Netbooks

[ecobag2]

Anyone own one of these little computers? What do you think about using it ... pretty small.

Is it still useful for word processing and doing a few things or mostly viewing.

I'm also wondering if anyone's purchased an Acer Aspire One ... it comes with a stripped down Linux OS it looks like ... now I'm wondering if I might just be able to put XP Home on there and have it function well enough.

I was just checking the specs on one and said that os varies by model and also there seems to be two chipsets.. I imagine the chipset would affect which os can be installed... and I mean installed and used for purposes other than a paperweight.

Mobile Intel® 945GSE Express Chipset
Mobile Intel® 82801GBM Chipset

[SatCam]

Anyone own one of these little computers? What do you think about using it ... pretty small.

Is it still useful for word processing and doing a few things or mostly viewing.

I'm also wondering if anyone's purchased an Acer Aspire One ... it comes with a stripped down Linux OS it looks like ... now I'm wondering if I might just be able to put XP Home on there and have it function well enough.

I was just checking the specs on one and said that os varies by model and also there seems to be two chipsets.. I imagine the chipset would affect which os can be installed... and I mean installed and used for purposes other than a paperweight.

Mobile Intel® 945GSE Express Chipset
Mobile Intel® 82801GBM Chipset

as long as the CPUs run the same architecture (which they do) then they can run XP. it is like being able to install XP on both Intel and AMD processors without any issue.

I don't imagine there would be an issue running XP as far as performance goes. not that I have tried one or anything.......... But I think the linux installed on the system is specially made for the screen size, so it tries to make the experience of using a tiny screen more bearable (I dont think you could call it "stripped down" though)

Dell came out with the Inspiron "Mini" which is the same idea, and it comes with either Ubuntu linux or XP.

[jimcfan]

I just assumed these came with XP, but I have read some of the specs and as long as there are drivers I don't imagine there would be a problem. I think XP does have support for other processors than AMD or Intel. I remember reading about it at some point but have forgotten.

[meanmrbill]

I don't have one but have read a bit about them. They are good for word processing and web surfing, not much more. They are very cool as a second computer to use when traveling, at the coffee shop, etc. I don't know about changing the OS but wouldn't suggest changing it until doing some serious research. I wouldn't mind having one of these in the future.

[instrument]

Most don't come with xp to alleviate cost............

Just consider before you get one if a better cellphone would do the samething you're looking to do with a netbook.

In most cases a blackberry/iphone/android will do the same thing most people want out of a netbook.

But if you just need a cheap laptop for home use go for it.

[ecobag2]

as long as the CPUs run the same architecture (which they do) then they can run XP. it is like being able to install XP on both Intel and AMD processors without any issue.

I don't imagine there would be an issue running XP as far as performance goes. not that I have tried one or anything.......... But I think the linux installed on the system is specially made for the screen size, so it tries to make the experience of using a tiny screen more bearable (I dont think you could call it "stripped down" though)

Dell came out with the Inspiron "Mini" which is the same idea, and it comes with either Ubuntu linux or XP.

I was reading a little further... the model is identical with the XP OS but with 512 extra RAM. Which makes sense as I seem to remember Windows is more of a memory hog over Linux any version.

[Bob Impact]

Some of the IT guys at work have these, they just showed me a prototype one running all solidstate drives, look great for salesmen, and work better in the dock then most laptops (don't fuck up DPI/scaling switching monitors, etc), but for me, I need more power than they can give though.

[cyanide]

I bought my daughter a Asus Netbook on newegg for $350. It runs XP. They are great for web browsing and work processing. We put Steam on it and she can play Peggle just fine on it.

[ecobag2]

I bought my daughter a Asus Netbook on newegg for $350. It runs XP. They are great for web browsing and work processing. We put Steam on it and she can play Peggle just fine on it.

ooh - nice - I think i just got the same one for my chick. I was hesitant to get the Linux one for $50 cheaper - fine for me. I enjoy something other than windows any day... but she's likely to balk at something computer related that she has to put any extra effort into.

Anyway the bastards got it to me quick - it did ship from Edison (3 days since the order was final) but forgot the case. But the unit's here so that'll be good for under the points. The case can wait.

[celery]

I'm real close to pulling the trigger on the Aspire One.

I dropped by Circuit City tonight, but they didn't have one on display - the salesman said they don't want to waste use one as a display model because they know they can sell it.

Anyways, I'm gonna try to get some hands-on time tomorrow at Costco - if I like it, I'll probably order it from Amazon because I have a giftcard. This model has a 6 cell battery, which is supposed to last 4-6 hours. From what I'm reading, the main downside is the trackpad is a little hard to use. Overall people seem to love these things. It's the top selling netbook (http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/09/acer-takes-the-most-netbooks-sold-crown-from-asus/).

http://www.amazon.com/Acer-8-9-Inch-Netbook-Processor-Battery/dp/B001FBW1NC/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1229656983&sr=8-2#

[Leticia]

I have one and it's pretty friggin sweet.

It really has most of the thing a regular laptop does except for the cd drive which I never used anyway. I download all my cds and movies.
It's a really good netbook for it's kind.It's a Samsung NC10

http://www.samsung.com/us/consumer/detail/detail.do?group=computersperipherals&type=mobilecomputing&subtype=netbook&model_cd=NP-NC10-KA02US

it came with windows xp and we bought 2 gb of ram for it so it can have double what it comes with. :)

I recommend this one!

Chris said it's one of the better netbooks and he's a computer.. uh, gentleman.

By the way we still got it new but off of ebay and it was pretty cheap.

[Cockstrong]

I'm real close to pulling the trigger on the Aspire One.

I dropped by Circuit City tonight, but they didn't have one on display - the salesman said they don't want to waste use one as a display model because they know they can sell it.

Anyways, I'm gonna try to get some hands-on time tomorrow at Costco - if I like it, I'll probably order it from Amazon because I have a giftcard. This model has a 6 cell battery, which is supposed to last 4-6 hours. From what I'm reading, the main downside is the trackpad is a little hard to use. Overall people seem to love these things. It's the top selling netbook (http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/09/acer-takes-the-most-netbooks-sold-crown-from-asus/).

http://www.amazon.com/Acer-8-9-Inch-Netbook-Processor-Battery/dp/B001FBW1NC/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1229656983&sr=8-2#

If battery life is a concern, you should really check out the NC10. Leticia's lasts over 7 hours on a single charge (6 cell battery) with wi-fi on.

[celery]

I just got my Aspire One the other day, and I'm enjoying it so far. It was $350 at Circuity City. It's taking a little getting used to the small keyboard and screen, but it's perfect for using around the house and traveling - right now I'm surfing Ronfez.net at my mom's house.

Some small complaints:

* The internal speaker sucks, and it's pretty tough to listen to music on
* I got the 3 cell battery, and that only gets about 3 hours of life on a charge. I'm sort of wishing I got the slightly more expensive 6 cell battery, even though it sticks out the back a little bit.

Everyone I've showed it to has fallen in love with it :) I'm going to pick up this mouse (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/rebates/B000TKHBDK/ref=dp_rebates_1?ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&s=electronics) tomorrow, which I think will be a perfect addition.

http://i43.tinypic.com/2z40dqg.jpg