Can anyone give me some advice on netbooks?

hodders

I need to buy H a netbook for his Birthday, PC World have the Samsung N110 for £329, which is supposed to be good on power but I haven't the faintest idea if the spec is good.

Can anyone give me some advice? Is this the best netbook around for the money? I know H doesn't have much patience when it comes to computers so something that is fairly quick would be handy.

macman

It's pretty much a standard netbook spec, Intel Atom processor, 160GB drive, 1GB RAM, 10.1 in screen, runs XP home.
A good machine with apparently excellent battery life. It's the successor to the NC10.
Only downside is that for a netbook it's not cheap, for another £70 you can get a better featured and faster laptop. Only buy a netbook if you really need the portability.
But please do not buy it from PCW, just go anywhere but there....

jweb2k

Does he absolutely 100% need a netbook? A laptop could be much better for him, so do check with H first!!

tsimehC

I got the NC10 and I'd buy it again if I had the money!

John_Gray

Read the recent PCPro review!

But as previously said by jweb2k, check that H would be happy with the small screen area and the 1,024 x 600 resolution. Personally I find both of these too small for comfortable web browsing, and wouldn't be happy with anything less than 1,280 x 800 (sort of 14-15" screen size). But, as our American cousins say, Your Mileage May Vary...

hodders

He likes the size of a netbook apparently, although he hasn't used one. I don't want to spend any more money as that is over the budget as it is. I can buy it from Currys or Dixons I think for the same money.

We wouldn't really use it anywhere other than in the house, so portability isn't an issue. Can I get a decent laptop for that money though?

macman

hodders wrote: »

He likes the size of a netbook apparently, although he hasn't used one. I don't want to spend any more money as that is over the budget as it is. I can buy it from Currys or Dixons I think for the same money.

We wouldn't really use it anywhere other than in the house, so portability isn't an issue. Can I get a decent laptop for that money though?

A netbook has a tiny 10 in screen and a cramped keyboard. It also has no optical drive. It's only purpose is portability. For regular home use you would soon find it very limiting, unless you live in a rabbit hutch.
You can get a very good 15 in laptop for around £400 which will give you much more flexibility.
PS: Dixons/PCW/Currys are all part of DSG, the same group. Stay away...

hodders

Thanks £400 is far too much, so I guess we don't have much choice.

macman

hodders wrote: »

Thanks £400 is far too much, so I guess we don't have much choice.

Yes, you do, you can get a 15 in laptop for the same price as the netbook. In which case it will be a budget model or a refurb. Or spend another £30-£50 for a full size new laptop, the Dell Inspirons for examples, start at £349, or even less on Dell Outlet.
If you get a netbook for home use, you'll need to go out and spend £30 on an optical drive anyway, so that makes the price difference pretty minimal.

m5rcc

Samsung NC10 is better

Abbafan1972

Hubby has just bought an *open boxed* Samsung R60 from Ebuyer for £299. It really is a nice little 15" laptop.