Netbooks: The good, the bad, and the ugly

[tickytacky23]

I've decided to get a netbook to use for the rest of my degree, but I'm having trouble figuring out what a good netbook should have.

 

All those with netbooks, can you post what type of netbook you have and give me a review of what you like/don't like about it?

 

Thanks!

[Cnussey]

Gettin' a pink one. Wanted Acer but will probably choose Dell or Sony since Acer is sold out.

 

They're powerful, fit right into my purse, and work perfectly. All the ones I've used have been just fine.

[HBP]

http://www.notebookreview.com/

[Jochi1543]

I have an Acer Eee PC 1000HA and I'm happy with it. It's very light, battery life is long (8 hours when I first got it, about 4-5 hours now that it's over a year old), and the screen and keyboard are big enough for me to do almost everything comfortably. On very rare occasion, I'll have trouble because the screen is a tad too small for some webpage or a game window, but usually I either find a way to resize the page or compress my display size.

 

My only beef with it is that I can't install anything that comes with a CD on it (most importantly, a printer) or watch DVDs. However, I'm sure you can buy an external drive. I'd suggest getting an external plug-in CD/DVD drive if this is going to be your only computer. But even though I don't have it, it's manageable - I don't need to print much, so I just print at the library from their computers should need arise. And I'm not a big movie watcher, so the DVD thing doesn't faze me too much.

 

It cost me about $325 US when I got it (bought it in the States) and I think it was a GREAT deal.

[tmosby]

I don't actually have a netbook, but my dad has one that I use occasionally. It's definitely good if you don't want a heavy backpack to lug around to class everyday.

 

What I really didn't like about my dad's netbook (HP) was that it was as slow as a snail. It would take forever to boot up, and it couldn't really handle much. Opening firefox/IE took at least 10 seconds, and it started to test my patience after a few times. I guess part of the problem was that I had high expectations for the netbook - assuming it would be as fast (or just a tad slower) than my laptop.

 

Just realize that the specs that come with your netbook are nowhere near your laptop, and expect some delays when you're starting up programs on it.

[TheBoss]

My only beef with it is that I can't install anything that comes with a CD on it (most importantly, a printer) or watch DVDs. However, I'm sure you can buy an external drive. I'd suggest getting an external plug-in CD/DVD drive if this is going to be your only computer. But even though I don't have it, it's manageable - I don't need to print much, so I just print at the library from their computers should need arise. And I'm not a big movie watcher, so the DVD thing doesn't faze me too much.

 

Usually printer manufacturers offer printer drivers online, so you can just download them.

 

Alternatively, you should be usually be able to use a different computer to copy the information on the CD to a USB flash drive. You can then run the program from the flash drive on your netbook.

[ygella]

I have an Acer Eee PC 1000HA and I'm happy with it. It's very light, battery life is long (8 hours when I first got it, about 4-5 hours now that it's over a year old), and the screen and keyboard are big enough for me to do almost everything comfortably. On very rare occasion, I'll have trouble because the screen is a tad too small for some webpage or a game window, but usually I either find a way to resize the page or compress my display size.

 

My only beef with it is that I can't install anything that comes with a CD on it (most importantly, a printer) or watch DVDs. However, I'm sure you can buy an external drive. I'd suggest getting an external plug-in CD/DVD drive if this is going to be your only computer. But even though I don't have it, it's manageable - I don't need to print much, so I just print at the library from their computers should need arise. And I'm not a big movie watcher, so the DVD thing doesn't faze me too much.

 

It cost me about $325 US when I got it (bought it in the States) and I think it was a GREAT deal.

 

 

 

you can just download the printer drivers, this way you won't need a CD

 

 

edit: i didn't see the above post

[pininkid]

Also, if you have another computer (which most people do), if you have something that you REALLY need to access on CD/DVD you can just rip an image and load it with Daemon Tools on your netbook.

 

Or you can share your other computer's optical drive, if you only need the CD/DVD while you're connected to your home network.

[Jochi1543]

Usually printer manufacturers offer printer drivers online, so you can just download them.

 

Thanks, I'll try that when I'm back home again.

[sirop]

Bad part about netbook PCs: There's no CD drive = No installing Microsoft Word.

Of course, you can always get it the illegal way..*coughcoughpiratebaycoughcough*

[Jochi1543]

Bad part about netbook PCs: There's no CD drive = No installing Microsoft Word.

Of course, you can always get it the illegal way..*coughcoughpiratebaycoughcough*

 

I actually bought Office online and downloaded it, so it wasn't a problem at all. The $900 edition is like $65 with the student discount.

[Cnussey]

Network it with another PC, use a portable CD drive, etc. There are ways.