A netbook as we’ve come to know it is a small laptop that is cheap. That’s about it, although the term can be confusing, as larger notebooks are sometimes called netbooks, since that is currently the hot buzzword. So you want to get a small, cheap notebook (or netbook) if you will, what are the five things you should know…
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2,574 Responses
12.10.2008
Right becuase a useful computer for you= a useful computer for everyone?
12.10.2008
Just get used to the alt key. You’re gonna need it for stupid applications that dont scale their interface down enoughfor low resolution devices. I love my eeepc 701. My 2gb ram stick should be hitting my mailbox right about nowfrom Newegg.Who would even want to use Windows on one of these things? These devices are purely designed for beinga great ultra mobile linux box.
12.10.2008
My university doesn’t officially provide support for Linux when it comes to getting on our network. This causes it to be more of a pain in the ass than it should be. There are people who have found work arounds, but the average time it takes to get it to work is about 30 minutes once you are familiar with how to do it. By then class is pretty much done and I have missed over half the notes for the day."Why do you need Internet in class?" I use it to sync my notes with Evernote so that I can access them on my desktop later. And if you are asking this you obviously have never had a 7:30am Economics Powerhour..Christ it’s so boring.
12.10.2008
XP works better on my 10" Asus Eee. It has all of the power management software and drivers from Asus. Overall, I get probably another hour or so of battery life from XP vs. Linux.
12.10.2008
I installed Windows on mine. I did not like the builtin dumbed down Linux. I tried Ubuntu (specifically eeexubuntu and ubuntueee) and there were issues there, like hotkeys not working.Windows XP works great on it. I use hibernation so that startup time is fast. And I use eeectl (a Windows app) to overclock the CPU to 972 MHz.
12.10.2008
The person who wrote that, doesn’t have a sub-notebook, ans hasn’t used Linux before.
12.10.2008
I ditched my EEE 701(okay, I still have it) for an Acer Aspire One, and never looked back.
12.10.2008
When will we drop the term book?
12.10.2008
6. How about NO ***** CD DRIVE?
12.10.2008
I think that’s the point of a netbook… it shouldn’t have a CD drive. People who use netbooks usually are the type who throw it in a bag with books and papers, and worry about the thickness of the device, not the footprint. Hence why a CD drive is just about impossible. And, besides installing CD-based software, which is rare nowadays, how often would you actually use a CD? Especially on a tiny, mobile computer?
12.10.2008
Maybe it is just me, but I don’t think I have actively used a DVD drive in about 3 years. They are going the way of the floppy disk unless you watch a lot of DVDs on your computer.
12.10.2008
There are programs out there that make bootable USB keys with a given .ISO. Most if not all software can be found online, and a technically inclined person should be smart enough to make .ISOs of their discs for back up. Then Just use daemon tools as a virtual CD drive.
12.10.2008
yes because size constrained hardware media is SUCH A GOOD IDEA… DAMN I wonder why the companies dont make them with one.Ignorant fool, wtf would you use a cd on one of these things, its not a full computer so you have to have another for normal tasks. Use a flash drive…
12.10.2008
What’s a CD DRIVE?
12.10.2008
If you’re the type of person who uses a CD drive all the time, you shouldn’t even be considering a netbook in the first place. If you want something portable that can run CDs, get a small laptop. Or a CD player.
12.10.2008
I have had sex with all of your parents.
12.10.2008
You now have AIDS and a number of STD’s. Congrats.
12.10.2008
I wish that more laptops came with the option of not having a CD/DVD/Bluray drive. I’d much rather use an external one when I need it than be forced to carry one around all of the time.
12.10.2008
Waiting to see what Apple releases. With the netbook market still developing, I’m interested to see what all the big names will release before plunking down the cash.
12.10.2008
Eee 1000 user checking in. Everything in the article is pretty right on. Another consideration is getting an OS that is SSD savvy. Ubuntu has a couple of forks with those considerations compiled in the Kernel. Importantly for the Eee PC, those same distros have all the necessary drivers too. I’ve heard and read a lot of people with webcam, wireless and touchpad issues because they tried to install straight Ubuntu.
12.10.2008
Yeah, the SSD is why I would strongly suggest using GNU/Linux rather than Windows.You should use a non-journaling filesystem and mount with async enabled. And obviously disable indexing. That should minimize the problems.GNU/Linux is capable of the above, Windows has been designed over years for the characteristics of standard HDs and isn’t really suitable IMO.
12.10.2008
Add another happy Aspire One user. I upgraded from a barely usable eeePC 701 (tiny keyboard) and have loved every minute with my Acer.Excellent keyboard, lots of hard drive, 1GB ram, 5 hrs battery life (6 cell), and very solid build quality. Got it running Ubuntu Hardy and it’s never given me any issues whatsoever.Perfect balance of features, form factor and price.
12.10.2008
Most come with 1GB of RAM, I recommend another 2GB for dank performance. I want to get an EEE PC 1000HA, but some of my techie friends live by MSI Winds.
12.10.2008
Dugg for the word dank.
12.10.2008
Bic or Papermate?Spiral, or Bound?College Rule or Not?Paper Cover or Plastic Cover?Reclycled paper or Unrecycled?
12.10.2008
I use my iPhone for pretty much everything I would use a netbook for. I had a couple of days business out of town and didn’t bring a laptop. Just the iPhone. It was nice.
12.10.2008
That’s so completely irrelevant.
12.10.2008
Do you have a big enough USB drive to install Windows or OS X?Do you want Bluetooth?It bugs me that the retail MSI Winds lack Bluetooth, and were also the ones with the $50 mail-in rebate. Discount the expensive ones, MSI!
