Netbook Questions - Your suggestions?

F

Fennec

New Member
Hi guys,

I'm looking into buying a netbook or possibly a notebook that's as small as a netbook.

-Preferably a screen no bigger than 12" (I want it to be light and very portable.)
-$600 pre-taxes is my limit
-Primarily using it for internet/e-mail/chat programs/downloads/movies.
-Above average battery life. (8 hours would be nice.)

So my questions are these:

1.) Are the high-end models of netbook capable of playing Blu Ray quality and streaming it to a TV via HDMI without any choppiness or skipping? (Biggest concern.)
I see that they now have faster processors and also have NVIDIA/ATI graphics cards in them so I imagine they should be able to do this without any problem? I don't care about gaming on one, but I care about the quality of movie playback.

2.) Do any of them have USB 3.0 yet?

3.) A friend of mine was saying that the AMD processor is faster than the Intel processor.

Any tips would be welcome, as I am new to this technology.

Here's a link to a netbook that I was thinking about...

I want something of this caliber or higher..

Is Asus the best brand for netbooks?

http://www.frontierpc.com/computers/...019410021.html

Also where's the best place to buy one of these? I live in Canada, but we get ripped off up here as far as prices go....So I wouldn't have a problem ordering online, but I would want some sort of warranty if it happens to be defective in any way.

Thanks a bunch!

Edit: Also the netbooks typically come pre-installed with some version of Windows 7.... What do I do when I need to reformat? Do I need to buy my own copy of Win7 to reformat it?
 
DMGrier said:
This has HDMI, it also has the Nvidia ion graphics which is important when it comes down to playing bluray from a external bluray and accomplish 720p. I do not think netbooks are getting USB 3.0 for a while cause that would raise the cost.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220878
Click to expand...

Oh, I'm not talking about playing Blu Ray from an external Blu Ray.
I'm talking about playing Blu Ray from the netbook itself on the netbook or streaming it from the HDMI port to a TV.
 
12 inch is pretty close to a laptop if it's a Netbook then 9 inch fits the name. Problem with netbooks is screen graphics resolution being low, with many programs and Web. sites not supporting it. Also mine has a Intel ATOM processor not very powerful but requires less power. I had to upgrade memory for two Gb from the one that came installed.
Also upgraded the Win. OS to Win.7 Home edition.
ended up costing me as much as my 14 inch laptops that already have everything included plus a the better screen graphics resolution.
All I have is a smaller computer with the Netbook.
 
netbooks are nice, owned a Dell mini 9 with Ubuntu 8.04 on there. but in the end it does not replace a laptop in what they can do.

That is why I say get a good laptop for what you need and if it is to much for the road have a smart phone handy.
 
Fennec said:
LOL

I'm not talking about playing a Blu Ray from a disc. ;- )
Some netbooks do have optical drives, but I don't want one with a drive anyhow.
Click to expand...


So you're planning to transfer any software that comes on optical media to USB then yes?
 
DMGrier: I'm fairly certain I've seen netbooks in the past that came with optical drives, though it may have been a merchandising error. I certainly haven't seen any netbooks as of late that contain optical drives. I'm not going to argue this point with you.

Also some netbooks DO have USB 3.0. (I will link 2 at the bottom of the page.)

I do want to get a laptop eventually, but for what I want it will cost me about $2k+ pre-taxes and I don't want to put that sort of money out right now when I can spend about $500 pre-taxes for something that will do what I need it to for the time being.

Yes, 12" is getting closer to a notebook/laptop - agree. That's actually bigger than what I want, but the smaller you go the more cramped the keyboard gets and I have read that it can be difficult to adjust to typing on models that are 7-10" It would seem that the most powerful netbooks these days are 12" so that seems like a good spot for me to be since that is what I am after. (Power)

flanker: The models I'm looking at are: 1366 x 768 WXGA
Is that not sufficient enough? Also the two I link at the bottom can even play games at medium settings so I'm pretty sure they can do full 1080P on the netbook itself or streaming via HDMI to a TV. I've read that they can at least. They run it flawlessly.

Wolfeymole: I like your avatar. :- )
Yes, I am planning to transfer media via USB 2.0/3.0 or any software purchases online via my netbook.


These are the two models I'm looking at - check the specs. Most likely upgrading to 4 gig of RAM though.

Asus Lamborghini VX6-PU17-BK 12.1" LED Netbook - Atom D525 1.80 GHz - Black *
http://www.frontierpc.com/computers...mborghini-vx6-pu17-bk-netbook-1017516400.html

Asus Eee PC 1215B-PU17-BK 12.1" LED Netbook - Fusion E-350 1.60 GHz - Black **
http://www.frontierpc.com/computers.../eee-pc-1215b-pu17-bk-netbook-1019410021.html
 
Just to throw one in the discussion, what do you all think of this one....
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/HP+-+Pavilion+Laptop+/+AMD+E-Series+Processor+/+11.6%22+Display+/+3GB+Memory+/+320GB+Hard+Drive+-+Black/2821773.p?id=1218354580658&skuId=2821773&st=dm1&cp=1&lp=1

If you have a Best Buy near you (I think they're called Future Shop in Canada? hell if I know) they might have the previous generation of this one for $100 cheaper, with almost no difference.... I'm actually thinking of getting one of these for my girlfriend to take to school (she wants something small but hates her netbook because it's slow because of the n450.)
 
At a $600 budget I would try to get one of those AMD E series dual core CPUs. They're faster than Intel Atom processors and can actually handle some multimedia.

And 12" laptops generally don't have any sort of optical drives, so don't count on it.
 
fennec, I am not certain but I know netbooks do not have optical drives, they are already compact not to mention the room a disc drive would use. There is no room for it.

usb 3.0 must be newer to netbook and I can tell you 90% of current models do not carry usb 3.0 for cost reasons.

Also Hp is not a good company for quality issues, So I would not recommend the one listed in the link above.
 
billabong27:

I *think* that's the HP DM1Z. (Says DM1) on the site anyhow.
Some of HP's products look decent from an aesthetic stand point but I don't believe their build is quality. (From what I've heard/read in the past.)
I was looking at that computer as an alternative, but read some pretty nasty customer reviews which turned me off. I may have another look though. We have both Best Buy and Future Shop in Canada. Best Buy bought Future Shop but kept Future Shop as a separate entity.

Also after doing quite a bit of research on the Asus Eee PC 1215B
I found out that it has a defective trackpad. MANY compaints. DO NOT BUY.
I was sad. :(

I'm probably going to have to open up my budget to get something decent and that's that.

I'm looking at this Lenovo - Lenovo ThinkPad X120e 05962RU 11.6" LED Notebook E-350 1.6GHz - Matte Black

http://www.frontierpc.com/computers...inkpad-x120e-05962ru-notebook-1019349583.html

Or I may get this Alienware:

Mx11

http://www.dell.com/us/p/alienware-m11x-r3/pd.aspx

Or the $999 model.
 
Do you plan to travel a lot Fennec because if you're not then I feel you will end up regretting the day you ever thought about buying a Netbook.

In my opinion the best netbook ever simply does not measure up when it comes to a proper full on Laptop.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top