Netbooks! Netbooks! Netbooks!

Dublo7

So let's talk about Netbooks. They're like laptops, but smaller, less powerful, but cheap!!!

My birthday is coming up, and I've got my eye on the Asus EEE PC 901. I'm mainly wanting one for uni, as I can just throw it in my bag and be on my way.

Has anyone here got a netbook?

I wonder if I should be considering something other than the Asus 901.

Retarded_Turkey

I was looking at them earlier. There is an Acer that has been getting good reviews. But, it's an Acer so I don't know about that one. I really want a netbook though. It would be so sweet to like you said just chuck in your bag and go.

Polago

Are netbooks like the Acer mini pc? 8.9" screen and really light. Harkens back to the starting days of Windows CE.

Dublo7

Asus seem to be pretty reliable. I've never had problems with my Asus hardware.

Moriveth

I wanted an Eee, but after I decided that I'd just give Rachel my computer and switch to a laptop, I realized I'd probably do well to just get a regular laptop since I'd probably use it for more than just web browsing.

But the Eee is totally rad.

Blake T

I was looking at an Eee mainly because it was a cheap mobile webcam.

Then I realised I only needed to webcam for like 5 more months tops and decided it wasn't quite worth the cost vs the amount of time I'd use it.

I'd like to browse the web from my couch though.

Lucky Cynic

I saw someone with one of these at the mall. They spilled coffee all over it at the cafe. Her voice and cry of utter dismay is forever going to be a treat for me.


"Oh god- Shit!"

Straightzi

I think about this sort of thing fairly often, as I do not use my laptop for much other than internetting, and it is going to need to be replaced soon enough, it is getting pretty old

But I feel as if I'd need to have some sort of backup computer as well and fuck that shit

Oski

msi wind looks better than the eee pc but it gets hot on its ass.

like the bottom of it gets up above 100 fahrenheit or somehting

The Geek

Did anyone else hear the title of this thread as if sung by Paul Schaffer?

Air

have you seen the Eee Slim (s101 or something)
looks real nice, and not as fat as the others
in fact i think its 25% thicker than the macbook air, which aint much

dont forget theres also a dell, a lenovo comin out, and all the rest
but i think you should be able to find the eee ad the msi wind below retail most easily
not too hard to find them for around 500
the acer too i think, and i think you can get another 100 cashback

Synthetic Orange

Netbooks? Is that what they're calling them now?

Fandyien

netbooks seem like a colossal waste of money

Air

do you have an iphone

Fandyien

hell naw

Oden

I got an asus eee, the second gen ones that have the slightly bigger screen and 8gb hdd

its pretty great for uni for when you need to type up notes or use the net when you cant find a free computer, plus the battery life is great

however, the small screen really strains your eyes and the keyboard is pretty crappy for extended periods of typing

I want that new eee thats slightly bigger and has the 80gb hdd

DrZiplock

Blaket wrote: »

I was looking at an Eee mainly because it was a cheap mobile webcam.

Then I realised I only needed to webcam for like 5 more months tops and decided it wasn't quite worth the cost vs the amount of time I'd use it.

Cyvros

I've been hearing that Microsoft is working on a netbook-targeted version of Windows 7. So if I'm going to drop some money on a netbook, it'll be when I can get 7 on it. And I plan to, since I might switch back to having a desktop (instead of just a laptop that sits around like a desktop).

I thought this was interesting - Asus is apparently working on a EeePC with two touchscreens:

1. Tablet mode. Snap the laptop open and flat, and the two screens work together as one giant touch screen.

2. Laptop mode. Open the virtual keyboard, which appears full-size on the bottom touch screen, and use like a regular clamshell laptop.

3. Book mode. Open an e-Book and hold it sideways like an open book. One page appears on the left screen and the next page appears on the right. Touch the corner to turn the page.

4. Two-person mode. Open it flat again like Tablet mode, but click a button to make one screen orient itself for one user and the other toward you.

I imagine the 'laptop mode' would be annoying, though, since there'd be no tactile feedback with the keyboard. However, they might be able to use something like the tech used in this Nokia concept phone. There's this liquid-filled layer under the screen that 'shifts' about to make buttons.

IpseDixit

Dublo you just got the Tigerdirect email didn't you

Wrench N Rockets

Oden wrote: »

I got an asus eee, the second gen ones that have the slightly bigger screen and 8gb hdd

its pretty great for uni for when you need to type up notes or use the net when you cant find a free computer, plus the battery life is great

however, the small screen really strains your eyes and the keyboard is pretty crappy for extended periods of typing

I want that new eee thats slightly bigger and has the 80gb hdd

Pretty much this.

I've got a first gen Eee, and it's great.

Long term use tends to suck though, and installing anything with out a CD drive is becoming a pain in the ass.

