[Headphony]

I've been thinking about picking up one of these mini-notebooks for storage, player, and transport for a mini-system hooked up to a DAC/amp and phones. (Asus Eee PC, Acer Aspire One, Dell E, HP Mini Note, MSI Wind)

Two concerns:
1) My main concern is noise from the unit. I read that the HP mini-notebook runs hot and the fan turns on frequently. That's a major problem. I wonder if the other Atom processor based units produce much fan noise.

2) Does any one of these have SPDIF optical out? Probably not, in which case USB will need to be used for the output.

 

[divideby0]

My Asus EEE 1000H is very quiet. The fan is only apparent if you cover the cooling vent on the left side.

I'm not aware of any that have optical out. A USB solution is probably your best option for the purpose outlined above

 

[kaldaim]

I have the Eee 1000h as well and it is quiet. If you are in a very quiet room you might hear the hard disk clicking but the fan is very quiet.

I also do not know of a netbook with digital out.

The Eee 1000h is a great little machine and I'm very happy with it.

 

[slwiser]

I have ordered the Dell mini 910 and plan on using it with my DAC/Amp via USB and with an external Passbook HD with 320 GB so that all my audio files are with me.

 

[htbyron]

i have the eee pc 901 XP & it is very quiet (no HD). I run it with FLAC files on a SDHC card into an ibasso USB DAC/amp. Nice setup -- very small, light, portable. Battery life is incredible. When I'm using it for music, I shut off the screen & wifi, and the btt is still over 50% after 5 hours playing!

 

[blessingx]

Keep in mind your OS choice will play a part here too. I know my co-workers fan ran different amounts as he went back and fourth between Windows & Linux on his 701.

 

[slwiser]

Note: Dell mini does not have a fan.

 

[jamess71]

what software is available for linux using usb out to dac? This sounds like a great idea for a work rig for me. i work in a cube and currently use an iMod > Millet Max. This could be an even better sounding solution with a good dac.

James

 

[blessingx]

As another work iMod user, it should be pretty easy to beat that. Your iPod should.

Category:Linux media players - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Start with looking at XMMS, Amarok and Songbird. Like Windows and OS X, using standard USB drivers is pretty easy.

 

[EnOYiN]

I am using a Eee PC (1000) right now and I can assure you that it works great as a mp3 player and a netbook/laptop. I am mainly using it for school and music.

I am however wearing a HD25 right now so I couldn't tell you if it's dead silent or not, but I am guessing it is.

Seriously now, only when the load is 100% for a longer period of time you will hear the fan. In my opinion it's not really loud though.

 

[slwiser]

I don't understand yet but the Dell mini 910 on QVC has listed both OS: WinXP and Ubuntu. Maybe a dual boot or two sets of OS for my choice. Or just maybe wrong.

 

[EnOYiN]

Quote:

Originally Posted by slwiser /img/forum/go_quote.gif I don't understand yet but the Dell mini 910 on QVC has listed both OS: WinXP and Ubuntu. Maybe a dual boot or two sets of OS for my choice. Or just maybe wrong.

You would probably have to choose between them. A dual boot on a 16 GB hard drive isn't exactly ideal in my opinion.

 

[blessingx]

If it's like my co-workers 701 - he bought it with Windows, then requested on a repair the Linux files. He now uses the card reader to move the partition (or at least files I haven't witnessed) at will depending on the OS he wants. For space concerns he doesn't store both on the main drive.

 

[slwiser]

Quote:

Originally Posted by blessingx /img/forum/go_quote.gif If it's like my co-workers 701 - he bought it with Windows, then requested on a repair the Linux files. He now uses the card reader to move the partition (or at least files I haven't witnessed) at will depending on the OS he wants. For space concerns he doesn't store both on the main drive.

After ordering it I notice it comes with a complimentary 4GB flash drive. Maybe that is where one is located.

 

[blessingx]

Well keep in mind there's a price difference if you're paying for a Windows license. If you go with Windows route I'm sure you can find the Linux version on the web so could have both. Seems most of the netbooks use a customized version of Ubuntu, though not all.

Man, all this talk has me considering picking one up. Oh this 13" MacBook is so big!