netbook

[ilbob]

I have been thinking of getting one.

Any suggestions?

They all seem to use what looks to be a 1.6 Gz Atom CPU. never heard of it.

Prefer to stay with XP, as that where the software I like tends to be.

[Balog]

I hear good things about the eeePC.

[Iain]

Several factors to consider - price, screen size and keyboard size being the main things. SSD or hard drive being another. The new Samsung 12" model uses the new Via cpu and it seems quite promising but perhaps not a huge improvement over the Atom.

I've got an Aspire One that I really like, but I am sort of tempted to get a 12" model at some point.

[mtnbkr]

I had problems with my MIL's eeePC running Linux (familiar with Linux, the damn thing just wouldn't work right) and no problem at all with the Acer Aspire (running XP) we replaced it with.  If I were buying one for myself right now, it would probably be the Aspire.

Chris

[Balog]

Can it still really be considered a netbook at 12"?

[MillCreek]

It is about eight or nine months old now, but I am still happy with my MSI Wind.

[zahc]

I used to have an eeePc, but I sold it. I now have an Aspire one with the giant battery. Running Ubuntu 8.04. Happy as a clam.

[Balog]

How long does that battery last you zahc? It's the 9 cell, right?

[Iain]

Can it still really be considered a netbook at 12"?

Probably not, but it has a 1280x800 resolution, a full size keyboard and does everything that I actually use a computer for.

My Aspire One has the 7800mah battery. Get around 6 to 6.5 hours.

[zahc]

I don't know how many cells; it's the one that has a row of cells sticking out. I think 6 as opposed to three. It lasts exactly 5 hours running Ubuntu, which is notoriously bad for battery life.

[Balog]

I don't know how many cells; it's the one that has a row of cells sticking out. I think 6 as opposed to three. It lasts exactly 5 hours running Ubuntu, which is notoriously bad for battery life.

Ubuntu is bad for battery life?!?! I thought the advantage of *nix was how efficient it was compared to Windows, so shouldn't it be easier on the batteries?

[Gewehr98]

Depending on the flavor of the week of Linux you install, you have to do a bit of tweaking to enable power-saving features.  Some distributions have all sorts of settings, while others are notoriously weak in that department.

[Tim L]

Mom bought the 10"  HP with 16gb ssd.  It has a nice display, shows off her pictures very nicely and she can use her broadband card with it.  It's half the size and weight of my 12" HP tablet.  I want one, just need to find a job first.

Tim

[AZRedhawk44]

I just took my new ASUS eeePC 1000HA to Florida after buying it last week and loading Ubuntu 8.0.4 onto it.  It came with XP home but I was feeling left out on the *nix bandwagon and needed to refamiliarize myself with it.

Battery life is pretty dang good.  I watched 3 hours of movies and listened to 2 hours of MP3 on a single charge, and had 25% estimated battery life remaining afterwards.

Wireless compatibility was just fine with all networks encountered so far... Boingo, Holiday Inn, Borders, random private wireless nets.  No connection problems at all, anywhere.

I imagine that it would do just as well at those tasks with XP.  No reason not to.

[Kwelz]

I just got my Dell Mini 10 today..   So far I really like it.  I have 2 complaints.  First it has only a 3 cell battery, I plan to replace it with the 6 cell as soon as it is available, and secondly it is maxed at 1Gig of Ram.  There is no way to have more.  I am still trying to decide if I am willing to deal with this or not. 

The keyboard is much better than my old EEEPC and it is small and light enough to take anywhere. 

I almost picked up the Mini 9 but wanted the full sized hard drive and that wasn't an option there. 

[lee n. field]

I kind-a want a Nobi. (basically a 2nd generation Intel Classmate.)

We had one for a week, as a demo unit.   It's really intended for grade schoolers, so the keyboard's kind-a small.  Memory and hard disk would need to be bumped.

But, it's the only thing I've ever handled that I would feel comfortable carrying around in my backpack.

[Declaration Day]

I'm posting from my new netbook now.  Just picked it up an hour ago.  It's an Acer Aspire One in Sapphire blue.  Windows XP, 160 gig HDD.

I love it, but I have two minor complaints:  

1.  It came with a tiny mouse, which is way too small for my hand.  I'll replace it with a full size one.  No big deal.

2.  It's only giving me two screen resolution options: tiny and wide tiny.  I'm not sure why, but that should be cured when I wipe this thing clean and install Ubuntu.

Overall it's a neat little machine, and will ease the tension in my house.  All four of us are computer addicts and until today, we only had two computers.  I'm ordering a Dell laptop for my wife later tonight for her birthday, then everyone will be happy.  

[roo_ster]

I have come to a few conclusions with the Asus eeePC 900A I got for a song ($150).

Stats:
9" LCD 1024x600
1.6GHz Atom processor
2GB RAM (1GB stock)
4GB SSHD
xubuntu 8.10

1. With xubuntu 8.10 it is more reliable than the stock Xandros
2. I like xubntu: not as fancy or resource-hoggy as ubuntu (gnome) and kubuntu (KDE)
3. Bump the RAM to 2GB, not necessary, but subjective experience is snappier
4. Almost good enough to show HD video, but not quite.  It is a little choppy.  SD is fine
5. SSHD is small but snappy.  I use no swap partition.
6. 9" eee LCD screen / keyboard size is fine for viewing web sites, but just a little too small for my paws to comfortably type without numerous typos.  FTR, I am 6' tall, wear XL gloves
7. Wireless works great & strong.
8. All hardware works just great except for the built in microphone, which I haven't got to work, yet.
9. On-board sound is damn good for such a small device
10. Battery life beats any of my other lappies I have had experience at 2-3+ hours.

[Ben]

I've had an Asuus 1000HE eee for a little over a week now. It's an upgrade from my eee 900. So far I'm completely happy with it. It came with XP home versus the Linux on my 900. This weekend is probably going to be my "add Linux to it" weekend (still keeping the XP). I got it with the 2gig RAM upgrade. So far things I like about it over the 900:

The keyboard is WAY easier to type on (even easier than my Dell X300 work laptop).
The battery truly is a 9 hour battery, as advertised.
The hybrid CPU lets you swap between various performance modes (power saver saves battery life, high performance gives smooth netflix movies).
The wireless is the best I've had yet. It picks up three times the available networks that the 900 picks up, which was already picking up twice the number of networks that my work laptop (admittedly 5 years old) picks up.

About the only thing  I consider negative at this point is it weighs a good pound more than my 900 due to the battery. But the 900 only gives me 2 constant hours on the battery if I'm lucky (a lot more if I go to standby in between accessing it).

Also the finish is a fingerprint magnet, but I bought a skin for $8 which eliminates that.

[taurusowner]

I'm writing this from work with my MSI Wind.  It's a great little netbook.

[Balog]

I'm really happy to hear you say that Ben; that's the model I'm looking at most closely.

[zahc]

I was mistaken; i get only 4 hours of battery life.

[jdoc]

if you want small and portable but have large hands you can always give the hp 2133 a try key board is almost full size.

http://www.amazon.com/2133-KR922UT-8-9-Inch-Mini-Note-Processor-Flash/dp/B00170KD0Y/ref=pd_bbs_4?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1237602645&sr=8-4

I got mine back before christmas for a litle more than 300$ the price of these little machines has climbed a bit since then.
Other than having to replace the suse linux that came on it there have been no problems. I'm running linux mint 6 right now and its working great on this little machine.