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Good Notebook for a Student for Notes whilst Commuting?
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Smedders11
Posts: 127 Forumite
in Techie Stuff
I'm a student who has to commute for three to four hours roundtrip in a day. What is an ideal laptop that fits the following criteria:
* Small and light (smaller than your typical laptop).
* Battery that lasts at least four hours.
* Built-in wifi.
* Cheap (I don't know the price ranges, but I'm hoping £150-£200).
I'm not looking for anything particularly up-to-date. It is solely for writing up notes whilst I'm sat on the train; I don't intend on using it for games or as a main computer which would get cluttered with useless software. As for Mac or PC, I'm not too fussed; I am however familiar with PCs.
Sorry if these questions are annoying to you tech-savvy people, but I don't have a good track record with buying laptops and computers.
Thank you!
* Small and light (smaller than your typical laptop).
* Battery that lasts at least four hours.
* Built-in wifi.
* Cheap (I don't know the price ranges, but I'm hoping £150-£200).
I'm not looking for anything particularly up-to-date. It is solely for writing up notes whilst I'm sat on the train; I don't intend on using it for games or as a main computer which would get cluttered with useless software. As for Mac or PC, I'm not too fussed; I am however familiar with PCs.
Sorry if these questions are annoying to you tech-savvy people, but I don't have a good track record with buying laptops and computers.
Thank you!
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Comments
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Have a look at the Alphasmart (wikipedia) if it's specifically for note-taking. Often quite cheap on Ebay. 400 hour (yes 400 hour) battery life. Only does plain text typing though; you'd transfer your notes into a PC for later editing. Renlearn.
The Alphasmarts are very popular with novelistsA kind word lasts a minute, a skelped erse is sair for a day.0 -
We call it a..... Netbook
To this end I would recommend the HP MINI 210 BEATS NETBOOK - AQUA REFURB £149.99
This machine normally goes for £230 upwards(Not that it's worth that much).
Contrary to the description, the machine will arrive shiny and new.
Warranty exactly the same as a new machine too.
Good battery life(claimed up to ten hours, but you'll be happy with half of that) and a doddle to upgrade the RAM to 2GB. If it takes you more than 60 seconds, you are probably missing some fingers.
£9 for a 2GB module
1.38kg, so more than a kilogram less than a laptop.
The only caveat is that it has a glossy screen instead of a matte screen. Matte screens are better for outdoors, as they are less reflective.
Either way, you have a seven working day evaluation period, wherein you can claim a 'no quibble' refund.
I think it is a relative bargain for a Netbook with a six cell battery.0 -
Smedders11 wrote: »I'm a student who has to commute for three to four hours roundtrip in a day. What is an ideal laptop that fits the following criteria:
* Small and light (smaller than your typical laptop).
* Battery that lasts at least four hours.
* Built-in wifi.
* Cheap (I don't know the price ranges, but I'm hoping £150-£200).
Dell Latitude D430. They're down to around £120-£130 on Ebay. Core 2 Duo, 12" 1280x800 widescreen, weigh not a lot. Originally when new they were well over £1000. Replacement batteries are cheap. You may even get one with a docking station with the optical drive in for £150 - looking at my Ebay sales, the last one I sold a couple of months ago went for £140 with a dock and a good battery. DO NOT BUY ONE WITHOUT A HARD DRIVE as they use 1.8" hard drives with ZIF connectors which are not cheap.0 -
Notmyrealname wrote: »Dell Latitude D430......
Seriously? Those things are five years old. You wouldn't get five hours from a new battery. You'd be running an outdated OS. If the HDD goes, getting a new one will be a pain. Plus capacity will be limited. The HDD is slow.. No warranty worth a jot.
So whilst the machines are solidly built and probably great for young children, I don't think it fits.0 -
NiftyDigits wrote: »We call it a..... Netbook
To this end I would recommend the HP MINI 210 BEATS NETBOOK - AQUA REFURB £149.99
This machine normally goes for £230 upwards(Not that it's worth that much).
Contrary to the description, the machine will arrive shiny and new.
Warranty exactly the same as a new machine too.
Good battery life(claimed up to ten hours, but you'll be happy with half of that) and a doddle to upgrade the RAM to 2GB. If it takes you more than 60 seconds, you are probably missing some fingers.
£9 for a 2GB module
1.38kg, so more than a kilogram less than a laptop.
The only caveat is that it has a glossy screen instead of a matte screen. Matte screens are better for outdoors, as they are less reflective.
Either way, you have a seven working day evaluation period, wherein you can claim a 'no quibble' refund.
I think it is a relative bargain for a Netbook with a six cell battery.
+1
But personally prefer asus then HP0 -
+1
But personally prefer asus then HP
The ASUS X101 alternatives within the same listing and at the same price are not good. Sometimes you can't always go on the name.
Usually I would have written the same, but on checking the reviews, the ASUS doesn't come out well, whereas the HP does.0 -
NiftyDigits wrote: »Seriously? Those things are five years old. You wouldn't get five hours from a new battery. You'd be running an outdated OS. If the HDD goes, getting a new one will be a pain. Plus capacity will be limited. The HDD is slow.. No warranty worth a jot.
So whilst the machines are solidly built and probably great for young children, I don't think it fits.
Oh dear....
Yes you will get 5hrs from a battery especially as the laptop uses a ULV CPU and is designed for low power consumption. I sell mine with Windows 7 Home Premium on at £139. Getting a new HDD is expensive, not a pain. Go on Ebay and search for 80GB iPod HDD as it is the same drive.
Most of the ones I get to sell have barely been used.0 -
I've got an HP Netbook very similar to that suggested which I use as a travel computer.
Mine also does Bluetooth which I use to get the Internet via my mobile phone.
It isn't a replacement for a "real" laptop or desktop for all purposes but it is very light and great to use on a train.
As supplied with 1GB of RAM it tends to slow down if asked to do much. After the easiest PC upgrade in the world to swap the memory module to the maximum 2GB it is considerably better.0 -
Notmyrealname wrote: »Oh dear....
Yes you will get 5hrs from a battery especially as the laptop uses a ULV CPU and is designed for low power consumption. I sell mine with Windows 7 Home Premium on at £139. Getting a new HDD is expensive, not a pain. Go on Ebay and search for 80GB iPod HDD as it is the same drive.
Most of the ones I get to sell have barely been used.
Regardless of your claim, the reviews of the machine claim otherwise.
Apart from that, your supplied battery is not new. But even purchasing a new one would not produce the required result.
Do these come with a Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium COA under the RRP?
What about the warranty?0 -
I use 2 net books, an Eee PC with a touch screen and a Dell mini. I love both but prefer the Eee pc as it's got a nicer keyboard! Get a day out of the Dell (work computer so 9-5) but more like 4-5 hrs from the Eee both are a couple of years old now, the Eee has been used more though and I do tend to not leave them plugged in!
Kate0
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