Looking for a netbook for around $300..

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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Looking for a netbook for around $300.. (Page 1 of 2)

Posted: 9/4/2010 9:45:28 PM EDT

Im leaning on Acer, but what do you got and what do you like about it?

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Posted: 9/4/2010 9:54:14 PM EDT

[#1]

I'm typing on one right now. Good little computer. Mine is the D150 running XP. Works just fine for most everything I do. word, very light video work. My webcam quit but who cares. My wife has a d260 bought cheap at walmart. runs 7, sometimes a bit slow but still good.

spend the money.

Posted: 9/4/2010 9:55:21 PM EDT

[#2]

I picked up an HP Mini for about that price.

I like it... it works great, but the battery seems to not last too long if it's turned off and unplugged.

Posted: 9/4/2010 9:55:27 PM EDT

[#3]

TAG

My laptop is dying, I'm looking into netbooks and $300 is about my price range.

Posted: 9/4/2010 10:05:22 PM EDT

[#4]

what screen size?

Posted: 9/4/2010 10:10:07 PM EDT

[#5]

Around 10 inches...

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Posted: 9/4/2010 10:14:39 PM EDT

[#6]

My wife has an HP Mini, the keyboard sucks, the H key has already fell off it. It came with XP, and works well. My daughter has an Acer, seems decent, but came with Win7 starter. Not too bad of a computer for the price. I would look at an ASUS if I was to get a netbook.

Posted: 9/4/2010 10:36:38 PM EDT

[#7]

My Asus works well.

Posted: 9/4/2010 11:07:00 PM EDT

[#8]

Check Woot.com everyday and you might find ah deal on one for under 250, the only day's you need to check more then once ah day is if you see flashing light's on the screen then check back often, as the item changed as they sell out.

Posted: 9/4/2010 11:14:38 PM EDT

[#9]

I'm looking for one too.. biggest question is XP or 7?

leaning toward XP..

Posted: 9/4/2010 11:15:00 PM EDT

[#10]

I love my samsung, they have a better keyboard than most. If you want something that's really cool, consider the Asus T101. It's a touch screen convertible tablet/notebook, and under $500.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220713&Tpk=t101

For a little more rugged model than most I would go with the Samsung NB30:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834131061&Tpk=samsung%20nb30

Posted: 9/4/2010 11:25:58 PM EDT

[#11]

Quoted:

I'm looking for one too.. biggest question is XP or 7?

leaning toward XP..

I would rather XP than win7 starter. I believe XP is faster on the netbooks.

Posted: 9/5/2010 11:51:22 AM EDT

[#12]

I've been looking at this Samsung N450, its on sale for $279 at Costco. Any thoughts?

Costco Samsung N450

Posted: 9/5/2010 11:55:06 AM EDT

[#13]

Quoted:

Im leaning on Acer, but what do you got and what do you like about it?

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Check the new Hannspree netbooks at tiger direct.

$250, with Win 7

They run real nice... and have the 6 cell battery to boot.

I like my Asus but these Hannsprees are excellent units especially for the price.

Posted: 9/5/2010 12:12:40 PM EDT

[#14]

Quoted:

I've been looking at this Samsung N450, its on sale for $279 at Costco. Any thoughts?

Costco Samsung N450

Looks like a great little netbook for the money. Keep in mind that for pretty much any of them you will want to upgrade the ram to whatever the max is (2GB or 4GB) as soon as you get it. The extra RAM makes a big difference with how well Win7 will run on it.

Posted: 9/5/2010 12:25:52 PM EDT

[#15]

My son (HARVrider) picked up this one last week:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834114920

He chose it for the ability to upgrade to 2GB of RAM. The others he looked at in this price range would only support 1GB.

Posted: 9/5/2010 12:40:17 PM EDT

[#16]

Quoted:

I'm looking for one too.. biggest question is XP or 7?
leaning toward XP..

Load Linux Mint 9 on a flash drive and run your computer from that.

I'm using a Mint 9 flash drive right now. There is no HD installed in my laptop at the moment.

Any comments on Windoze 7 Starter?

Posted: 9/5/2010 12:59:24 PM EDT

[#17]

NETBOOKS SUCK. I had one. Teeny keys, screen too short, slow.

I use a pair of IBM/Lenovo ThinkPads X60s and X61s. They are SMALL, a little heavier than a netbook, but FULL power and great screen. By used or off-lease for about the price of a stinking netbook...

Posted: 9/5/2010 1:10:50 PM EDT

[#18]

This is what I am using now.http://www.walmart.com/ip/eMachines-eMachines-eM350-2074/14660223

Posted: 9/5/2010 1:18:46 PM EDT

[#19]

tag, looking for something for the kiids

Posted: 9/5/2010 1:27:02 PM EDT

[#20]

Quoted:

NETBOOKS SUCK. I had one. Teeny keys, screen too short, slow.

