CAD$340 Core 2 Solo 11.6" netbook with HDMI, 3 GB, 250 GB, Win7HP

shurcooL

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http://www.canadacomputers.com/index.php?do=ShowProduct&cmd=pd&pid=026633&cid=NBK.300.555

CAD$340 until Sunday (inclusive), $360 afterwards.

The 6-cell battery gives 5-6 hours of battery life with WiFi on, more without.

Excellent build quality.

Free upgrade to Windows 7 Home Premium.

Quite slim and light for the 11.6", the battery is flush with body, very nice design.

Runs really cool and quiet, it's the most silent netbook I've ever seen.

Intel CULV Core 2 Solo SU3500 1.4 GHz processor is a magnitude times faster than any Atom CPU.

HDMI out port is awesome. Hook it up to any HDTV with no hassle. It plays 1080p movies fluidly out of the box.

I've been using one for 2 months now since I bought it new for $450.

Now they have these refurbed models for $340, so I got another one (the first goes to my dad, this one for myself).

Don't mind that it's refurbed, the guy opens the box for you and lets you inspect for physical damage - the only thing the 15-day in-store warranty doesn't cover. You also get 1 year warranty from manufacturer.

This netbook is an absolutely beauty, I'm sure anyone would fall in love with it after using it. But only get it if you need a *netbook*, keeping in mind it's not a full-blown 15" Core 2 Duo laptop with CD-rom, and keep in the mind the dot pitch is pretty small. I would recommend using 125% font size in Windows 7 unless you have really sharp eyes.

I feel really bad for people buying 11.6" netbooks with Atom Z520 that are absolutely pitiful, slower than N270, and are simply no comparison with an Intel CULV cpu.

The biling keyboard can be easily replaced by an Acer 751h US layout keyboard for <$20 on ebay.

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http://www.gateway.com/programs/ecseries/

Note that the new Gateway is just a brand of Acer. So this is really an Acer netbook under the gateway label. The equivalent Acer netbook is the 1810/1410 series.

11 page review
 
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that is a pretty dam good deal for that system, tempted to sell my 1000HE and get one


how is gateway's build quality?
 
I'm pretty impressed with it, it's pretty high quality and everything feel solid; and I've got two EC1803h. I really like how the 6-cell battery is flush with the system and doesn't stick out at the back. Great design.

Btw, Gateway is just a label of Acer, so the build quality should be the same.

Check out this thread for more info and other user's impressions.
 
For ~350-400 this is a great deal. Beats the Atom systems.
 
Would this beat the atom 330?
For single-threaded apps (most still are), yes, by far.

For multi-threaded apps (very few), the Atom 330 will have an advantage simply because it has 2 cores. It will likely either tie the Core 2 Solo, or do slightly better than it.

Note that the Core 2 Solo has a TDP of only 5W, whereas Atom 330 has 8W, so expect worse battery life with the dual-core Atom.

Personally, I would take a quick single-core CPU in a netbook anyday over a CPU with two slower cores.

You only really need the 2nd core very little of the time (when the first is 100% loaded), so it doesn't make much sense to always have it, burning extra battery life, when you only use it every so often. A fast single-core machine would be much more efficient. Also, remember, 95%+ of real world apps (flash video, watching videos, etc.) that need a lot of CPU power are still single-threaded.

Here's a chart that has some benchmark comparisons of the Core 2 Solo SU3500 vs. Atom 330. Look at items 246 and 247 on the list:

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Processors-Benchmarklist.2436.0.html
 
Here's an analogy. If you could have a car with a single 250 horsepower engine, or two 150 horsepower engines, which would you rather take? What if you were only allowed to use both engines on 5% of the roads? Yet the 2nd engine must always idle along with the first, using up extra fuel.
 
I had the Acer version of this and it was pretty nice. I swapped it out for the Gateway SU2300 version (dual core Celeron). The dual core is nicer, but it's also more money. For the price, it's hard to beat this deal.

Typing this from a Gateway EC1435u right now.
 
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