Netbooks

TimO · 7th October 2008, 21:35

Netbooks seem to be the in thing at the moment and looking at them they certainly would be easier to carry to meetings etc.
Does anybody have one and if so how do you rate them i.e are they as good as they are cracked up to be ?

Cheers

Tim

JamesP · 8th October 2008, 00:11

I Had an Asus Eee pc 901 which has a 8.9” Screen & 2 SSD hard drive chips, the “C” partition (4GB) is very fast but in order to keep costs down the “D” (8GB) is very slow, much slower than a USB pen drive or Class 6 SDHC card, which is a shame seeing as all additional software has to be installed on this partition, luckily for me the keyboard became faulty which enabled me to change it for an MSi Wind U100.

The main benefit is the 10” screen & far larger keyboard with bigger keys, yet it is only 2 cm wider, I have small fingers but after a few minutes typing on the Asus 901 it became very frustrating hitting the wrong keys. The mouse pad couldn't be switched off which was also a pain as accidentally brushing it with the base of my thumbs caused the curser to jump, which made touch typing virtually impossible, no such problem with the Wind.

Performance wise there isn’t any difference, they both have an over clock feature to increase the CPU speed when required, so even HD media can be played back without any lag.

The Eeepc 901 has a 6 cell battery which is good for 6-7 hours between charges; the Wind has a 3 Cell which lasts around 3 hours, a 6 cell will be available shortly.

The build quality on both is superb they feel very solid, they are very quiet & don’t get too hot even after hours of use.

I increased the RAM with a 1GB piece from Crucial direct (£11.74 delivered) as there is an available slot which means the video RAM has increased from 64mb to 224mb (Maximum available)

I chose the Wind XP model with a 120 SATA HDD mainly because my other pc’s are windows based, added to the fact that when SSD’s come down in price if I need to upgrade it would be very easy as they come enclosed with a SATA connection.

So far all additional software has been installed by copy & pasting files to a USB pen drive, no need to make an ISO image or network install.

Since having the MSi Wind I haven’t used my laptop it is really that good.

Some screen shots of Native Screen Resolution 1024 X 600 (1024 X 768 can be used just means scrolling as whole page wouldn't be visible)

Forum View

TimO · 8th October 2008, 20:01

Thanks James, my mind is now made up and I think i'll go for the Samsung NC10 which is due on sale next month.

Cheers

Tim

JamesP · 9th October 2008, 02:17

A Blue one would look good.

7th October 2008, 21:35	#1
TimO Loves to post ZT CDTi+ & Rover 75 Tourer CDTi Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Old Colwyn Posts: 441 Thanks: 0 Thanked 3 Times in 3 Posts	Netbooks Netbooks seem to be the in thing at the moment and looking at them they certainly would be easier to carry to meetings etc. Does anybody have one and if so how do you rate them i.e are they as good as they are cracked up to be ? Cheers Tim

8th October 2008, 00:11	#2
JamesP Loves to post Rover 75 ConnSE CDTi 131 Starlight Silver Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Truro Posts: 354 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	I Had an Asus Eee pc 901 which has a 8.9” Screen & 2 SSD hard drive chips, the “C” partition (4GB) is very fast but in order to keep costs down the “D” (8GB) is very slow, much slower than a USB pen drive or Class 6 SDHC card, which is a shame seeing as all additional software has to be installed on this partition, luckily for me the keyboard became faulty which enabled me to change it for an MSi Wind U100. The main benefit is the 10” screen & far larger keyboard with bigger keys, yet it is only 2 cm wider, I have small fingers but after a few minutes typing on the Asus 901 it became very frustrating hitting the wrong keys. The mouse pad couldn't be switched off which was also a pain as accidentally brushing it with the base of my thumbs caused the curser to jump, which made touch typing virtually impossible, no such problem with the Wind. Performance wise there isn’t any difference, they both have an over clock feature to increase the CPU speed when required, so even HD media can be played back without any lag. The Eeepc 901 has a 6 cell battery which is good for 6-7 hours between charges; the Wind has a 3 Cell which lasts around 3 hours, a 6 cell will be available shortly. The build quality on both is superb they feel very solid, they are very quiet & don’t get too hot even after hours of use. I increased the RAM with a 1GB piece from Crucial direct (£11.74 delivered) as there is an available slot which means the video RAM has increased from 64mb to 224mb (Maximum available) I chose the Wind XP model with a 120 SATA HDD mainly because my other pc’s are windows based, added to the fact that when SSD’s come down in price if I need to upgrade it would be very easy as they come enclosed with a SATA connection. So far all additional software has been installed by copy & pasting files to a USB pen drive, no need to make an ISO image or network install. Since having the MSi Wind I haven’t used my laptop it is really that good. Some screen shots of Native Screen Resolution 1024 X 600 (1024 X 768 can be used just means scrolling as whole page wouldn't be visible) Forum View Last edited by JamesP; 8th October 2008 at 11:35.. Reason: Resized Pics

8th October 2008, 20:01	#3
TimO Loves to post ZT CDTi+ & Rover 75 Tourer CDTi Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Old Colwyn Posts: 441 Thanks: 0 Thanked 3 Times in 3 Posts	Thanks James, my mind is now made up and I think i'll go for the Samsung NC10 which is due on sale next month. Cheers Tim

9th October 2008, 02:17	#4
JamesP Loves to post Rover 75 ConnSE CDTi 131 Starlight Silver Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Truro Posts: 354 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	A Blue one would look good.