I use a pair of IBM/Lenovo ThinkPads X60s and X61s. They are SMALL, a little heavier than a netbook, but FULL power and great screen. By used or off-lease for about the price of a stinking netbook...

http://www.tabletpcreview.com/assets/2891.jpg

There is absolutely no comparison when it comes to size, battery life, and weight between those and a netbook. Those are the three reasons that even with two perfectly functional fullsize laptops (Panasonic toughbooks) at home, I always grab the netbook. Want to watch two or more movies on a long flight? Good luck with that on your thinkpad. I do think thinkpads are the best consumer laptops out there, and heartily endorse the buying of them off-lease, that's the way I have gotten all of my toughbooks over the years. They just simply don't compare in portability and battery longevity to netbooks though, JMHO.

As far as your specific complaints about your netbook experience. Mine has a 93% keyboard, and I can touch type on it just as easily as on a desktop or any of my full size laptops. Shop carefully, some do have shit keyboards. Max out the ram and they run any application I use just fine. The 600 pixel high screen just means more scrolling, not that big of a problem to me.

Posted: 9/5/2010 1:31:06 PM EDT

[#21]

do any of the netbooks have CDRoms?

Posted: 9/5/2010 1:32:09 PM EDT

[#22]

Quoted:
Im leaning on Acer, but what do you got and what do you like about it?

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You afraid of us or something?

[neener]

Posted: 9/5/2010 1:34:00 PM EDT

[#23]

I use my homebuilt desktops for most things but I have an HP laptop and an MSI Wind netbook for surfing the internet when I want to move around to other areas of the house or take it with me somewhere. Laptops are too big.

The MSI Wind I have has a battery that last for around 8 hours and Win 7 starter. It needed the touchpad software upgrade to make it so my fingers weren't always moving the line down while typing. If you don't care for the Win 7 starter you can install Ubuntu netbook on it.

Never heard of this brand but it comes with a larger HD and a 6 cell battery at a decent price. Easy access for RAM upgrade.

Posted: 9/5/2010 1:39:57 PM EDT

[#24]

I split the difference and went with the Dell Inspiron 11Z. You get a decent processor and a full version of Windows 7 or Vista. The Dell Outlet has one for $350 with the following specs:

* Inspiron 11z - 1110 Laptop
* Processor: Intel Celeron Processor 743 (1.3GHz/800MHz FSB/1MB cache)
* Genuine Windows Vista Home Basic
* 160 GB SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM)
* 2 GB DDR2 SDRAM 800MHz (1 DIMMs)
* Intel GS45 Integrated Graphics,WWAN

And you can usually get a coupon on eBay for around $5 that will save you 15%.

Posted: 9/5/2010 1:43:47 PM EDT

[#25]

Quoted:

do any of the netbooks have CDRoms?

Nope. That's one of the definining characteristics of them, no optical drive.

Netbooks typically have:

Low powered processor, usually Intel Atom

2GB of RAM, not usually upgradeable to more than 2GB

No optical drive

10" screen typically with 1024X600 resolution

3 or 6 cell battery packs, good for up to 10 hours, depending on model

Windows 7 starter or Windows XP (a few have full Win7)

Ultra Portable Laptops usually have:

Normal laptop/desktop AMD or Intel processor, much better than Atom

Optical combo drive

10-13" screen with at least 1024X769 or better resolution

Full size keyboard (depending on overall size)

Battery life of 3-4 hours at best, usually worse

Full version of Windows 7

RAM of more than 1GB, upgradeable to at least 4GB

They usually cost at least double if not triple what a netbook does.

Posted: 9/5/2010 1:47:51 PM EDT

[#26]

I would have said Samsung for the almost full size keypad but now I see that they don't offer it with XP anymore.

Posted: 9/5/2010 2:26:46 PM EDT

[#27]

Quoted:
NETBOOKS SUCK. I had one. Teeny keys, screen too short, slow.

I use a pair of IBM/Lenovo ThinkPads X60s and X61s. They are SMALL, a little heavier than a netbook, but FULL power and great screen. By used or off-lease for about the price of a stinking netbook...

http://www.tabletpcreview.com/assets/2891.jpg

You fail. If that's your opinion of a netbook, go try towing a 27' boat with a Geo Metro, and you'll understand what limited usage is like when it comes to a netbook.

If you need the horsepower of a regular laptop, then get one. You will be disappointed with a netbook.
If you don't need the horsepower, and just want something compact that is good for web surfing and email and other light duties, netbooks are great.

