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Another Netbook Thread

N

Natural Aspirations

n00b
Joined
Dec 17, 2008
Messages
25
As of right now or immediate future what is the best deal in netbooks for under $400?
I know the capabilities are similar among models, most being crippled by the same processor. I have a main computer and my laptop is on its way out which is used mainly for browsing and some video streaming. I stopped by bestbuy today and looked over their offerings and thought the new Gateway looked nice and seemed to have good features, but the AMD processor is only 1.2Ghz. I am not trying to do anything aggressive with the netbook, just looking for the best bang for my buck.

Top 3 concerns

Screen
Keyboard
Performance (may be an oxymoron)
 
the new Acer has a full sized keyboard I believe. For less than $400 I'd knock performance off your list and look for longer battery life.


I dont do a whole lot on mine (surfing, mail etc), so my priority was decent size with low cost. It plays old school games like half life fine, runs win 7 fantasic.

I have the Acer Aspire One D250, bumped up the RAM to 2GB for $25 on Amazon looking for a good price on a 6 cell battery.

I
 
Paid $360 for my Acer Aspire One way back when it first came out and couldn't be happier with it to this day. Still has only 1GB of RAM and it does everything I could want in a netbook.

Forget Linux or XP, Windows 7 runs like a dream on these things.
 
criccio said:
Paid $360 for my Acer Aspire One way back when it first came out and couldn't be happier with it to this day. Still has only 1GB of RAM and it does everything I could want in a netbook.

Forget Linux or XP, Windows 7 runs like a dream on these things.
Click to expand...

Ditto

The wife actually wanted it, but she got an ipod touch and uses its eighty-bazillion apps for everything now (basically for internet while the kids are up).

I took control of it now. It's a good little system. I've got it dual-booting Ubuntu Netbook remix and its original XP home.

This new Toshiba is pretty well reviewed:

http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/17/toshiba-nb205-netbook-reviewed-loved/
 
Since this is a Netbook thread I wanted to ask. I see that MSI's Wind has the capability to Overclock the Atom a little. Will Acer make a bios that will allow that? I would just like to OC the Z520 to 1.66 or so and I would be happy. Is there a Bios out there that would work for my AO751h?
 
+1 on the Acer Aspire. I have one and love this thing. Its so handy for when you cant sleep at night and just wanna lay in bed and surf the net with it on the bedside table. The keyboard isnt so cramped I cant type on it, but I do hunt and peck so maybe thats why it doesnt seem to bother me as much as touch typist. Once people accept what they ( netbooks) can and cant do, theyre wonderful little machines.
 
The 1000HE is seriously my main computer right now while I rebuild my gaming machine.

I really, really like it... I'd say that with a sodimm DDR2 2gb upgrade (like two minutes of work) it is a fine system, one which allows me to do about 90% of everything I did on my regular machine. The 10% being high performance games like Fallout3 or Demigod. But it sure handles low-resolution oldschool games and emulation like DOSBox and MAME very well. I mostly watch movies and streaming video, it handles 720p fine.

I use gmabooster.com, a free download that cranks up your GPU to 400 mhz for a bit more pixel pumping power. The Atom core is pretty puny though, not really worth overclocking. Even 2.0 ghz up from stock 1.66 ghz only nets a very minimal performance increase, and 2.0 ghz is rare. Most folks end up lower, making it an even less worthwhile option.

The wireless is exceptional. Nice keyboard, a little small (90% of normal) but you'll be typing as fast as you do on a regular within a few days of use.

With the ram it is about 400 bucks off Newegg.
 
Jalidi said:
The 1000HE is seriously my main computer right now while I rebuild my gaming machine.

I really, really like it... I'd say that with a sodimm DDR2 2gb upgrade (like two minutes of work) it is a fine system, one which allows me to do about 90% of everything I did on my regular machine. The 10% being high performance games like Fallout3 or Demigod. But it sure handles low-resolution oldschool games and emulation like DOSBox and MAME very well. I mostly watch movies and streaming video, it handles 720p fine.

I use gmabooster.com, a free download that cranks up your GPU to 400 mhz for a bit more pixel pumping power. The Atom core is pretty puny though, not really worth overclocking. Even 2.0 ghz up from stock 1.66 ghz only nets a very minimal performance increase, and 2.0 ghz is rare. Most folks end up lower, making it an even less worthwhile option.

The wireless is exceptional. Nice keyboard, a little small (90% of normal) but you'll be typing as fast as you do on a regular within a few days of use.

With the ram it is about 400 bucks off Newegg.
Click to expand...

I too like my 1000HE but it has issues running HL and Quake III, not that it was intended to do that... I bought it just so I have something to take quick notes for in class and to write code in Visual Studio\Notepad++ while traveling to and from class on the bus\train.

Does it's job like a champ, just wish it had a nipple. :(
 
FYI I purchased the gateway and my gf picked up the Toshiba both seem to be great so far. Not digging the Vista so much so I'm in the process of DL the new beta of 7

Anything I can do to help a fellow HF member LMK
 
I have the 8.9" acer with a 160 GB hard drive, I had a dell mini 9 (sold it) and now I have the MSI wind U100 (edit, with 2 GB memory). The Wind has, nearly, a full sized keyboard and can be O/C'd a bit at the cost of battery life.

Right now I have my wind set up as a hackintosh, everything but the web cam works great. You can get them for $250ish, best bang for the buck (as near as I can tell)
 
Last edited:
Natural Aspirations said:
FYI I purchased the gateway and my gf picked up the Toshiba both seem to be great so far. Not digging the Vista so much so I'm in the process of DL the new beta of 7

Anything I can do to help a fellow HF member LMK
Click to expand...
hey, hows the Gateway and the Toshiba. I'm guessing the nb205? I'm in the market for a netbook, and was deciding between the new Asus coming out next week and the Toshiba, but then I read about the Gateway. What's the battery life on the Gateway?
 
Another +1 for the Acer Aspire One, I have one and love it.
signature_distory.jpg
 
What issue did you have with HL ? I had two tweak one of the settings but after that it runs fine for me.

I've two complaints about the 1000he (hl is not one of them). First the touch pad is a bit sensitive for a click with linux (haven't figured out how to tweak that). Second (this is true for all netbooks) I wouldn't mind a larger screen (12inch) and larger keyboard but same form factor, weight and battery life (alas that is the conflict of a netbook vs laptop).


Yossarian22 said:
I too like my 1000HE but it has issues running HL and Quake III, not that it was intended to do that... I bought it just so I have something to take quick notes for in class and to write code in Visual Studio\Notepad++ while traveling to and from class on the bus\train.

Does it's job like a champ, just wish it had a nipple. :(
Click to expand...
 
I have had a dell mini for a couple of months now. Like the size and the keyboard doesnt seem to be too small for me. Running hackintosh, and doing just fine with it.

I have found that since I picked up an Ipod Touch, that I dont use it as much. However it is still a great little machine if you are in the market.
 
WOOT!!!! Just OC'd my AO751h yesterday. from 1.24 to 1.48GHZ stable using Prime 95. I'm pretty happy and can sure as hell notice a difference. Video playback is a lot better now and programs opening up snappier.
 
If I were you I would look at the Asus 1005HE it apparently is the best of the eee pc's to date. You can get one off the best buy website right now for 300 with the 3 cell battery and 1 gig of ram or you can get one for like 380 from newegg with 1 gig of ram and the 6 cell battery which offers about 8 hours of battery life.
 
GreenMonkey,

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***Please note this is a limited time offer and valid only while supplies last***

Jessica
Microsoft Windows Client Team
 
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