wraithfodder | I'd like a smartphone or iPhone, but....

I'd like a smartphone or iPhone, but....

While the phones aren't too pricey, the monthly plans are too much. I mean, I'd have to dump cable if I did that, so.... I'm looking for a netbook, one of those mini PCs so I can check my email at lunch (since all email at work is considered 'evil' - so AOL, Yahoo - is blocked, as are all 'social networking' places, including now, sniffle, Twitter).

So, does anybody have one or recommend any or hints on what I should look for on one? Thanks in advance!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

My friend has the Acer one he picked up at CostCo. It's a great little netbook. He loves it.

Another friend has the Dell netbook. The little color ones. That's the one I'm leaning towards but the Acer is cheaper and will be fine for what you are doing.

I saw the Acer at Staples this weekend. It was, of course, sold out. Hmm, Costco. Our membership lapsed. Maybe it's time to re-up...

I have a HP mini netbook and love it.

Is there just the one? The abundance of models/styles just fries my brain cells. Hopefully mini netbooks are just a handful! How do you load software to it? I'm thinking all I want is Word, AOL (yes, i still use it), and access to the web.

The one I have only has 1gb of memory. The newer models have more. That's it for HP models that I know. There is no DVD slot on my HP mini, you'd have to load Word via external drive. It came with MSWorks and IE7. I don't use AOL so I didn't notice if it came preloaded or not. Any software you can DL from the web would work on the netbook, assuming it had enough disk space and memory.

I wish I had gotten a minibook instead of the huge 17" monster lappy I got from Dell, which is now collecting dust as I never even used it.

The dell Mini is nice and comes in a variety of colors

I have a 15" laptop but lugging it around is too much, so need a smaller option. Thanks!

I got an Acer Aspire One in January and I love it. =)

The netbooks in "my" price range (about 300 Euro, then) seemed to be quite similar regarding the technical stuff (Windows XP as OS, size of harddisk, RAM, processor, number of USB/SD slots, etc).

When I looked around at stores and tested several netbooks, I found my main criteria were:

- keyboard:
all of them have a relatively small keyboard of course, but the arrangement or slightly larger keys can make all the difference. Actually I choose the Aspire One mainly because it was the only one I could really write with

- display size / resolution:
the maximum (then) was 1024x600 px, which means more-often-than-usual vertical scrolling on websites or programs (and even not being able to use some programs because they simply need more vertical resolution); but that point may be moot, I think many netbooks have bigger displays now

- battery power:
sadly not the Aspire One's strongest suit (lasts only 2 hours), but may be an important point depending on how you plan to use the netbook

- general robustness *g*
(assumed you want to carry it around with you)

Thanks for all the detailed info. This helps in making a decision. :)

Since your subject line does mention iphones, I just thought I'd mention that the itouch is just like a iphone but with no phone service. It does have wifi, so if your workplace has wifi, you can use the itouch to access your email.

I have one of the little Dell netbooks, and I like it just fine. I love the keyboard and the battery life is good. The mouse pad seems a little "sticky" and sometimes a little hard to control, but nothing terrible. Check out the screen sizes to see which one works best for you before you buy.

I do NOT have Word on mine, just the Works or whatever that came with it.

Thanks! Whatever I get I plan to load on Word :)

Just a thought, but I have an iPod Touch 2 generation, which has WiFi, which I can use at work, I am able to check my email, and with different apps, many of which are free, I am able to Twitter, Facebook, LiveJournal, Documents, etc...
No monthly fees, but of course it's not a phone, but neither are the netbooks.

It's small and really just perfect. Can carry it my pocket of my scrub top and not worry about it's size. Anyway, just a thought. ^_^

I never even heard of iTouch till it was mentioned here. Hmm, a netbook and an iTouch would be nice. So would winning lotto! ;)

I suggest going to Best Buy and trying out all the models to see if you like the key feel, mouse pad and screen display. I was just there yesterday and tried out models from Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, Compaq, Toshiba and Sony. I personally liked the key feel of the Dell, although the mousepad/mouse keys aren't my favorite. My friends have Asus netbooks and they like them fine.

Netbooks all seem to have about the same configuration - 1 GB RAM, 1.6 GHz processor speed, 10" screen, 1024x600 screen resolution, 160 GB hard drive, webcam, Windows XP SP3, weight about 2.5 pounds. No CD/DVD drive. Some netbooks come with Linux instead of Windows. Linux is cheaper than Windows, so the cost of the netbook should be cheaper.

I was just browsing, so I didn't ask if there was a difference in additional software.

I was just researching these myself. The ASUS EEE PC seems to be best reviewed and has the best battery life and a comfortable keyboard. Sony just came out with a netbook version of their VAIO that has a higher resolution screen, but the keyboard is less functional and I think the battery life is not so good. Basically netbooks are ok if you just want to check email and do some browsing or word processing, but they are very slow for multitasking. Processor speed has been sacrificed for price and battery life, seems like. However, I will probably eventually get one for travelling, but will wait for one with good battery life, a good keyboard, and higher resolution screen.

I'd like one even if they are slower, due to convenience. Hate to say it, but I like net access all the time. All the good stuff - twitter (sniff), email, etc. - blocked at work.

Would you even be able to access the internet at work with a netbook? You'd need a separate (unblocked) network to connect to.

Oh yes, have tried out the laptop (the HEAVIER laptop) and it pulls in cable WiFi, which fortunately runs along the road my work building is on ;)

But now I'm looking at iTouchs and going "oooh, teh pretty..." Darn. I need more money.

I have an Asus EEE PC as my research showed them to have the best battery life. It does indeed last surprisingly long on battery power and it also has a decent size keyboard (which reviews indicated was a problem with some others). I doubled the memory cheaply from crucial.com and have been very happy with it. The only drawback is it fingerprints very easily, but that's not a real problem. As for loading things on to it, external CD/DVD drives are fairly inexpensive now, or if it's something you can copy you can always use a flash drive since they are incredibly cheap now. One more consideration, my friend has an HP Mini and she really likes it (even the keyboard is pink), but the mouse buttons are on the side of the touchpad instead of beneath it. I find this annoying as I'm used to using the touchpad. She uses a mini mouse so it doesn't bother her. I just got a mini mouse at Target on clearance for $8 so that's also an option to replace the touchpad.

Thanks! :) A mini mouse? Gotta check that out!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I'd like a smartphone or iPhone, but....

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

netbooks

netbooks

Re: netbooks

Re: netbooks

Re: netbooks

netbooks

Re: netbooks