Opinions on little laptops please

Tojo_Ralph

5bellies wrote: »

What length of battery life are you looking at?

The lap/netbooks are unlikely to leave the four walls they live in, so battery life isn't critical, but it would be nice for the users to be mains free for 3 hours plus.

5bellies wrote: »

What exactly do you want a laptop to do?

Only really surfing the net, emailing, MSN, etc from the sofa and bed!! .... But it would be good if it had Windows so the users could use the likes of Word and Excel and become more IT literate... But Windows isn't a deal buster. There's not really any need for a full size weighty laptop and I assume a netbook or whatever would be so much more managable and lighter? It won't be a second laptop as it will be the users only laptop, with access to family computers.

Pricewise it really depends on what I am getting.... The Acer One with XP at sub £300 looks like it will do the job, but if £400 gets me a better deal, more bang for my buck or relatively speaking a more versatile piece of kit, I'll stretch to £400.

5bellies_2

Tojo_Ralph wrote: »

The lap/netbooks are unlikely to leave the four walls they live in, so battery life isn't critical, but it would be nice for the users to be mains free for 3 hours plus.

Only really surfing the net, emailing, MSN, etc from the sofa and bed!! .... But it would be good if it had Windows so the users could use the likes of Word and Excel and become more IT literate... But Windows isn't a deal buster. There's not really any need for a full size weighty laptop and I assume a netbook or whatever would be so much more managable and lighter? It won't be a second laptop as it will be the users only laptop, with access to family computers.

Pricewise it really depends on what I am getting.... The Acer One with XP at sub £300 looks like it will do the job, but if £400 gets me a better deal, more bang for my buck or relatively speaking a more versatile piece of kit, I'll stretch to £400.

Ebuyer do an 8.9" Eee with XP for £263 that claims a 5 hour battery life. 2 year warranty as well. If you want to install Word etc you'll need a CD drive as well, so probably worth getting an external DVD writer (this one is powered from the USB, so no additional cables) for £30-£50 for them to share.

Tojo_Ralph

Having looked a little more, the MSI Wind U100-249UK-WT160B at Misco approx £325 (inc 4% Quidco) looks good and reviews well.

Anyone have any thoughts or reservations?

Edinburghlass_2

As a touch typist I find the keyboard difficult to use, always hitting the wrong keys.

Samanthas_2

MattLFC wrote: »

I wanted one, but the only one that really impressed me (other than the MSI Wind) was the Samsung NC10 - I very nearly bought one a few weeks back!!

However, in the end, I decided that I wanted my new laptop to not only be portable, but to replace my existing one all round.

I could not achieve this with any netbook due to the very slow Intel Atom, no DVD-RW, tiny screen size, pathetic screen res etc...

So in the end, instead of opting for the 10" NC10, I bought a 12" 1.7Kg ultra-portable laptop, which features a Core2Duo T5550 w Centrino (3x more powerful than the Atom), 2GB DDRII RAM, DVD-R/RW Dual Layer Drive, and an impressive 1280x800 12.1" screen, for practically the same price I was going to buy an NC10 (£300).

The only downside to it compared to the NC10, was a slightly bigger chassis (not a problem for me), lower battery life at 3 hours with it being a proper processor (not really a problem, but would have liked more) and it has Windows Vista installed (annoying at times, but perfectly usable).

If you want to replace a system, then a netbook really wont do. Personally, I like to have just one single system to do everything with, I don't like the idea of a "travel system" and a "home system" as I can't be bothered with syncing emails for business etc...

So you need to think carefully what your needs are, before you purchase a netbook. They can be fun, but they can also (as my missus warned me) just be a novelty with no real shelf life.

>>>>>
So in the end, instead of opting for the 10" NC10, I bought a 12" 1.7Kg ultra-portable laptop, which features a Core2Duo T5550 w Centrino (3x more powerful than the Atom), 2GB DDRII RAM, DVD-R/RW Dual Layer Drive, and an impressive 1280x800 12.1" screen, for practically the same price I was going to buy an NC10 (£300).
>>>>>>
Hello what was the brand of the 12inch Laptop you finally purchased where do you recommend buying it?
I have seen Todays Special Value on https://www.qvcuk.com for £300.00 looks great with webcam however only Atom Processor

http://www.qvcuk.com/ukqic/qvcapp.aspx/app.html/params.file.tsv_560194,html/walk.html.|tsvmetadrill,html?cm_re=Promos-_-TSV-_-P:560194#techSpecs

Thanks
Samantha

Samanthas_2

Re:Samsung Netbook NC10 TSV on QVC £300

This Netbook looks great with built in webcam and 6 hour battery life
I am just wondering about the price £300 will this devalue quicker especially after Christmas
http://www.qvcuk.com/ukqic/qvcapp.aspx/app.detail/params.frames.y.tpl.uktsv.item.tsv/walk.html.|tsvmetadrill,html

Can you download and install pc programs with this machine?
Do QVCuk actually allow you to try the PC hands on for 30days?
whats their gaurantee?
This PC netbook got a lot of awards
Anyone know how long its been on the market?

Thanks

Samanthas_2

Leopard wrote: »

You have, you say, already bought one computer, tonight.

Are you proposing, 18 minutes later, to buy another?

I did NOT buy it because I do NOT whether it will work with wireless broadband service like https://www.three.co.uk Huthinson Telecom with the Dongle the plastic thing you
plug in.

Samantha

Millionaire

MattLFC wrote: »

So in the end, instead of opting for the 10" NC10, I bought a 12" 1.7Kg ultra-portable laptop, which features a Core2Duo T5550 w Centrino (3x more powerful than the Atom), 2GB DDRII RAM, DVD-R/RW Dual Layer Drive, and an impressive 1280x800 12.1" screen, for practically the same price I was going to buy an NC10 (£300).

What 12.1 did you get for that price, with that spec? I am interested in buying one. Or are you talking about a used/secondhand one? Thanks.

techno12

Writing this on my 2-day old Samsung NC10 and I love it!

The keyboard is enormous, it almost seems too big! I say this coming from an EeePC 701 which I've had all year and used it daily (I'm a bed net surfer too ;-)

The terrible battery life on the Eee helped push me to the Samsung (£278.99 from Play with RAC discount and Quidco). It ran for 7 hours yesterday - that's more like it, I always hated rationing my use of the Eee on long train/plane journeys but no such worries with the NC10

Love the fact I'm back on XP - Linux is terrible as most things I wanted to run aren't on it, and trying to install anything is the biggest world of pain ever!

techno12

Samanthas wrote: »

I did NOT buy it because I do NOT whether it will work with wireless broadband service like www.three.co.uk Huthinson Telecom with the Dongle the plastic thing you
plug in.

Samantha

Works a treat on my new NC10 - writing this now from the lounge with my white 3 usb dongle plugged in. It auto-installed the software (Linux based systems don't) and I just clicked 'connect' - easy as pie!

Boy am I glad to be back on Windows ;-)