Hi y'all.

Since some of y'all on this forum are far more knowledgable than myself when it comes to comptures, I figured I'd ask this question.

Anybody own a netbook? What brand? What do you like / dislike / hate / love with them?

Why do I ask?

I just went to woot.com and bought this:

http://www.woot.com/

Product at CNET:

http://reviews.cnet.com/laptops/acer-aspire-one-aod150/4505-3121_7-33517218.html?tag=mncol;lst

The first thing I intend to do is rip out the 1 gig of ram and throw in 2 gigs, but otherwise it looks like a pretty nice machine for 260 bucks.

I am tired of carrying around my 17inch HP DV9000 laptop. It is heavy and not convenient to use in any place except a desk. I think this netbook is gonna be a great second PC and can't wait for woot's slow shipping to reach my door :D

I'm just curious to see what y'all think about netbooks? Yes I thought about an entry level Mac, but I can't see paying twice as much for a computer that will only work with half of the software I need. They do make nice looking machines though.

My wife and I recently bought a HP through Verizon. HP1151NR. It has a built in Verizon air-card (which is what we were looking for, and few offered it), 1 Gig RAM, 80Gig built in HD, and a decent Atom processor.

So after a month and a half with it, we've officially decided that WE LOVE IT! Not only does it have built in wi-fi for when we are visiting friends/family, we can connect while on the road (it shuts her up :D) and look up directions, news, stream media, etc. And as small as it is, it fits in my wife's purse and in the trunk of the bike if we are out on that. So if you are looking for one and have Verizon and want to have a data plan, its the way to go. The price wasn't too bad either (about $200 cheaper than I could have bought it elsewhere). The only initial problem I had, which I overcame by wirlessly networking it to my desktop, was the lack of a CD/DVD drive to load programs (ie Office and a few other programs), but probably 90% of true "netbooks" don't have these drives).

I will say it did take me time to get use to the 97% keyboard, but once you get use to it, its awesome :) Of course as you may already know, its not like you can game on it...

The problem is the Atom chip -it's horrendous for anything BUT basic web and word processing. The displays are also so small...I'd get tge new Macbook Pro..simply can't beat it..and I have Vista on it

I saw that deal on Woot today as well. Looks like a very decent buy...and I noted there are really no negative reviews anywhere on it.

Look forward to seeing how you like it!

I really wanted to try the Mac...and I may one day. I love the construction of my phone (iphone) and I do think Mac takes a lot of pride in their build quality. I like the metal case as well.

That being said, I bought this on a whim b/c of the price and I've been eying these for a while. I downright tired of the 12 lbs of gear that my current HP requires me to carry. I love the laptop and the full size keyboard w/ number pad, but don't make the mistake of carrying that bugger around!

I'll take some pictures and let y'all know what I think. I'm sure it will be an adjustment going from a dual core to a single core, but I think I'll survive. I'll use my big laptop for all of the stuff that requires serious CPU power (matlab and other engineering software when back in school).

I'm excited. A buddy of mine at work just bought an Acer netbook and I'm jealous of how easy it is to carry around when traveling.

Yeah, it's hard to beat the price. I'm a windows man myself, I just casually used the MBP one day in the Apple Store and was sold...8hour battery life, best construction on the market bar none (aluminum, glass, etc.), and really, the touchpad is awesome!

But congrats on the microbook...they are nice to cary around no doubt v. a 17" model.

My Ma has a Dell net book for when she travels so she can pun in her purse. She loves it but it has XM unlike her Vista laptop.

Steve I like the Acer. Would be the brand I would buy hands down. I have used the Acer's, Dell, HP and Asus. Acer all the way!

I have a 14" Toshiba with a 1.7ghz Dothan in it. So its hard for me to spend the money on a Netbook when I already have a good small, rock stable lappy. But even a 10" Netbook make my 14" seem like a hunk.

You will enjoy the micro lappy. :)

Netbooks are pretty much the same with the exception of battery life. They are great for surfing the web and word processing. Horrible for games and resource hog programs. Most people fall into the first category so a netbook is a great choice as long as it has at least 3hrs of battery life.

