Netbooks - not a bad little package

[Julius Seeker]

So I am writing from my new Acer Aspire right now. To be honest, I didn't really pay attention to these before until I saw a nice little sale at Staples and Futureshop for $319, I mean, $319? Are you shitting me? That's CAD, rather than USD; I am sure you can get them in the US for even less than this.

Three hour battery life, which is more than three times longer than my laptop (just over 50 minutes); and it feels much more portable than a laptop. Rather than something you carry around just to sit on another desk somewhere in order to be comfortable, this one actually feels like it belongs in your lap. Very comfortable for the living room setting.

Specs: Windows XP, 1.6 GHz CPU, 1GB RAM, 8.9 inch screen, 160GB storage, multi-card reader, 3 USB ports, speakers in the bottom. All in a package that fits in your girlfriend/wife's purse.

They're also very stylish, the thing reminds me a lot of the DS lite (heh, the ads even look like they took a page out of Nintendo's book; with them all lined up with the various delicious looking colours =P I don't know, maybe I'm weird here, but I always thought the DS Lite ads made them look like expensive and highly refreshing popsicles). The keyboard is fairly comfortable too. the thing weighs about 2 pounds.

The main thing, unlike a laptop, this is an easy purchase to make for the price. A good compliment to a home desktop.

[Flip]

I agree with you completely. As i sit here in a coffee shop with my big 15 inch screen laptop, i keep thinking to myself that i want to invest in a good desktop for the home and a little netbook for times like this. That combo would fit my life perfectly.

[Oracle]

I bought my fiance an Acer Aspire, the one with the 8GB SSD instead of the 160GB HDD, think it was $299.

Great little device for lookign stuff up while on the couch, or for when Kyra does homework.

[Zeus]

I agree with you completely. As i sit here in a coffee shop with my big 15 inch screen laptop, i keep thinking to myself that i want to invest in a good desktop for the home and a little netbook for times like this. That combo would fit my life perfectly.

A 15.4in laptop is a problem in a coffee shop? I took my laptop all over Israel and Egypt and I never once said "Fuck, I wish it was 2-4 in smaller and weight 3 pounds less. This is unbearable!"

[Shellie]

We have a little Asus EEEPC, its a 7 something screen, works perfect for looking up stuff while watching tv or playing video games. Great for the kitchen, etc. It fits in my purse and weighs hardly anything. Only paid $159 for it too

[Tessian]

I was looking around at netbooks after reading this thread... really it seems I could have bought a Netbook instead of the laptop over a year ago since all I use it for is Netbook related things... but what really caught my eye is that Dell's Mini 10 now comes with GPS! Sure it's an extra $70 and pushes the netbook into the ~$480 range, but my current GPS is dying yet I don't use it enough to justify buying a new one this would be a perfect compromise. Too bad if you add on the GPS and the required HD screen to the Mini 10 the estimated ship date gets pushed back to Sept 2

[Louis]

I have an Asus EeePC 1000H (10" screen; 160GB HD; 1GB memory; Draft-N wireless). I paid $329 US back in February. I like it. It came with Windows XP but now I'm dual booting with Ubuntu Netbook Remix 9.04. Ubuntu boots much faster and really is faster overall. The only complaint I have is trying to watch video. Even watching regular YouTube, it stutters. Anything in HD resolutions is not watchable.

[bovine]

I've had an acer aspire one for around a year now (even posted a thread on it) and it came with some janky keys. I sent it in about a week after I got it, got it back a couple weeks later and everything has been running smoothly since. It's the 160GB one like Seeker has, except it has the larger capacity battery that lasts around 6 hours. It's a great companion to a good desktop setup since you do all of your main stuff on the desktop and then just shuttle media over to the netbook. Laptops are awesome and all, but for the netbook is just an amazing solution for me as a student who can take it to class, jam notes off it all day without recharging, and then throw all those notes on my desktop for future reading.

[Tessian]

Whenever I finally get my certification results back my company will finally pay me back for the fees... enough to easily pay for a nice netbook. The question will be whether to try to get the Dell one with a GPS or not... not sure since reviews I've seen of the Mini 10 so far call it a very average netbook with an annoying touchpad and the only way this'll break out on its own is with all the extra addons like GPS and TV Tuners that they just started offering.

Looks like you can buy USB/Bluetooth addons to add GPS to your netbook but they're kinda expensive :\

[Flip]

Asus rolled out some new Eee PC models dubbed 'Seashells' that look very attractive. I may have to pull the trigger.

http://www.amazon.com/1008HA-Seashell-1 ... B0029PQFT4

and

http://www.amazon.com/ASUS-1005HA-PU1X- ... 705&sr=1-1

The first being ultra thin and the second a little thicker with better battery life.

[Tessian]

Asus rolled out some new Eee PC models dubbed 'Seashells' that look very attractive. I may have to pull the trigger.

http://www.amazon.com/1008HA-Seashell-1 ... B0029PQFT4

and

http://www.amazon.com/ASUS-1005HA-PU1X- ... 705&sr=1-1

The first being ultra thin and the second a little thicker with better battery life.

I was looking at them again last night... the ASUS 1005HA is probably what I'd go with; it has everything I want (except GPS but only Dell has that) and at a good price.

Now the question is-- will I actually USE the damned thing?