Click to expand...

Already ahead of you.

MSI012.jpg
 
For anyone without any knowledge on what a Netbook is.:) And remember, installing OS X on any hardware apart from Apple's is not permitted.

This post is in any manner intended to bash to the above one's.
 
sikkinixx said:
I ended up getting a Wind, apparently Windows XP doesn't work so well on the Acer models with the 8GB SSD. I like it so far. The Advent branded ones are apparently (just from words about the web) of lesser build quality than the MSI versions.
Click to expand...

Nope I've seen them side by side (Advent 4211, Black MSI) and they are identical unless there are changes under the hood but I don't think so.

They even have rebranded the MSI to the Medion Netbook to be sold throughout Germany and possibly other parts of europe through the store chain ALDI! at €399

Looks like MSI are simply slapping new label on the front, giving them new color schemes and cornering quite a good market in the process.
 
Samarium said:
And remember, installing OS X on any hardware apart from Apple's is not permitted.

This post is in any manner intended to bash to the above one's.
Click to expand...

Sorry dude, you can't guilt trip me. I own licenses for Leopard, iWork 08 and iLife 08 as I didn't include them when I sold my macs. I know that doesn't make the the whole EULA thing kosher with Apple but ....


MacRumorUser said:
Nope I've seen them side by side (Advent 4211, Black MSI) and they are identical unless there are changes under the hood but I don't think so.

They even have rebranded the MSI to the Medion Netbook to be sold throughout Germany and possibly other parts of europe through the store chain ALDI! at €399

Looks like MSI are simply slapping new label on the front, giving them new color schemes and cornering quite a good market in the process.
Click to expand...

I would have loved a rebrand but I was lucky enough to get them as it is as they are in such short supply (here in Canadia anyway). I think there are some software differences as some people have mentioned that programs (I won't go into what, don't wanna offend legalists) only work on the MSI/Avent versions and even those have some differences. Are they all the same company?
 
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