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Buying a Netbook...

GavinGavin Registered User regular
edited July 2009 in Help / Advice Forum
I'm thinking about buying my girl-friend a netbook for her birthday this year, however I have no experience at all in the subject. Browsing Newegg, I see that there are 4-5 companies all offering them at the same price for $299, and I'm wondering which one might be my best option. Having never used one, I'm not sure what is even really desirable in one, and I'm hoping someone with a little more hands on experience might have some good advice.

Trivia:
I want to buy her something new, and around $300 or less
Not having an onboard optical drive seems crazy, but might not be a problem if that's common
A camera would probably mean :^: so we could see each other while she's away.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2004940772&bop=And&ActiveSearchResult=True&Order=PRICE

Many internets to you, sirs.

Gavin on

Posts

  • wunderbarwunderbar What Have I Done? Registered User regular
    edited July 2009
    Honestly, at a same pricepoint, pretty much every netbook has exactly the same "guts". So the things you are looking for is screen size(get 10"), the keyboard, and the aesthetics of the laptop.

    The keyboard thing *really* matters. Because they are so small the netbook with the better keyboards will be infinitely better. Narrow down your selection to 2-3 units and look at reviews of each of them. The Aesthetics are basically a personal thing, so I won't touch on that.

    A netbook as a rule has no optical drive. 1) they are too small, and 2) the purpose of a netbook is to be a lower power computer for internet, and very light on other tasks. An optical drive actually kind of defeats that purpose. But in a year of owning mine, I can count exactly 2 times that it was an issue for me.

    wunderbar on
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  • GavinGavin Registered User regular
    edited July 2009
    An optical drive actually kind of defeats that purpose. But in a year of owning mine, I can count exactly 2 times that it was an issue for me.

    Thanks for the advice. I guess that makes sense, do you think it would be a problem to the point where I should buy a stand alone optical drive to go with it? I don't know what she would try to put on it that I couldn't get on it for her another way, so maybe it wont be a problem. Thanks again.

    Gavin on
  • wunderbarwunderbar What Have I Done? Registered User regular
    edited July 2009
    Honestly, no. The only times that it really was an issue for me was for some older software that didn't want to load properly when I put the CD contents on to a USB drive and tried to install it from there. 99% of the time if you have to put something on the drive that's from a CD, all you need is a USB key, access to a computer with both a USB port and an optical drive, and 5 minutes later: PROFIT!!!

    wunderbar on
    XBL: thewunderbar PSN: thewunderbar NNID: thewunderbar Steam: wunderbar87 Twitter: wunderbar
  • GavinGavin Registered User regular
    edited July 2009
    I do love profit...

    Gavin on
  • GavinGavin Registered User regular
    edited July 2009
    Well, I've narrowed from about 10 down to 1, and settled on this guy:

    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834152121

    Any thoughts?

    It has a camera, which will be really nice... the design is nice, which is great because I was worried I would be handing her an ugly chunk of plastic like other older netbooks I've seen, and apparently I can get OS X running on this thing pretty easily, which is an extra big sell because I know that she's interested in Apple computers. A few of her friends have them and I have pretty much all Apple computers, so I think this is looking like a good buy.

    Gavin on
  • DogDog Registered User, Administrator, Vanilla Staff admin
    edited July 2009
    Asus 1000HE is the best.

    Unknown User on
  • TomantaTomanta Registered User regular
    edited July 2009
    robothero wrote: »
    Asus 1000HE is the best.

    I agree completely, but it is also $85 over his budget.

    Briefly looking at the specs of the one linked it looks pretty good, not too far behind the 1000HE, actually.

    Tomanta on
  • matt has a problemmatt has a problem Points to 'off' Points to 'on'Registered User regular
    edited July 2009
    At $299 you're pretty much going to get all the same specs across the board. Unless you're ok with one of the open-box and slightly cheaper Acer Aspire One's on Newegg, there's nothing wrong with the Wind.

    matt has a problem on
    nibXTE7.png
  • ImprovoloneImprovolone Registered User regular
    edited July 2009
    There is no point in having a netbook (super portable computer) if the battery life sucks. I consider it throwing away money if you don't get a 6-cell battery.

    Improvolone on
    Voice actor for hire. My time is free if your project is!
  • DogDog Registered User, Administrator, Vanilla Staff admin
    edited July 2009
    I agree completely with that sentiment. Unless you plan on using it for playing old school games or something, being chained to an outlet because of crappy battery life completely defeats the purpose of the netbook :)

    Unknown User on
  • seasleepyseasleepy Registered User regular
    edited July 2009
    I'll second that the keyboard is really important on the netbooks -- head down to your local Best Buy or other computer store and take a few minutes to try typing "The quick brown fox..." or something along those lines into Notepad on the different netbooks they have there. I think Best Buy carries the Wind so you can see if you think it'd be usable for your GF.

    seasleepy on
    Steam | Nintendo: seasleepy | PSN: seasleepy1
  • GavinGavin Registered User regular
    edited July 2009
    I'll consider all of that, thanks :D

    She has nimble little hands, I think she'll have a pretty easy time with it.