I have an Asus Eeepc 1005HA. Win 7 Starter runs fine on it. I threw Ubuntu Netbook Remix on it, but went back to Windows because all the function buttons worked in Windows.

Posted: 9/5/2010 5:23:18 PM EDT

[#28]

Tag.

Anyone know if there are netbooks in this price range that can do 7+ hours on battery?

Posted: 9/5/2010 5:24:42 PM EDT

[#29]

Quoted:

Tag.

Anyone know if there are netbooks in this price range that can do 7+ hours on battery?

Many of them will. Pretty much all of them with a 6 cell battery. I've gone that long on my Samsung several times and still had battery life left. I think the ASUS models are the most power efficient among netbook makers.

Posted: 9/5/2010 5:28:08 PM EDT

[#30]

tag .... i have been scoping out netbooks lately, but probably will not get one until next semester. (or i hope)

I looked at an HP in best buy as well as Sams club.

Posted: 9/5/2010 5:33:52 PM EDT

[#31]

I have an Acer EeePC I picked up about 6 months ago.

I went with it for the battery life, I've gotten close to 12 hours out of it between charges (depending on what I'm doing with it.) Hasn't crashed on me yet.

Posted: 9/5/2010 5:47:28 PM EDT

[#32]

Quoted:
Tag.

Anyone know if there are netbooks in this price range that can do 7+ hours on battery?

I'm posting this from my Acer Aspire One. It's rated at 10 hours but I get 6-8 depending on what I'm doing. I've been happy with it so far. I bought it for a dedicated purpose and battery life was the primary thing I was after.

Posted: 9/5/2010 6:00:56 PM EDT

[#33]

Another vote for the EeePC long battery life and good for light use. My kids both have one.

Posted: 9/6/2010 12:23:02 PM EDT

[#34]

Quoted:
I have an Acer EeePC I picked up about 6 months ago.
http://a.imageshack.us/img197/1649/netbook.jpg
I went with it for the battery life, I've gotten close to 12 hours out of it between charges (depending on what I'm doing with it.) Hasn't crashed on me yet.

What model is that? I've got an Eee 701 that would run about 3 hours (word processing) when it was new.

Posted: 9/6/2010 1:09:51 PM EDT

[#35]

I'm typing on an Acer Aspire One model 532h. I bought it at target two months ago for $199. Walmart.com had them at the same time for $248 shipped.

I love this little thing. I have my entire job on here. Calendar, spreadsheets, reports...everyhting I need.

I have heard alot of complaints about windows 7 starter, but I haven't found it to limit anything that I want to do.
Netflix and youtube vids play just fine. The only time I have video issues is on MLB and NFL sites that are super high def. They play, but slightly choppy.
It boots up completely in about a minute and a half and shuts down in less than a minute. When I open the cover it takes about 5 seconds for it to wake up from it's "sleep". I love that I can "zoom" the screen like an iphone using the touchpad.

Using it on and off all day on the job usually uses only half the battery. It is advertised as 8+ hours and while I've never measured it, it has to be close to that.

I bought my son a lenovo t60 6 months ago (Staples refurb $335) and I almost went with another one for myself, but I felt the portability of the netbook was more important to me than the extra computing power of the Thinkpad. Plus I didn't think I would need a CD/DVD drive.

IMO the Thinkpad's keyboard is the best in all of laptops. The Acer's "chicklet" style keyboard takes some getting used to, but is very good considering the size of the netbook.

Dont get me wrong. The T60 is a much better bargain for raw computing power, but I went with what I thought I needed and I have not been disappointed.

MJ

Posted: 9/6/2010 1:22:17 PM EDT

[#36]

Asus Eee PC is going to be your best bang for your buck.

Posted: 9/6/2010 1:37:07 PM EDT

[#37]

Quoted:
Asus Eee PC is going to be your best bang for your buck.

Sorry, have to disagree... have had a couple and they are nice, but unless you get a smoking deal on a factory refurb there are better bangs for the buck. Dell Outlet refurbs are all inspected and likely have a higher non-fail rate than a factory fresh machine. They carry a full warranty and you can get discount codes on eBay cheap. I'm typing on an Inspiron 11Z (kind of a super-netbook/ultra-portable) that detroys any Eee PC and cost me $300 shipped. 11.6 inch screen I believe, 6-8 hour battery life, 160GB HD, full Windows 7 OS, Intel Celeron processor, 2GB Ram, HDMI output. Dollar for dollar I think Dell refurbs are hardest to beat. You just need to be patient and check regularly.

Posted: 9/6/2010 1:39:02 PM EDT

[#38]

OP here is a good deal on a Samsung.

