Help me decide on which netbook to buy

Kajusta

I'm interested in buying an eeepc, these two models in particular. I'm having a pretty hard time deciding which one I should plop down my 250+ dollars on, however, as I pretty much only know that the PE models are the newer of the two. I'm not too concerned with 14 hours of battery life versus 11, but I'm more worried about actual performance to cost.

PE Models

ASUS Eee PC Seashell 1005PE-PU27-BK 10.1-Inch Black Netbook (Up to 14 Hours of Battery Life)

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003AM8OXK/ref=cm_cr_asin_lnk 349

http://cgi.ebay.com/ASUS-EeePC-1005PE-PU17-BK-14-Hrs-Battery-life-Bluetooth-/120588279493?cmd=ViewItem&pt=Laptops_Nov05&hash=item1c139f1ec5 309 refurb

HA Models

Asus Eee PC Seashell 1005PEB-RRED01S 10.1-Inch Netbook with Up to 11 Hours of Battery Life - Red

http://www.amazon.com/Asus-Seashell-1005PEB-RRED01S-10-1-Inch-Netbook/dp/B0032B4ZNM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1277872357&sr=1-1 276 shipping inc. used

http://cgi.ebay.com/Asus-1005HA-Eee-PC-Seashell-Netbook-N270-1005HA-VU1X-BK-/120581828548?cmd=ViewItem&pt=Laptops_Nov05&hash=item1c133cafc4 220 + 15 shipping refurb

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So out of those models what do you guys think? Cheaper is always better, but I'm not sure with these netbooks if it really is or not.

edit: After reading up on these netbooks more, I've come to the conclusion that these two: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220743&cm_re=eeepc-_-34-220-743-_-Product and http://cgi.ebay.com/ASUS-EeePC-1005PE-PU17-BK-14-Hrs-Battery-life-Bluetooth-/120588279493?cmd=ViewItem&pt=Laptops_Nov05&hash=item1c139f1ec5, will end up being the ones I will have to choose between (apparently n450 processors are awesome on netbooks?) They cost around 250 and 309 respectively, shipping included.

Has anyone had any experience ordering these things "recertified" from newegg? If it's all kosher I may just end up getting that one.

s_86

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Esh

s_86 wrote: »

I heard many good things about the 1005HA so I got one a few months back, but its been giving me problems and I sort of regret it.
- It gets hot and the fan starts spinning noticeably loud when watching youtube, videos, playing games, etc.
- The keyboard stops working every... 2 weeks? (to fix, I have to close the lid to enter sleep mode, and then open lid again).
- The monitor turns off once every... week? (to fix, I enter sleep mode and get out)
- Some of the keys on the keyboard get a little offplace and dont work perfectly, but ive been able to fidget with them to get em working perfect again.
One thing to keep in mind, I re-installed XP using thumb drive on this netbook, and installed drivers found on the website, so that might have something to do with my problems.

In the end, I feel the asus eee's are still the best out of the low performance (~300$) netbooks out there, but it still has its big problems unfortunately. Check out http://forum.eeeuser.com/ to see a lot of the problems that have arisen with their models. Hope this helps!!

I have the same Netbook that I've been lugging around for about a year now and I've never had any of these problems.

EDIT: And why did you reinstall from a thumbdrive? It has an archive of XP that you can reinstall at bootup with F9.

s_86

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Esh

s_86 wrote: »

Esh wrote: »

s_86 wrote: »

I heard many good things about the 1005HA so I got one a few months back, but its been giving me problems and I sort of regret it.
- It gets hot and the fan starts spinning noticeably loud when watching youtube, videos, playing games, etc.
- The keyboard stops working every... 2 weeks? (to fix, I have to close the lid to enter sleep mode, and then open lid again).
- The monitor turns off once every... week? (to fix, I enter sleep mode and get out)
- Some of the keys on the keyboard get a little offplace and dont work perfectly, but ive been able to fidget with them to get em working perfect again.
One thing to keep in mind, I re-installed XP using thumb drive on this netbook, and installed drivers found on the website, so that might have something to do with my problems.

In the end, I feel the asus eee's are still the best out of the low performance (~300$) netbooks out there, but it still has its big problems unfortunately. Check out http://forum.eeeuser.com/ to see a lot of the problems that have arisen with their models. Hope this helps!!

I have the same Netbook that I've been lugging around for about a year now and I've never had any of these problems.

EDIT: And why did you reinstall from a thumbdrive? It has an archive of XP that you can reinstall at bootup with F9.

I figured it would re-install with all the unwanted software that the netbook initially came with. Not too sure if it does or not.

It does, but you can just go into your Control Panel and deinstall it. I think there are some pretty specific drivers in there that you're best of installing from that archive though.

streever

I didn't look at the ones you listed, but I own one and love it, EXCEPT: downloading to the SSD harddrive screws it. The computer can do nothing else while downloading. I download everything to a microsd card inserted in the card reader. My cache, too, because otherwise I can't watch freaking youtube videos.

It's a real pain in the butt. I recommend buying any that don't have that.

With that said, I did de-activate a ton of things, maybe there is some software by default on the netbook that makes using the SSD not a horrible experience. I don't know, and I can't solve it with google, so I recommend buying a normal hd and not ssd.

Kajusta

Honestly, I'm thinking I'll just go with this one

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220743&cm_re=eeepc-_-34-220-743-_-Product

The only difference I can see from the 1005PE is that it's got the slightly smaller battery, 9 hours versus 14 hours. Any thoughts?

Esh

Kajusta wrote: »

Honestly, I'm thinking I'll just go with this one

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220743&cm_re=eeepc-_-34-220-743-_-Product

The only difference I can see from the 1005PE is that it's got the slightly smaller battery, 9 hours versus 14 hours. Any thoughts?

Do you see yourself using the laptop for 9 hours straight anywhere where you won't be near an outlet?

streever

that one looks great. Smaller battery means lighter weight.

I have one that has an estimated 4 hour time--in practice it's about 3--but it's irrelevant because I never need to use it for 3 hours straight with no outlet. Even on plane. You just can't sit there and use a computer for 4 hours straight. (I can't, anyway)

Lemming

streever wrote: »

that one looks great. Smaller battery means lighter weight.

I have one that has an estimated 4 hour time--in practice it's about 3--but it's irrelevant because I never need to use it for 3 hours straight with no outlet. Even on plane. You just can't sit there and use a computer for 4 hours straight. (I can't, anyway)

Something I never see people mention is that the battery WILL degrade. So if it lasts 4 hours in a year it'll probably last more like two and half, then one another year later. Mine started at like 6 and now lasts about 4-5, and I got it about 9 months ago or so. I say always go for the bigger battery.