Blake T

Wrench N Rockets wrote: »

Oden wrote: »

I got an asus eee, the second gen ones that have the slightly bigger screen and 8gb hdd

its pretty great for uni for when you need to type up notes or use the net when you cant find a free computer, plus the battery life is great

however, the small screen really strains your eyes and the keyboard is pretty crappy for extended periods of typing

I want that new eee thats slightly bigger and has the 80gb hdd

Pretty much this.

I've got a first gen Eee, and it's great.

Long term use tends to suck though, and installing anything with out a CD drive is becoming a pain in the ass.

Really?

Other than the intial setup of my PC I've not needed to use a cd other than install my webcam and Spore.

Doesn't it come with a remote cd function much like the Air?

Oden

nope, but I managed to get a free external cdrw for it after I had to reformat it like three times a week

theclam

I just got a 901 last month. It's absolutely awesome for class. Boots in 15 seconds, 6 hour battery life. Only downside is the keyboard is tiny.

Blake T

Oden wrote: »

nope, but I managed to get a free external cdrw for it after I had to reformat it like three times a week

Man, that is pretty shitty.

Couldn't you load everything onto a flashie and reformat it that waY?

Wrench N Rockets

Blaket wrote: »

Oden wrote: »

nope, but I managed to get a free external cdrw for it after I had to reformat it like three times a week

Man, that is pretty shitty.

Couldn't you load everything onto a flashie and reformat it that waY?

Yeah, I want to install XP on my Eee and fill it up with sweetness like Fallout and X-Com, but until I get a CD drive I can't do anything with it.

Faricazy

apparently HP sees your Eees and spits on them

http://www.engadget.com/2008/10/29/hps-new-mini-1000-and-mie-linux-make-netbooks-fun-again/

Desktop Hippie

I've got an Asus Eee 4g running on Linux. I find it pretty good.

Bad Stuff: Downloading new applications can be a pain, and it's a bit hit and miss whether devices will work, but those issues can be avoided by installing Windows (or knowing more about Linux than I do.) The battery doesn't last long, but as far as I know, the newer ones have longer battery life. I could probably get a better battery for this one if I bothered to look. It's marketed as being a great starter PC for kids and older people, but while the default icons are big and bright and the interface is very easy to navigate, fixing problems usually involves typing lines of code into a command prompt, and realistically many older users are going to find the small screen and keyboard on any netbook a problem. Also, since it runs on Linux, 90% of tech support for any device is out, since most just say Linux is an unsupported OS and ignore you after that.

Good Stuff: It's incredibly small, incredibly light and incredibly portable. I love having a PC that can fit in my purse and survive the odd knock while I'm out and about to boot. It took a bit of twiddling, but I got it to recognise a 3g HSDPA modem so I have portable internet too. The speakers are great, and I've occasionally used it to play music or recordings to a class (I teach IT and English as a foreign language.) Open Office recognises Microsoft Office files without any problems, although I can find Open Office Documents fiddly to format. Internet-wise, I use it to access my e-mail, chat and browse message boards, and aside from the occasional h-scroll issue I've had no problems. I type a lot, and the tiny keyboard really isn't a problem. You honestly do get used to it after a while. Despite it's small size my Eee has three USB ports, a VGA port and a card reader, which is pretty incredible when the Mac Air has only one USB port and nothing else. All that and it's cheap too. What's not to love?

Almost any issues I've had with my Eee could be resolved by having one of the newer models and/or changing the OS to Windows, but the IT Trainer (and the Hippie) in me wants to get the hang of this Linux stuff. If you plan to use it a lot at Uni, make sure you can plug it in somewhere, or bring a spare battery. Otherwise it may not see you through a full day of lectures.

Brolo

I've retired my original 701 EEE in favor of a 12" IBM lenovo X60 tablet. Didn't get quite enough battery life on it, the screen didn't have enough vertical resolution (youtube videos at 480 pixels tall would just barely fit in, flash sites frequently required scrolling), and I ran into problems with the keyboard (keys falling off), touchpad (mouse buttons didn't always register) and fan (which stopped working altogether, causing the eee to reach around 50 degrees celsius on the keyboard, it still functioned normally, however).

Dublo7

Faricazy wrote: »

apparently HP sees your Eees and spits on them

http://www.engadget.com/2008/10/29/hps-new-mini-1000-and-mie-linux-make-netbooks-fun-again/

Fuck, that is sexy.

Wrench N Rockets

Dublo7 wrote: »

Faricazy wrote: »

apparently HP sees your Eees and spits on them

http://www.engadget.com/2008/10/29/hps-new-mini-1000-and-mie-linux-make-netbooks-fun-again/

Fuck, that is sexy.

I am liking this.

I am I am

Killjoy

If I had 300 dollars to blow I'd buy an Aspire One.