Posted: 9/6/2010 1:50:25 PM EDT

[#39]

MSI Wind has worked out great for me over the past 2 years.

Posted: 9/6/2010 1:57:49 PM EDT

[#40]

Quoted:
Asus Eee PC is going to be your best bang for your buck.

I have one and like it.

Posted: 9/6/2010 2:05:20 PM EDT

[#41]

Quoted:

Quoted:
I have an Acer EeePC I picked up about 6 months ago.
http://a.imageshack.us/img197/1649/netbook.jpg
I went with it for the battery life, I've gotten close to 12 hours out of it between charges (depending on what I'm doing with it.) Hasn't crashed on me yet.

What model is that? I've got an Eee 701 that would run about 3 hours (word processing) when it was new.

Asus, not Acer. I have an Asus 1005HA. It can go up to 10 hours on the battery, and the unit cost $300 at Best Buy earlier this year.

Battery life is entirely subjective. Most of the top ratings are achieved by turning the brightness and sound down, turning off WiFi, not having any devices plugged in and basically idling. I can easily get 6 hours of use (real use, WiFi on, surfing, emailing, etc) out of mine.

Posted: 9/6/2010 2:08:06 PM EDT

[#42]

Quoted:

Quoted:

I have an Acer EeePC I picked up about 6 months ago.

http://a.imageshack.us/img197/1649/netbook.jpg

I went with it for the battery life, I've gotten close to 12 hours out of it between charges (depending on what I'm doing with it.) Hasn't crashed on me yet.

What model is that? I've got an Eee 701 that would run about 3 hours (word processing) when it was new.

Asus, not Acer. I have an Asus 1005HA. It can go up to 10 hours on the battery, and the unit cost $300 at Best Buy earlier this year.

Battery life is entirely subjective. Most of the top ratings are achieved by turning the brightness and sound down, turning off WiFi, not having any devices plugged in and basically idling. I can easily get 6 hours of use (real use, WiFi on, surfing, emailing, etc) out of mine.

When I'm watching Divx movies on a plane or in an airport, that's exactly what I do. Mine will get an honest 7 hours or more even while watching movies/tv shows the whole time. It gets similar (or longer) endurance when just surfing the web, since the CPU isn't working as hard or drawing as much current as when it's decoding video.

Posted: 9/6/2010 2:15:57 PM EDT

[#43]

I have to say, the best one, build quality wise, I've seen was the all-metal Nokia, but it was way more than I'd pay for a netbook.

Posted: 9/6/2010 2:43:02 PM EDT

[#44]

Quoted:
I have to say, the best one, build quality wise, I've seen was the all-metal Nokia, but it was way more than I'd pay for a netbook.

Nokia makes a netbook? *intrigued I am*

Posted: 9/6/2010 3:13:00 PM EDT

[#45]

Quoted:

Quoted:
I have to say, the best one, build quality wise, I've seen was the all-metal Nokia, but it was way more than I'd pay for a netbook.

Nokia makes a netbook? *intrigued I am*

I played with the one on display at Best Buy, but it isn't worth $700 IMHO.

Posted: 9/6/2010 3:16:03 PM EDT

[#46]

I bought a HP Mini at Walmart for $300. It's been solid and runs great with XP. I don't think I can upgrade the RAM though.

Posted: 9/6/2010 4:34:43 PM EDT

[#47]

Quoted:

I bought a HP Mini at Walmart for $300. It's been solid and runs great with XP. I don't think I can upgrade the RAM though.

Sure you can, it's stupid simple. Take the battery out, there are two little plastic buttons (orange I believe) that you push in, then the whole bottom of the netbook comes off. The RAM chip and hard drive are exposed, and replacing the RAM takes about two seconds, then just pop it back on. I bought an HP mini for my GF, and upgraded the RAM the same day.

Posted: 9/6/2010 4:39:17 PM EDT

[#48]

I REALLY like my gateway, I got it through amazon, and its got XP since the 7 editions that come on netbooks is severly handicapped

Posted: 9/6/2010 7:33:10 PM EDT

[#49]

Another vote for the Acer 532H, just got mine.
Target & HHgregg both have it for 248.00 right now.
I am getting about 6 to 8 hours on the 6 cell battery & the led screen is really bright.

Posted: 9/6/2010 7:39:24 PM EDT

[#50]

Quoted:

I REALLY like my gateway, I got it through amazon, and its got XP since the 7 editions that come on netbooks is severly handicapped

In what way? I haven't used win7 starter much but it seemed just as functional as my full versions, other than the inability to change the desktop background.

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Looking for a netbook for around $300.. (Page 1 of 2)

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