what to look for in a netbook

  • Thread starter Thread starter Jo-Anne
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Jo-Anne

Last summer I bought a WinXP laptop, thinking it would be used when I
travel--for browsing, email, and word processing. However, it's too large
and heavy for me to cart around airports.

I've been reading about netbooks, which are much lighter and which still
come with WinXP. What sorts of things should I look for in a netbook? I know
I want a clear, readable screen, even if it's small (and one that I saw
recently looked awful) and a decent (though small) keyboard. I suppose I
could manage without an internal CD/DVD drive, since I could plug in an
external one at home--but is it better to have an internal one? What about
the hard drive? Are solid-state drives OK in general? Anything else I should
check out?

Thank you for your help!

Jo-Anne
 
Last summer I bought a WinXP laptop, thinking it would be used when I
travel--for browsing, email, and word processing. However, it's too large
and heavy for me to cart around airports.

I've been reading about netbooks, which are much lighter and which still
come with WinXP. What sorts of things should I look for in a netbook? I know
I want a clear, readable screen, even if it's small (and one that I saw
recently looked awful) and a decent (though small) keyboard. I suppose I
could manage without an internal CD/DVD drive, since I could plug in an
external one at home--but is it better to have an internal one? What about
the hard drive? Are solid-state drives OK in general? Anything else I should
check out?

Thank you for your help!

Jo-Anne
Click to expand...

Netbooks do not appear to have any internal optical drives. The more
drives in the netbook, the heavier they become.

Netbooks tend to have displays 10 inches or less.

As for Solid-state drives, these are very newly affordable tech and
might not be reliable yet (????)

If you want a Netbook, test it out before you buy one. Keyboards are
not all the same and some might be more comfortable than others.
 
Last summer I bought a WinXP laptop . . . too large
and heavy for me to cart around airports.

I've been reading about netbooks, which are much lighter and which still
come with WinXP. What sorts of things should I look for in a netbook? I know
I want a clear, readable screen, even if it's small (and one that I saw
recently looked awful) and a decent (though small) keyboard. I suppose I
could manage without an internal CD/DVD drive, since I could plug in an
external one at home--but is it better to have an internal one? What about
the hard drive? Are solid-state drives OK in general? Anything else I should
check out?
Click to expand...

Depending on your personal judgment of the keyboard, the
Asus Eee line may suit your actual needs. The earliest models
had only an 8-inch screen but admirably clear, 4 Gb solid state
(all chip) drive storage and built-in Wi-Fi, with Linux OS and
utilities. Later models have larger hard drives, WinXP and
larger screens. But the earliest models were only $400, weighed
less than 1 kg. and provided all the functions you listed.
 
You should allways ensure any solid state drives are backed up, if you have
a problem data may not be recoverable
 
Jo-Anne said:
Last summer I bought a WinXP laptop, thinking it would be used when I
travel--for browsing, email, and word processing. However, it's too large
and heavy for me to cart around airports.

I've been reading about netbooks, which are much lighter and which still
come with WinXP. What sorts of things should I look for in a netbook?
Click to expand...

(snippage)

Use Google to look for reviews about the different netbooks. And here are
some good links to get you started:

http://www.umpcportal.com/ (they have user forums)
http://forum.eeeuser.com/index.php (Asus EeePC)
http://gottabemobile.com/ (they have user forums)
http://www.liliputing.com/ (they have user forums)

Malke
 
Thank you! I regularly back up my other computers with Acronis True Image
Home, and I certainly would continue the procedure with the netbook; so if
the drive fails, I should at least be able to save the programs and
datafiles.

Testing keyboards and checking out screens is difficult where I live. Are
there any stores that carry a good variety of netbooks that one can test? It
would be worth a trip to a city if such a place exists.

Jo-Anne

Last summer I bought a WinXP laptop, thinking it would be used when I
travel--for browsing, email, and word processing. However, it's too large
and heavy for me to cart around airports.

I've been reading about netbooks, which are much lighter and which still
come with WinXP. What sorts of things should I look for in a netbook? I
know
I want a clear, readable screen, even if it's small (and one that I saw
recently looked awful) and a decent (though small) keyboard. I suppose I
could manage without an internal CD/DVD drive, since I could plug in an
external one at home--but is it better to have an internal one? What about
the hard drive? Are solid-state drives OK in general? Anything else I
should
check out?

Thank you for your help!

Jo-Anne
Click to expand...

Netbooks do not appear to have any internal optical drives. The more
drives in the netbook, the heavier they become.

Netbooks tend to have displays 10 inches or less.

As for Solid-state drives, these are very newly affordable tech and
might not be reliable yet (????)

If you want a Netbook, test it out before you buy one. Keyboards are
not all the same and some might be more comfortable than others.
 
Don Phillipson said:
Depending on your personal judgment of the keyboard, the
Asus Eee line may suit your actual needs. The earliest models
had only an 8-inch screen but admirably clear, 4 Gb solid state
(all chip) drive storage and built-in Wi-Fi, with Linux OS and
utilities. Later models have larger hard drives, WinXP and
larger screens. But the earliest models were only $400, weighed
less than 1 kg. and provided all the functions you listed.
Click to expand...
Thank you, Don! I think I saw an Asus Eee at Costco a while back, and the
screen was muddy. I'll re-check.

Jo-Anne
 
Thank you, DL! I do back up my current computers regularly with Acronis True
Image Home, so I'm mostly prepared in case of failure.

Jo-Anne
 
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