[Edwood]

Netbooks?

I don't need no stinkin Netbooks!

I just can't live with anything less than 1280x768 screen resolution.

-Ed

 

[Kirosia]

Is the black one for your hamsters?

 

[Inkmo]

lols! I see me on those monitors. Yeah, some of the really expensive stuff that is available looked really interesting. the problem is that some of those things would cost me a full pay cycle or more!

 

[darkninja67]

The new HP Mini 1000 looks good but it becomes pricey once you add a larger drive to it and such. It is sexy though.

The Acer Aspire looks like a winner to me but only with a 6 cell and regular hard drive. The SSDs tend to be horrid for write speeds. I wish they would make them with the trackpad buttons on the bottom but that would compromise the size. Plus I plan on using a mouse anyway.

Any of you guys get the Aspire One in the brown color? Pics of it in real world settings? The blue looks good too but reminds me of the Toshibas I used to sell.

 

[Inkmo]

I ended up with the eeepc. I couldn't get as excited about the aspire.... maybe because its bigger, or because I really wanted to try out a computer with linux and an SSD. I might try to steer my mom or my friends into getting the other one so I can play with it, too. For now, I'm enjoying my tiny laptop.

 

[darkninja67]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Inkmo /img/forum/go_quote.gif I ended up with the eeepc. I couldn't get as excited about the aspire.... maybe because its bigger, or because I really wanted to try out a computer with linux and an SSD. I might try to steer my mom or my friends into getting the other one so I can play with it, too. For now, I'm enjoying my tiny laptop.

Which model Eee?

 

[nineohtoo]

Whichever you got, have fun hacking it it.

I'm currently putting Leopard on my X300(and acquiring Windows 7 to also install), but I'm gonna keep my 701 eeepc around just because of all the things I can do with it, and the fact that I was an eager early adopter who can't get my money back lol. But really, I had Tiger running successfully minus timing, and not being able to sync with my iPhone. I was very happy with xp. I'm gonna try installing ubuntu and a touch screen on it now. They're fun toys and there's so much support online.

 

[darkninja67]

Man I am digging the Asus Eee PC 1000HA. I think I may grab that over the Acer as I like the larger keyboard and there is not as much unused real estate around the LCD. Also it has a matte screen which can be nice.

 

[MrEr1c]

Just to let everyone know, buy.com is having a special on the Asus Eee PC 900-BK039X. It's only $340 with free shipping. I saw it on Hot Deals Club - frequently updated with the best deals and thought i'd let everyone know.

I've been researching these things quite a bit over the last day and it seems I will go with the Aspire One. I just wish that they had a model with the 6-cell battery and with ssd instead of the 160gb hdd. I imagine that would give outstanding battery life seeing as how the 6-cell with normal hdd gets around 5.5 hours.

 

[darkninja67]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrEr1c /img/forum/go_quote.gif Just to let everyone know, buy.com is having a special on the Asus Eee PC 900-BK039X. It's only $340 with free shipping. I saw it on Hot Deals Club - frequently updated with the best deals and thought i'd let everyone know. I've been researching these things quite a bit over the last day and it seems I will go with the Aspire One. I just wish that they had a model with the 6-cell battery and with ssd instead of the 160gb hdd. I imagine that would give outstanding battery life seeing as how the 6-cell with normal hdd gets around 5.5 hours.

Why the Acer Aspire over the Asus models? I was in the Acer camp but like larger screen of the Asus Eee PCs. Are you going to use your netbook a lot outside the house?

I plan on just using mine in my house rather than firing up my gaming PC just to update Facebook and check for emails. Good choice for me I guess. About to order right now. gah

 

[Inkmo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by darkninja67 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Which model Eee?

the 900a. It's the linux one with 1gig ram, the atom processor, and a 4 gig SSD. I bought a 16 gig SD card for it last night, so storage is no issue.

I really like the this computer and it seems to handle surfing the web and chatting well. I turned off tap to click on the touchpad, though, because it seemed I was constantly accidentally clicking things. Typing is no big deal, either.

My only real complaint is that it apparently can't play mp3s and surf webpages at the same time. The music skips when it's thinking. I'm hoping a better OS might help this. Also, and this is weird, but last night I noticed that in the left channel through the headphone jack, I would get periodic hissing. I think it's software related, because it would start abruptly (like with a click, almost, like when you turn on a receiver) when something happened in IRC, and it would end abruptly if I changed anything software wise that had to do with the audio channels (i.e. adjusting the volume, turning on an mp3 or youtube. That's right, they'd make the hiss stop, not just play over it.)

Also, sudoku doesn't work. I've noticed this is a common problem. I still have hope for the hardware, but I'm thinking a lot of the software it came with is trash...


To the guy digging the 1000H: That thing is basically an aspire one, but without the atom processor, from what I've seen. It has an SSD, as well. The more I read, the more I think that picking between SSD and HDD isn't as big a deal. For what it's worth, SSD machines aren't totally silent. Mine makes fan noise and gets warm when it's really thinking. Actually, I think the aspire one may have a smaller monitor but in a chassis the same size. However, they're probably both the same resolution, so they'll feel as cramped...