I got a Dell m1530 which does what I need and doesn't weigh a ton. Battery will last me 5-6hrs when I'm just surfing the web or typing a paper. IMO, Macs are way overpriced. I got my Dell for under $1300 with a 4yr parts/labor/accidental/theft warranty. I was going to build my own but it would have ended up being more expensive.

I bought my original laptop in January 2007. It is the nicest laptop I've owned so far and was one of the first to have Vista Pre-loaded. Its been a great computer so far with very few hardware failures.

That being said....I didn't think I'd be traveling as much as I do with my job. I've been looking at netbooks for a while, but some of them are as steep as 400+ bucks. I was gonna spring and get the Acer Timeline in the 13.3 inch screen, but since I found this little bugger pretty cheap that I'd give it a try.

I'll probably hook my 17in HP up as a desktop in the house until it breaks and then replace it with a nice desktop. I really think the netbook is exactly what I need to travel with to get the job done. As long as it runs MS Office, Plays Music, browses the internet, Quicken, and AIM than I'm set for all of my computer needs on the road.

I can't wait! Thanks for all of the comments and I'm glad to here the Acer brand is good stuff. They seem to be one of the industry standards when it comes to Netbooks.

I bought my original laptop in January 2007. It is the nicest laptop I've owned so far and was one of the first to have Vista Pre-loaded. Its been a great computer so far with very few hardware failures.

That being said....I didn't think I'd be traveling as much as I do with my job. I've been looking at netbooks for a while, but some of them are as steep as 400+ bucks. I was gonna spring and get the Acer Timeline in the 13.3 inch screen, but since I found this little bugger pretty cheap that I'd give it a try.

I'll probably hook my 17in HP up as a desktop in the house until it breaks and then replace it with a nice desktop. I really think the netbook is exactly what I need to travel with to get the job done. As long as it runs MS Office, Plays Music, browses the internet, Quicken, and AIM than I'm set for all of my computer needs on the road.

I can't wait! Thanks for all of the comments and I'm glad to here the Acer brand is good stuff. They seem to be one of the industry standards when it comes to Netbooks.

The hardware is very similar between different brands. You laptop will likely last a very long time if it doesn't constantly run hot. The battery will probably be the first thing to die on you. The screen or harddrive will probably be the next to go. Netbooks usually run much cooler than laptops so they should last longer. I wouldn't be surprised if your laptop and netbook last over 5yrs.

I used Windows based PCs for a very long time...then I bought a MacBook Pro at the beginning of this year. This thing is so amazing, I am not going back to PCs, will have to wait until Apple comes out with some netbook version. And I am really needing one of those things with all the travel I do. Thought about the MacBook Air...too expensive for a travel laptop. So I wait.

How about the 13.3IN Macbook Pro? I looked long and hard at this new model since it has the longer battery life and aluminum case.

I think it is a pretty portable machine compared to the 17 in Pro!

My HP runs hot all of the time. I don't think that fan ever stops running :(. I have a long extended warranty on it though (another year or so) so it is going to be around for a while. The quality is pretty good when it comes to hardware and I love the keyboard on the HP. It is nice having a dedicated number pad on an laptop!

That being said, I have stress cracks on the plastic screen backing. Most of the internet forums have stated that it is a design flaw on the HP b/c the heat from the processor melts some of the components over time.

What HP laptop do you have? I've been using my HP laptop as a desktop replacement for 2 years and nothing has happened. It's been sitting on an Antec cooler though, which is amazing.

My daughter's iBook was on its last legs and she wanted to replace it with a Mac but needed something sooner. At the suggestion of my son and me, she bought the Samsung NC-10 primarily because of the six cell battery:

http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-NC10-14GB-10-2-Inch-Blue-Netbook/dp/B001I45TA8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1247196552&sr=8-1

She loves it and I've never heard her say it lacks power. I'm impressed with how portable it is and how well the keyboard works with my Virginia ham-sized fingers. Durable, too. Netbooks are the ideal internet appliance and travel tool.

Most compromises on Netbooks involve the processor, battery capacity, and keyboard. If you can live with those on whatever model you choose, odds are you'll be happy.