    I don't think being tied to an outlet will be too much of a problem, the main draw of the computer is being easily taken between Mom's and Dad's houses, it probably wont see a lot of use other than her bedroom in either of those places.

    It's not going to run WoW, but I think she'll have a good time with it.

    Gavin on
  • DogDog Registered User, Administrator, Vanilla Staff admin
    edited July 2009
    Actually, that netbook can probably run WoW just fine.

    Unknown User on
  • GavinGavin Registered User regular
    edited July 2009
    robothero wrote: »
    Actually, that netbook can probably run WoW just fine.

    ...Wat

    Gavin on
  • matt has a problemmatt has a problem Points to 'off' Points to 'on'Registered User regular
    edited July 2009
    Gavin wrote: »
    robothero wrote: »
    Actually, that netbook can probably run WoW just fine.

    ...Wat
    On low settings most likely, but a gig of RAM and a 1.6ghz processor should be enough to shlump along in it. If WoW on a PC is pure Colombian snow, WoW on a netbook is bathtub meth. Not what you want, but enough when you're desperate.

    matt has a problem on
    nibXTE7.png
  • DogDog Registered User, Administrator, Vanilla Staff admin
    edited July 2009
    You can also upgrade to two gigs of ram and use something like GMA booster to bump up your processor for a period of time. When I first got my 1000HE I was testing all sorts of MMOs, and non-boosted LOTRO would run, but was really choppy. boosted LOTRO ran just fine, albeit a little slow, and I would never consider doing group stuff on it.

    If you do use GMABooster, just make sure to be careful of your computers temp, and don't run it for too long or forget to turn it off. Don't wanna end up melting it :P

    Unknown User on
  • GavinGavin Registered User regular
    edited July 2009
    matthasaproblem wrote: »
    Gavin wrote: »
    robothero wrote: »
    Actually, that netbook can probably run WoW just fine.

    ...Wat
    On low settings most likely, but a gig of RAM and a 1.6ghz processor should be enough to shlump along in it. If WoW on a PC is pure Colombian snow, WoW on a netbook is bathtub meth. Not what you want, but enough when you're desperate.

    Well, when she plays with me, it's not top tier content. We're not trying to raid or anything, just low level fun time. I saw some videos of it running on Youtube after Robothero's comment, I'm pretty excited to give it a shot.

    Gavin on
  • ImprovoloneImprovolone Registered User regular
    edited July 2009
    Gavin wrote: »
    I'll consider all of that, thanks :D

    She has nimble little hands, I think she'll have a pretty easy time with it.

    I don't think being tied to an outlet will be too much of a problem, the main draw of the computer is being easily taken between Mom's and Dad's houses, it probably wont see a lot of use other than her bedroom in either of those places.

    It's not going to run WoW, but I think she'll have a good time with it.
    While the 10'' keyboards are nice, one can get used to pretty much anything.
    Even if you are always near an outlet, having to use one sucks. My netbook rarely leaves my apartment as of late and I still wish I had a longer battery life.

    Its only 12GB on an SSD, but consider a 901 given your price point.
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220354

    Alternatively, ask her parents to chip in to get her something more awesome like the 1000HE.

    Improvolone on
    Voice actor for hire. My time is free if your project is!
  • DogDog Registered User, Administrator, Vanilla Staff admin
    edited July 2009
    We talk about GMA Booster and that kind of stuff somewhere in the unorganized halls of the SE++ Netbook thread

    Unknown User on
  • MushroomStickMushroomStick Registered User regular
    edited July 2009
    If he were going to consider the 1000HE, he should go for the just released 1005HA - same specs with a better keyboard and a battery that lasts even longer.

    MushroomStick on
  • underdonkunderdonk __BANNED USERS regular
    edited July 2009
    Gavin wrote: »
    matthasaproblem wrote: »
    Gavin wrote: »
    robothero wrote: »
    Actually, that netbook can probably run WoW just fine.

    ...Wat
    On low settings most likely, but a gig of RAM and a 1.6ghz processor should be enough to shlump along in it. If WoW on a PC is pure Colombian snow, WoW on a netbook is bathtub meth. Not what you want, but enough when you're desperate.

    Well, when she plays with me, it's not top tier content.

    So we've heard.

    underdonk on
    Back in the day, bucko, we just had an A and a B button... and we liked it.
  • DogDog Registered User, Administrator, Vanilla Staff admin
    edited July 2009
    Oh that's gold.

    Unknown User on
  • Shazkar ShadowstormShazkar Shadowstorm Registered User regular
    edited July 2009
    A+.

    Shazkar Shadowstorm on
    poo
  • GavinGavin Registered User regular
    edited July 2009
    underdonk wrote: »
    Gavin wrote: »
    matthasaproblem wrote: »
    Gavin wrote: »
    robothero wrote: »
    Actually, that netbook can probably run WoW just fine.

    ...Wat
    On low settings most likely, but a gig of RAM and a 1.6ghz processor should be enough to shlump along in it. If WoW on a PC is pure Colombian snow, WoW on a netbook is bathtub meth. Not what you want, but enough when you're desperate.

    Well, when she plays with me, it's not top tier content.

    So we've heard.
    2mza8b8.gif

    Gavin on
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