12.10.2008
You definitely don’t have to walk away from Windows. I’ve run 2000, XP and Vista on my Eee 701. I’ve also tried a half-dozen Linux distros. Really anything is fine for me. About all I ever use is Firefox, Thunderbird,, Pidgin and VLC. What keeps me in XP is fast boot and shut down times and the program EeeCTL. It has a function that increases the backlight brightness beyond what the OEM software controls will. This is great for dark movies and when the Eee is used outdoors. I’m sure there’s a similar Linux app that does the same thing but I haven’t come across it yet.
12.10.2008
i’m looking to buy one. but this list sucks
12.10.2008
My #1: Do i have to pay Microsoft tax?
12.10.2008
sooooo insightful…
12.10.2008
me neither! oh wait, i just did..
12.10.2008
Is it an MSI Wind? If no, then don’t buy it.
12.10.2008
I have an Aspire- the key is to run a tight ship- I only have Office, Chrome, I’ve minimized my start bar to keep as much desktop space, and don’t bother with anti-virus and other overhead. I use a lot of Google apps and Powerpoint for school. I wouldn’t bother with iTunes and other stuff because it isn’t that fast and it would increase battery drain. There are webcam/mic/speakers for skype use, I haven’t tried it yet, but it should be fast enough to handle it. My only complaint is the fan- the netbook stays cool overall but it whirs up though when it’s playing video or doing some other intensive stuff- some of this has been fixed by a firmware update.
12.10.2008
there are fan control softwares that fix the fan problems check out the acer aspire one forum – google it. I would highly recommend using an antivirus – the free home use version of Avast runs light and doesn’t bog you down like trial version of Mcaffe included with the Acer. You can also use portable applications that have been optimized for running from a USBflash drive.I agree about not installing a lot of junk software, also a good idea to Image your harddrive before you gunk it up, so you can do a quick restore to be back in bidness.Skype runs great with the built in webcam and mic.
12.10.2008
I have an eeepc1000h running kde4 on kubuntu. It’s gorgeous, it’s extremely fast even on what is (these days) a low specc’d machine, and everything I run on it is free. XP is a fine OS but there is no way it’s the best for a netbook, even if MS find some way to make it as cheap as free. Linux is better under the hood, it’s bettter to use, it’s developing MUCH faster, you get a much better fanboi buzz with it seeing as it is open and you can watch and get involved in i’s development and its just a lot cooler. Sure, there is a learning curve,but you only have to make the switch to linux once.
12.10.2008
Eh, i’ve installed Ubuntu on a second hand-me-down laptop… and i dont really like it all that much. It’s buggy as hell (when i try to increase my screen brightness, the keyboard stops responding until i restart it), incompatible with my webcam that i’ve spent a few hours trying to find drivers for (found the drivers… installed it… still doesn’t work), and i think one of my biggest issues with it is the lack of installers for other programs.In windows, i can download a program’s installer (setup.exe, for example), run it, and it’ll install and work. In linus (ubuntu specifically, since i havent used any other distros), you have to extract it from the archive to some folder, do "make …" several times on a bunch of files in there, then maybe it’ll work… maybe (assuming you dont have to go install some other thing that this program requires). Maybe i’ve been spoiled by the ease of use on windows machines, but isnt user-friendlyness something that should be towards the top of the list of importance in an OS that the developers want others to use?
12.10.2008
I’ve been considering the Acer Aspire One, glad to see that the keyboard isn’t as limiting as the Eee. My daughter is getting a 901, and I can barely use the keyboard on the dang thing. The real reason I want an Aspire One is silly thou. I have an Acer Gemstone, and the Aspire One looks like my current laptop’s baby
12.10.2008
also check your penis sizethe smaller your penis the larger your netbookif you have a micro penis you should stick to regular notebooks
12.10.2008
So…should I just go get an Iphone then? I think my penis is overkill for the 7" Eee.
12.10.2008
The thing that bothers me with netbooks is they’re all the ***** same on the inside. You’re basically buying the same computer regardless of which you get.By now there should be better options… low end nVidia GPUs like the 6150 that ***** all over Intel, something more powerful than Atom processors even if you sacrifice battery time.
12.10.2008
I think you’re missing the point of a netbook. The device you want sounds like something completely different, let’s call it a "Notebook" computer.
12.10.2008
I think you’re underestimating what they could be doing, the technology is there to keep netbooks the same size but significantly more powerful for not much more money. Why not use some of the technology that’s out-dated by just a year or two to give netbooks a big performance boost? Battery will be an issue but they don’t need to make every netbook like that.Instead of competing on hardware the companies making netbooks are competing on what color the shell is.
12.10.2008
Tech that’s out-dated to give a performance boost, while not costing any more? Isn’t that what the Atom platform was developed for?You are right, most of them are the same hardware, but so are most PC’s and notebooks. because there’s less features, there’s less chance to distinguish your brand from others as far as hardware goes.
12.10.2008
And then Asus did just that…. reviews.cnet.com/laptops/asus-n10j-a1-atom/ …
12.10.2008
#6 Just buy a Samsung NC10.Seriously, there is no way to justify the cost/spec difference between netbooks since the nc10 came out.Cheap, 160GB HDD, XP included, 7 hour battery life, Near full keyboard, Good 10.?" screen, Bluetooth, SD card reader and easily add or change HDD and RAM.
12.10.2008
or you can be cheap…..and get about half of that for half the price
, thank you newegg. P.S. I pity anyone that runs/bought wind0ws on a netbook.