Comments on: Netbook buying guide for the holidays

By: M. Woychak

M. Woychak — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 04:31:26 +0000

on’t let them scare you. I only share my experiences in case anyone else wants to try Windows 7 and needs to know how I resolved them. Also remember that Windows 7 hasn’t “officially” been released yet. I’m hopeful that since Toshiba has beta Windows 7 drivers available already for the NB205, that they’ll resolve these issues with better drivers once Windows 7 is officially released.

As for the netbook itself, here’s my pros and cons:

PROS
* Usable keyboard!
* Usable trackpad!
* Bright/readable display (I run it at 30% brightness without any issues)
* Descent performance for a netbook. It runs Windows 7 just fine.
* The battery lasts forever. Even with installing several apps and rebooting a few times tonight, I’m still on pace for 8 hours before needing to charge!
* Extremely lightweight.
* Bluetooth works great connected to my Blackberry for mobile broadband internet access.

CONS
* It gets warm after awhile. Not the scalding 2nd degree

By: Bargain Babe » Christmas gift ideas!

Bargain Babe » Christmas gift ideas! — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 20:15:56 +0000

[...] don’t forget to check out my netbook buying guide, written by Bargain [...]

By: Bargain Babe » Bargain Babe’s gift guide

Bargain Babe » Bargain Babe’s gift guide — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 21:36:16 +0000

[...] don’t forget to check out my netbook buying guide, written by Bargain [...]

By: mimi

mimi — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 05:21:44 +0000

I bought the “little sammy” Samsung NC10 last Christmas, when i t was first released. I love it and recommend it to anyone shopping for a netbook.

By: Steven Rosenberg

Steven Rosenberg — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 01:25:45 +0000

As always, if you want to read a whole lot about Ubuntu Linux, the good and the bad, my blog, http://insidesocal.com/click awaits. It also features many dozen links to sites about Ubuntu and other Linux and free software systems and applications. I’m all about using the old equipment we already have (and I don’t have any computers in my stable produced after 2003, so I definitely practice what I preach as far as that goes).

By: Steven Rosenberg

Steven Rosenberg — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 01:11:46 +0000

Nice job with this guide, Julia.

True, a lot of netbooks are underpowered. There are newer versions of the Atom processor that are better than the “original” CPUs, and one tradeoff is that you won’t get the same power saving with the traditional CPUs that you will get with the Atom.

Netbooks are in a real “transition” state at the moment. Some are good, others are not.

My favorites at the moment are the Dell Mini 10 you mentioned and the HP MiniNote (I can’t remember the exact model numbers of these, but go for the newest you can find at a decent price.

I also like the Acer Aspire – those look pretty good.

One that I really like that isn’t all that popular at the moment is the Dell Latitude 2100:

http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/laptop-latitude-2100?c=us&l=en&s=bsd&cs=04

And look at this up-to-the-minute deal on a Dell Vostro A90 with Ubuntu Linux for $184. http://www.gadgetell.com/tech/comment/ubuntu-based-dell-vostro-a90-netbook-on-sale-for-184/ This is the 9-inch version Julia was talking about. They aren’t making new ones, but this is quite a deal. Not the most powerful, but I’ve seen these in action and they can do Flash video … And it’s less than $200, so I’m a bit more forgiving.