Steven, be advised not all netbooks support 2 GB RAM. Good luck and keep us posted.

My HP runs hot all of the time. I don't think that fan ever stops running :(. I have a long extended warranty on it though (another year or so) so it is going to be around for a while. The quality is pretty good when it comes to hardware and I love the keyboard on the HP. It is nice having a dedicated number pad on an laptop!

That being said, I have stress cracks on the plastic screen backing. Most of the internet forums have stated that it is a design flaw on the HP b/c the heat from the processor melts some of the components over time.

I use RightMark CPU Clock Utility to undervolt my CPU. I got mine to run 0.2v lower at max speed. That lowered my CPU and motherboard temp by almost 10C. What CPU do you have in the HP and how hot is it running?

1GB of ram is plenty if you aren't running vista. You shouldn't need more than 512mb for a netbook.

Steve, i bought the Acer Aspire One A110-1588 which is the 16gb ssd/sd model. My only regret is that i an ssd instead of the normal hdd. Id rather have the 160gb hdd instead of the SSD sine the particular model i have is notoriously slow for an SSD. But other than that this netbook has been great. I've got Ubuntu netbook remix on it right now. It's way faster than xp imo.

As far as adding ram, I think the mb is limited to 1.5gb however. There are a few mods you can do to it still to make it more custom. Check out www.aspireoneuser.com.

Jay

Asus EeePC 1002HA and love it. The right shift key is in the wrong place, but the size is so much nicer than a regular laptop and battery life is better, too.

If you want to play games, stick to ones about 8 years old! MAME works well on mine.

Also, HD video doesn't do too well. Regular YouTube is fine.

Long term the same price point (under $500) will get you more and more.

Its exciting to hear about all of the positive experience y'all are having with these machines. I haven't been more excited to buy a computer since I bought my first laptop!

This particular model of the Acer actually has a door on the bottom of the machine that you unscrew. Inside, there is a 1gig stick of ram that can be pulled and replaced with a 2 gig model. The older Acers required total disassembly and only were upgradable to 1.5. The 10.1 inch screen is a bit different and this was a main concern of mine before I purchased. MS Office 2007 uses a lot of ram.

Its exciting to hear about all of the positive experience y'all are having with these machines. I haven't been more excited to buy a computer since I bought my first laptop!

This particular model of the Acer actually has a door on the bottom of the machine that you unscrew. Inside, there is a 1gig stick of ram that can be pulled and replaced with a 2 gig model. The older Acers required total disassembly and only were upgradable to 1.5. The 10.1 inch screen is a bit different and this was a main concern of mine before I purchased. MS Office 2007 uses a lot of ram.

If the netbook isn't running Vista then the OS should only be using 200mb of RAM. I don't think Office 97 will use more than 50mb of RAM unless you are running PowerPoint with lots of pictures and videos. The smaller screen shouldn't be a problem once you get use to it. Remember to limit the number of times you charge the battery. I used to unplug my laptop a couple times a day and the battery died after 9months. Dell gave me a new one since it was under a year and told me the battery only has around 300 charge cycles. Only charge it when the battery is almost out and try not to let it completely run out. I usually charge mine at 10% and take out the battery when I'm at home.

Its exciting to hear about all of the positive experience y'all are having with these machines. I haven't been more excited to buy a computer since I bought my first laptop!

This particular model of the Acer actually has a door on the bottom of the machine that you unscrew. Inside, there is a 1gig stick of ram that can be pulled and replaced with a 2 gig model. The older Acers required total disassembly and only were upgradable to 1.5. The 10.1 inch screen is a bit different and this was a main concern of mine before I purchased. MS Office 2007 uses a lot of ram.

Im jealous, I want the 10.1" screen. The 8.9 is nice, but the limited space is sort of a drag.

My Current Laptop is an HP DV9287CL. You can read numerous posts of the broken hinge / screen covers here:

http://www.notebookhingecrack.com/2007/10/12/hp-dv9000-notebook-hinge-crack-update/

HP even did a voluntary warranty extension here:

http://www.notebookhingecrack.com/2007/10/12/hp-dv9000-notebook-hinge-crack-update/

I plan to use that extension page to force Sam's Extended warranty to fix my laptop as my plastic is cracked. I won't send it in until I get my netbook in the mail though.

