Netbooks

[Tyrannosaur]

Netbooks - the really tiny computers that you can buy for next to nothing for your every day computer needs.

i picked one up recently, one of Asus's EeePC's and i love it!

i reckon these things are the future. they are really compact, light, and moderately powerful for their size. most of them are upgradable to 2gb of ram and windows 7.

depending on the model, they can come with up to around 7 hours of battery life!

mine is the one with the 3 cell battery, so i only get around 3-4 hours. no big deal.

they handle the basic tasks really well. email, web, office stuff etc. and some gaming is also possible. mine even plays WoW! lol

The verdict: if you are looking for a laptop for simple stuff and dont wanna lug around a mountain of computer, i highly recommend a netbook. prices are 280-400.

peace

[landbeforetimelover]

If I could sum up netbooks in 2 words, they would be: "Bad Buy."

They're so limited and can't really be upgraded.  The small keyboard and screen is really a pain.  I dunno about the rest of you, but the bigger the screen on a laptop, the better!  I would LOVE to have an 18.4" laptop.  I used to have 4 netbooks....1 eeepc, 2 Acer Sapphire's, and 1 mini HP.  I've sold them all because I just don't like 'em.  They don't have any real use.  Putting Adobe Premier on 'em?  Forget it!  They can't even do anything in Photoshop decently!  I avoid netbooks like the plague.  I'm constantly having clients trade 'em in for something better (meaning a REAL laptop).  And I've always gotta turn around and sell 'em too and it doesn't work out very well.  I always end up selling 'em for $200 or less, barely making a penny off 'em.  I don't think I'm even gonna accept netbooks in trade anymore.  People just don't know what pieces of crap they are when they buy 'em.

[Cancerian Tiger]

No offense to anyone, but I prefer my laptop over netbooks.  Small keyboards get on my nerves after awhile, and due to my vision being impaired, I have a harder time with the little screens.  I've had my Acer Aspire laptop for over two years now, and nothing has malfunctioned yet (and hopefully won't for a long time) .

[Petrie.]

I wouldn't be able to see on little screens.  My 15" widescreen laptop is tough sometimes.  Netbooks are too small for my needs so I would never buy one.

[action9000]

Netbooks are great for the "internet/e-mail" kinds of people but as soon as you really want to work or play at all on the computer, they just don't have what it takes.

Internet, Office and media playback is about all they can do.  If that's all you need, they're cheap and they can do that.  If you want any other functionality, they just won't cut it.  

Netbooks are economical office computers or "consumer electronics".  As soon as you get into gaming or creation, this just isn't the tool for the job.  

I'm glad you have your games running well enough on the netbook, Tyrannosaur!  It depends how picky you are about framerate; if you aren't looking for around the full 60 frames per second, you might be fine with older games such as WoW (released in 2004, graphic updates with the latest expansion).  New games would die a very quick and painful death on a netbook though.

[DarkHououmon]

If I could sum up netbooks in 2 words, they would be: "Bad Buy."

They're so limited and can't really be upgraded.  The small keyboard and screen is really a pain.  I dunno about the rest of you, but the bigger the screen on a laptop, the better!  I would LOVE to have an 18.4" laptop.  I used to have 4 netbooks....1 eeepc, 2 Acer Sapphire's, and 1 mini HP.  I've sold them all because I just don't like 'em.  They don't have any real use.  Putting Adobe Premier on 'em?  Forget it!  They can't even do anything in Photoshop decently!  I avoid netbooks like the plague.  I'm constantly having clients trade 'em in for something better (meaning a REAL laptop).  And I've always gotta turn around and sell 'em too and it doesn't work out very well.  I always end up selling 'em for $200 or less, barely making a penny off 'em.  I don't think I'm even gonna accept netbooks in trade anymore.  People just don't know what pieces of crap they are when they buy 'em.

I heard netbooks also lack a CD Drive. Is this true?

[Kor]

If it meets your needs as a pc or as a travel pc then that is good.  Or if you have it around as a secondary or spare pc.  Though with some or many folks using a usb keyboard and mouse may be necessary.

[action9000]

That is correct, DH.  I don't know of any netbook that has a CD drive.  If one does, I'll need someone to correct me but I've seen a number of them that don't.

In other words, the only way to install a game or program from a disc is to have the disc in a network drive or rip the image to the hard drive from another computer.

[DarkHououmon]

I was thinking of helping to buy my sister a laptop. I did consider a netbook once but I decided against it due to no CD Drive being in it.

[Tyrannosaur]

you all bring up valid points, but keep in mind, that netbooks are designed for a select group of people

like, me personally, i could never use a netbook as my main computer, as i play alot of high detail games.

but for what they are designed for, they do a pretty good job i reckon .
the screen size and lack of a CD drive can be a pain, and they definitely aren't for everybody. but for what they are intended for, i think they do quite well .

peace

[landbeforetimelover]

I really don't care if a laptop has a CD drive or not, as I never really use it except when formatting the computer.  My main concern is the low power and tiny screen size.  They're totally useless unless all you want to do is type reports and surf the net.  Perfect for a college student.  I don't know what other use they could possibly be.

[Kor]

"They can serve a very useful purpose, including as a spare temporary pc if your main one goes out.  & with an external dvd rom drive can be a bit more useful at home also, though no replacement for a desktop they are very useful in certain situations.