OT: Netbook vs laptop

[Renysmom]

Has anyone purchased a netbook yet instead of a laptop?

I currently have a 17" high def HP widescreen laptop that I want to sell to get a new smaller laptop that I can easily carry with me when I am doing my photography and when traveling, the 17" is great just too heavy and large so I I am trying to determine which, if either is the better option for me? I am starting to see full laptops in stores about the size and weight of the netbooks for about a $100 - $200 more. With dvd drives, more USB ports and built in wireless I would think the laptop is the way to go but I know nothing about netbooks so I thought I would ask here what are the advantages of the netbook?

Thanks for any advise

 

[L.E. Ott]

I would normally have said laptop, especially if you want to do anything besides surf. But recently, I saw and used my mother's netbook firsthand. It's the Acer model that you see everywhere for 75-120. I was suprised with it. HAs a full version of XP loaded on it, and Microsoft Office. Not sure how big of a drive it has, but it was a neat little machine. If I didn't need all of the capabilities of a laptop, I'd certainly consider one. Heck, I've though it would be nice to have when travelling or on vacation. Especially, if I could dump my camera's memory chip to it everyday.

 

[spaddy]

I used a new Acer 10" on our vacation to WDW in May. It was really nice to not have to carry a full sized laptop. It can be a little annoying to install programs, but not a big deal after first set up of the machine. I have to say my hands got a little crampy trying to us the keyboards for long periods of time (2 hours or so), but on vacation that doesn't matter.

I think it is a good option for vacation.

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

I have the HP mini netbook with the Atom Processor and XP and now tha ti hvae it wireless, I love it . I certainly wouldn't use it to download pictures, as they don't have alot of memory, but I got mine mainly for online surfing, bill paying through my bank website, and for traveling. We have a 17in Laptop that sits on our computer desk with internet, a printer, and our new T-mobile@home service attached.

As I say it was well worth the $400 I paid for it and I alos spent $100 and got the DVD/CD burner/player that I don't have to take with me. My netbook is light as a feather and is going to be great for my Disney trip this week

Suzanne

 

[chirurgeon]

I am hoping Apple comes out with a netbook or their version. I really want something a little more portable for vacation.

Kim

 

[wendyinoc]

I have own the Dell Mini 9 since last Nov and even brought it with me to Disneyworld. I love my netbook!! How do you live without one? I no longer have a crackberry just a regular phone. It's so light and so easy to bring everywhere. I even used it driving home from Las Vegas (I was the passenger) and it lasted the 4 hour trip. I even used the web cam in the car. I do recommend a internet stick with your cell phone company. If you are a typist the Dell has bigger keys so its not bad, but a few keys are in the wrong place. It might have been fixed with the Dell 10. Now if just my Dell Touchscreen (studio 19) would show up!!
Now they are testing in certain cell phone markets to make these super cheap like a phone. Then you sign a contract for the internet. That's the best deal in town.
One thing if you bring it out in public be prepared to answer questions. People stop me all the time. My favorite was the 80 year old at the airport. I heard her say to her son, " I want one of those"

 

[FireDancer]

A netbook is great for surfing the web and doing any cloud based computing. The processor is adequate for most basic tasks but the math logic in the processor isn't meant for intense computing. You had said you will use it for photography. If you are going to connect your camera to it to store photos until you can get home to edit them it should work fine but if you want to do a lot of photo editing I would go with something a little heftier processor wise.

If you are getting a model which offers an upgrade to a solid state drive I would consider it. The drives run much cooler which will give you a little longer life and they also boot a bit quicker. If you can wait a little while I would also consider waiting until Microsoft announces the upgrade path for Windows 7. The OS comes out in October and will include a release tuned for netbooks. XP is a nice operating system but Windows 7 will give you the added secutity of Vista without, well, being Vista.

 

[k5jm]

My netbook is a beast. Now I upgraded mine to 2gb of memory and a huge Solid State Hard Drive, but it works great. I run Ubuntu on it and for Web, email, boards, chat, Video, Audio, and normal day-to-day it is fantastic. I have a Dell Mini 9. If nothing else, it is a great travel computer.

Seen here while making Fish Extender Gifts for PCC 1.0

 

[Renysmom]

Thanks for the replies so far... Now I am even more confused LOL....

A few more questions... If these do not have CD/DVD drives how are you loading additional softwares?? Do I have to buy an external drive and what do those cost?

Everyone keeps talking about upgrading the memory and ram? Why and how?? I've read reviews where people complain about only 2 USB plugs, is there a reason you couldn't use an extension?

I would love to wait for Apple to come out with theirs but I am sure it will be expensive and since DH doesnt use a mac i guess it is better to get this window based so we can share it when we travel, otherwise he will carry a laptop as well... AT&T is also suppose to come out with a program like Verizons, I am interested in hearing about that as well.

Any other info you want to share please do

 

[FireDancer]

Kelly, all good questions. First, there are two avenues you can use to install software. If you know how to network your computers you can load a CD or DVD into another machine on the network and share the optical drive or just copy the installation files off temporarily to a shared folder. I have no idea how computer savy you are but it isn't all that difficult. If you would rather just use a USB optical drive they are pretty cheap. This could also come in handy for getting your pictures off the computer.

Upgrading the memory is done because you can never have too much RAM. I always recommend the max your device will take and your OS will handle. If you plan on storing a lot of pics a bigger hard drive just gives you more storage. As I said before and Mike aluded to a solid state drive is faster than a standard platter drive but you will spend more for less space. They boot quiker and have no moving parts to not only do they last longer mechanically but if you travel a lot with the netbook a solid drive is less prone to acciental damage because of movement. As for how...I'm sure you know someone that knows how to do it. I would not tackle it if you weren't comfortable. It is not hard generally but the smaller the device the bigger the pain it can be.

I also recommend NOT going with a subsidized laptop. You will be locked into the provider of the WWAN card and when you do the math the savings isn't all that good. Keep in mind that the netbook can attach to WiFi for the Internet without the WWAN card from a company like Verizon. You only need those cards if you want to connect to the Internet at places without WiFi connections (WiFi is what you use at places like Starbucks or any other hotspot).

I would recommend going to Cnet and reading some of their reviews on netbooks. Spending some time on the site will get you plenty of video and print reviews and you will find articles and video blogs about netbooks in general with many of the questions you are asking.