That being said, I also pre-ordered my two copies of Windows 7 tonight. I am going to load it onto the netbook and my laptop. I hear lots of good things and 50 bucks a copy is a pretty dang good deal.

$50? Is that the Home Edition?

In Canada it's $65, and the Pro is $125.

However, I hope Microsoft is doing a better job with Windows 7 as compared to when they brought out Vista, and that's only 3 years ago, XP Pro lasted a whole lot longer and was more stable in comparison.

As for the netbook, I really want to have the N wireless capability, and that's holding me off getting one...........

The newer MSI Winds have a built in basic overclocking bios that can be used when on AC power. I might have to look into the MSI offerings a bit closer. Every computer I own is overclocked including the Toshiba lappy. The 1.7 ghz Dolthan lappy at 2.1 ghz brings some snap to the lap when needed. :)

Hi y'all.

Since some of y'all on this forum are far more knowledgable than myself when it comes to comptures, I figured I'd ask this question.

Anybody own a netbook? What brand? What do you like / dislike / hate / love with them?

Why do I ask?

I just went to woot.com and bought this:

http://www.woot.com/

Product at CNET:

http://reviews.cnet.com/laptops/acer-aspire-one-aod150/4505-3121_7-33517218.html?tag=mncol;lst

The first thing I intend to do is rip out the 1 gig of ram and throw in 2 gigs, but otherwise it looks like a pretty nice machine for 260 bucks.

I am tired of carrying around my 17inch HP DV9000 laptop. It is heavy and not convenient to use in any place except a desk. I think this netbook is gonna be a great second PC and can't wait for woot's slow shipping to reach my door :D

I'm just curious to see what y'all think about netbooks? Yes I thought about an entry level Mac, but I can't see paying twice as much for a computer that will only work with half of the software I need. They do make nice looking machines though.

I like Netbooks but the prices of bigger laptops are always threatening netbooks..such as this one..imagine running XP on this beast. I love netbooks for their size and portability eaze which are really indispensable attributes for a portable PC.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834147926

Along with my decked PC and my Macbook Pro I just recently picked up an Asus EEE 1005HA and absolutely LOVE it for the portability and the usage it brings. Being that I travel often and need a personal laptop to use at work I picked one up on Amazon ~$350 and have been VERY pleased with the results. The netbooks are pretty zippy for what they are made for. Granted you're not gonna be able to run PS or do heavy intensive work on them for word processing/internet/minor game play/video streaming these things are wonderful.

I picked up a Acer Aspire One, D250-1026 last night. I was in a Wal-Mart last night in Little Rock. They had this one left in stock. There pushing the newer ones. So I haggled with them and got it for $198 plus tax. Basically the price for the unit it replaced.

Its blue with the basic Atom cpu, 1 gig of ram, 160 gig hard drive with the 10.1" screen. No blue tooth or the new expansion slot and only a 3 cell battery. But what the hell for the money. :)

It works great! I'm yanking out the bloat ware right now. Going to put the Fox and Open Office on it. I see no need to update the ram to date.

The only hard mod I see that needs to be done is updating the speakers.

I'm liking it! :)

Awesome Price Psy!

I have the D150-1920 with the 6 cell 5200mAh batter.

I have traveled with it as well. I love this little thing. My HPDV9000 series laptop hasn't even been turned on in over a month since I got this thing!

I have the two gigs of ram as I plan to put windows 7 on this little machine.

From now on, I will be a desktop + netbook + iphone guy!

Does yours have the bigger screen? Mine is 10.1"

Yeah Steve it's a 10.1 screen.

I would have really liked to of had the 6 cell battery and the 1.66 ghz cpu, maybe even the blue tooth. But for the price,, I took it. Got a $100 of on it after haggling with the manager at the wal-mart. :)

Downloading open office right now.

My Toshiba 14" 1.7 ghz Dolthan cpu lappy is sleeping in it bag. I will use it! And it will have to remain as my road warrior. The burner and a few other features it has means it will still be used. The netbook is going on the night stand.

