Thinking about getting a netbook

I am looking at the netbooks, and wanted a couple of opinions it you have used it. I am looking at this HP. All I need it to do is get online, and run a life insurance illustration program so I need it to be XP.

[floydp]

I think the HP has a keyboard that's almost full size, 92 % I think. Have heard nothing but good things about the HP netbooks.

[BamBam]

I have an ASUS EEE PC and I love it. No vibration from the fan like the Acer. The look is sleek and thin. The keybooard is great, plus it runs XP. Cheaper than the HP also I believe.

[AD720]

I am sooo close to picking up a Dell Mini 9 for a hacintosh project. I have a couple more things to craigslist and then I am pulling the trigger.

I have looked at Asus, but would rather have a larger keyboard.

I am also thinking about a HP 460 printer as well.

[BamBam]

Originally Posted by Junior

I have looked at Asus, but would rather have a larger keyboard.

They are the same size keyboard (92%). You may be thinking of an older Asus.

This is the one I just bought Asus EEE

160 Gb Hard Drive on the Asus vs. 16 Gb on the HP.

If you're a techy type (I'm not) here's their specs

HP Specs
Asus Specs

I just bought mine a few weeks ago and love it. Whatever you go with make sure you try before you buy. I was gonna buy an Acer netbook until I tried one in the store. The fan creates such a vibration it felt like it was putting my hands to sleep. Almost bought one online before I tried it.

[AD720]

Originally Posted by BamBam

They are the same size keyboard (92%). You may be thinking of an older Asus.

This is the one I just bought Asus EEE

160 Gb Hard Drive on the Asus vs. 16 Gb on the HP.

If you're a techy type (I'm not) here's their specs

HP Specs
Asus Specs

But the HP's hard drive is an SSD. That makes a big difference with speed and battery life.

[BamBam]

Originally Posted by AD720

But the HP's hard drive is an SSD. That makes a big difference with speed and battery life.

Would the extra battery cell in the Asus make up for this?

The HP says it goes for 3 hours. I believe that's the same as my Asus

[BORIStheBLADE]

I have one of the Acer Aspire 1's and really like it.
The only thing I dont like about it is battery life on the 3 cell one only last about 2 hours. Make sure you get one with a decent battery.

There are alot of new ones coming out, I'm jealous.

[SeanGAR]

I have a Lenovo S10. Bought one for my wife too. 2.5" SATA hard drive (not 1.8"), simple memory upgrade ... I love it. Fast enough to do online classes with or without streaming video.

Price has dropped lately ... the 512K/80GB should be between 300-350. Add 2 GB RAM for 20-30 bucks and you're all set.

I had installed OS/X on it using online instructions, Mint and Suse Linux also install perfectly, although I currently use XPP/32.

Oh .. battery is 3 cell, providing 2-3 hours. I have seen 9 cell on the bay that would bring the time up to all day ... but batteries last 2 years or so then then suck. Don't know if I'll bother. I prefer the light weight.

Thanks SeanGar I am a big IBM/Lenovo fan. I have four T42 laptops that I really like, and won't have to replace anytime soon. The S10 looks to be in my price range, and maybe the one.

[AD720]

Originally Posted by BamBam

Would the extra battery cell in the Asus make up for this?

The HP says it goes for 3 hours. I believe that's the same as my Asus

Not sure.

But if I were to get a Netbook it would definitely be one with an SSD hard drive. Beyond battery life it is also nice to have no moving parts. But I wouldn't use it was a regular computer so the small amount of storage wouldn't be an issue for me.

[alley00p]

I've been using a MSI U100 (basically a clone of the ASUS) for about 6 months, and I love it! The keyboard is 95% of the size of a full-size unit and it came with a built-in webcam, 160GB hdu and I upgraded the memory for about $50.

I mainly bought it for it's small size and light weight; I schlepp it out to the mini-mancave every night to banter while smoking a stick and drinking a favorite adult beverage. Battery life with the 3 cell is about 3 hours, and I've been thinking about buying the larger 6 cell battery, but what I did is buy an extra power supply unit which I leave out in the MMC, and I also bought a wireless Logitech mouse, mainly cuz I hate the touch pad on all of these.

The MSI is available at Best Buy so you could scope out the keyboard and screen, which are both perfect for surfing the net and email and such.

[Sauer Grapes]

Originally Posted by AD720

I am sooo close to picking up a Dell Mini 9 for a hacintosh project. I have a couple more things to craigslist and then I am pulling the trigger.

Did it with my mini. I used the type 11 method. It's still kind of buggy, and while I prefer mac os x, IMO, XP gets the slight edge on the mini.

[Sauer Grapes]

Junior, you might want to wait for the Dell mini 10 to come out. Dell has really started to make some good products recently, and the mini 9 is a nice little netbook. The mini 10 should just be that much better.