 

[darkninja67]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Inkmo /img/forum/go_quote.gif the 900a. It's the linux one with 1gig ram, the atom processor, and a 4 gig SSD. I bought a 16 gig SD card for it last night, so storage is no issue. I really like the this computer and it seems to handle surfing the web and chatting well. I turned off tap to click on the touchpad, though, because it seemed I was constantly accidentally clicking things. Typing is no big deal, either. My only real complaint is that it apparently can't play mp3s and surf webpages at the same time. The music skips when it's thinking. I'm hoping a better OS might help this. Also, and this is weird, but last night I noticed that in the left channel through the headphone jack, I would get periodic hissing. I think it's software related, because it would start abruptly (like with a click, almost, like when you turn on a receiver) when something happened in IRC, and it would end abruptly if I changed anything software wise that had to do with the audio channels (i.e. adjusting the volume, turning on an mp3 or youtube. That's right, they'd make the hiss stop, not just play over it.) Also, sudoku doesn't work. I've noticed this is a common problem. I still have hope for the hardware, but I'm thinking a lot of the software it came with is trash... To the guy digging the 1000H: That thing is basically an aspire one, but without the atom processor, from what I've seen. It has an SSD, as well. The more I read, the more I think that picking between SSD and HDD isn't as big a deal. For what it's worth, SSD machines aren't totally silent. Mine makes fan noise and gets warm when it's really thinking. Actually, I think the aspire one may have a smaller monitor but in a chassis the same size. However, they're probably both the same resolution, so they'll feel as cramped...

Thanks for your impressions.
This is the Asus I am looking at: Amazon.com: ASUS Eee PC 1000HA 10-Inch Netbook (1.6 GHz Intel ATOM N270 Processor, 1 GB RAM, 160 GB Hard Drive, XP Home, 6 Cell Battery) Pearl White: Computers & PC Hardware

160GB drive and Atom proc. The other thing I like about the Asus is it is easy to make upgrades to the RAM and drive.

Still debating if I want one now or wait until Christmas.

 

[MrEr1c]

Quote:

Originally Posted by darkninja67 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Why the Acer Aspire over the Asus models? I was in the Acer camp but like larger screen of the Asus Eee PCs. Are you going to use your netbook a lot outside the house? I plan on just using mine in my house rather than firing up my gaming PC just to update Facebook and check for emails. Good choice for me I guess. About to order right now. gah

Well, from the reviews that i have read, they all seem to favor the acer over the asus and other models (except pretty much the expensive hp models). Screen size doesn't mean much to me. I just prefer the keyboard quality and i guess the overall quality of the machine, as i have read. I plan on using it only to pretty much bring to the library and stuff. i already have a nice laptop but made the mistake of going with a 17" screen. BIG mistake. So all i'll be using the netbook for is pretty much just word processing and a little net surfing/research.

Just keep in mind I haven't actually SEEN any of these netbooks in person. All my research has been online reading reviews/impressions and looking at pics. As i mentioned, I started researching about these only last night.

My biggest concern is battery life and size, but they are all pretty much equally small enough. And i guess price is a priority.


One question i do have is: Would it be possible to change hard drives in any of the netbooks from normal hdd to Solid state?

 

[Inkmo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by darkninja67 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Thanks for your impressions. This is the Asus I am looking at: Amazon.com: ASUS Eee PC 1000HA 10-Inch Netbook (1.6 GHz Intel ATOM N270 Processor, 1 GB RAM, 160 GB Hard Drive, XP Home, 6 Cell Battery) Pearl White: Computers & PC Hardware 160GB drive and Atom proc. The other thing I like about the Asus is it is easy to make upgrades to the RAM and drive. Still debating if I want one now or wait until Christmas.

Ah, well that basically IS an Aspire. Only with a larger screen and battery.

For what it's worth, the 900a has either a three or four cell (not sure), but I think I'm getting over three hours in battery life with it. I haven't timed it, but I've been playing with it nearly every moment I haven't been in the car the past couple of days.

Mr Eric: Definitely go to a Best Buy or a Fry's to see/try them out before you buy one. Just play around and see how the things feel. That, and as I use this computer more and more, I'm finding little things that none of the reviews could have prepared me for : ex. the mp3 player skipping while web browsing, which I think will be a real deal breaker for our set. I'm already finding myself wondering how things may have been different with the acer, but I'm gonna keep at this and see what I can make this little notebook do.

 

[Inkmo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrEr1c /img/forum/go_quote.gif One question i do have is: Would it be possible to change hard drives in any of the netbooks from normal hdd to Solid state?

I seriously doubt it.... How tech savvy are you? I don't think it will be possible to change from, say, HDD to SSD, but it may be possible to switch out SSDs or HDDs. It also depends where you are. The 900a here only has the soldered on SSD, but the UK one has room for a second SSD expansion up to 16gigs (this is aside from the card reader in the side of the machine)

Go to engadget and check out some of the hacks they have there. It's not like people aren't opening these things up and sticking different components in them, but it's something that is way over my head as I am a woefully inept solderer.