I too am a multi desktop, lappy, netbook, iphone user.....:lmao::lmao::lmao:
I can't be puter poor.

I may get an external CD burner for the netbook. My HP was a wonderful machine, but HP's quality is starting to show after year three. I love having a nice powerful laptop, but I'm also tired of battling quality issues.

This Acer is built like a tank. I love it as it is built exactly for what I use my netbook for. I synch my iphone with my HP, and I really only use my computers at home for MS Office 07, Quicken, iTunes, Firefox, and AIM.

I plan do get Adobe Photoshop soon, but that won't go on the netbook.

I'm a basic computer user at home. My work computer is a different story.

What color did you get? Mine is red.

I may get an external CD burner for the netbook. My HP was a wonderful machine, but HP's quality is starting to show after year three. I love having a nice powerful laptop, but I'm also tired of battling quality issues.

This Acer is built like a tank. I love it as it is built exactly for what I use my netbook for. I synch my iphone with my HP, and I really only use my computers at home for MS Office 07, Quicken, iTunes, Firefox, and AIM.

I plan do get Adobe Photoshop soon, but that won't go on the netbook.

I'm a basic computer user at home. My work computer is a different story.

What color did you get? Mine is red.

It's blue. As is my Toshiba lappy.

I didn't take my lappy this week when I had to leave for Little Rock. Was suppose to be just a over night trip. But while on the road the system I was to look at blew some high pressure water lines and fried all the micro electronic controls in the control panel. So I had my iphone and could get emails and research .pdf files and such needed to rewire said control panel and stay in contact with the factory thus getting the parts I needed over nighted to me from the factory. But through my inspection I found out they built the whole system wrong. From the cust. that spec'ed the unit. To the owner of my company yet again screwing up to the engineers and production staff at the factory screwing up. It really was a mess to do what I needed on a iphone. Got it done and the repairs are heading in the right direction now. As much as I like my iphone. The week taxed it and I to the max!

As for HP and all those other want to be puter companys. I won't buy there junk! Full blow lappys? Toshiba or IBM. The rest can take a hike. I build my desktop rigs. And,,, fact is I'm not a Benq/Acer fan at all! But they seem to have done a netbook right. I like the MSI Wind and it has a built in OC string in the bios that can be used on AC power. Hella Cool IMHO! And that was the netbook I was going to get until I found this one heap cheap.

Do you have tethering enabled on the iPhone?

I "hear" that it works wonders? Might be a better combination for your work.

The Air Force won't let me synch the iphone with MS Exchange....

Do you have tethering enabled on the iPhone?

I "hear" that it works wonders? Might be a better combination for your work.

The Air Force won't let me synch the iphone with MS Exchange....

No,,, not active. But the phone is jail broken and I have the software. ;) A jail broken iphone is a must in my book!

Just got the fox and open office on the netbook. Need to tune on it some more. It's already got more snappy. :D Hell I might even put linux on it. No real reason for me to have winblows anything on it. Shoot my desktop at work is not config'd like everybody's. They fight bugs and I do as I wish. They hired some slap stick IT company for about a week. They dinked up my machine over a weekend. I dinked up there work in about 10 mins. Kiss that contract good bye. Hello bigger bonus. Thanked the owner for my bonus / amount over a phone call yesterday. I was confused,,,, because I knew my bonus figure before we had our review meeting.

Found that out with the iphone. :lmao::lmao::lmao::lmao:

Don't even get me started on our network.......it is so secure that I can't get anything done anymore.....

I'll be interested to hear how the Acer Netbook holds up on your end. Mine is just find and I love the 7 hour battery life.

The keyboard and touch pad took some getting used to.

Don't even get me started on our network.......it is so secure that I can't get anything done anymore.....

I'll be interested to hear how the Acer Netbook holds up on your end. Mine is just find and I love the 7 hour battery life.

The keyboard and touch pad took some getting used to.

The only issue I have with the touch pad is the scroll function.

My battery life looks to be about 4 hours right now. My old lappy needs a new battery pack now. So maybe I can work my game to get a deal on a new 9 cell for it and a 6 cell for the nety at a good price. :)

It's all good. :)