Talk to me about net books please.

Mrs_Bones

I know nothing about these mini laptops or net books, but wondering if one would be useful. My hand is getting worst and I can hardly write with it now, which is very annyoying when I need to take notes. I need something small and light that I can take to the library or church with me. The ones I've looked at don't have cd drives, how do you put programs on to them or save stuff? Can you use pen sticks to save stuff and attach them to printers? Also ideally I'd like to put my family history program on to it so I've got my info at my finger tips so to speak would this be possible.

Sorry for all the questions, and thank you if you've got this far

tomsutton529

Hi, Netbooks are awesome if you use for what they are made for, Which is very little.

1. I dont know about the problems with your hand but the keyboard on the netbook is quite small, so dobear that in mind and go and play around on one before you purchase.

2. they are perfect for traveling and the fans on most are very quiet so you wont disturb people.

3. most dont have a CD drive, To install a program you either download the setup file off the web, or you copy the contents of a CD to the pen drive. you can attach a printer Via USB as you would on anyother laptop or PC, The only major differnce between a laptop and netbook is the size.

when buying one make sure you have a play around with it first ,some people find them too small and hard to use. Get one with a hard drive and not flash memory, its easier to fix with a harddrive in it and the extra space is nice to have. Consider getting one with windows, it might be £50 more expensive but its alot easier to install the software you use. If you do get one with linux on it then its not the end of the world, Windows can be put on it in under an hour, but you will ahve to buy a lisence for the OS (the £50 I mentioned before is the cost of the lisence when buying the netbook, it ill be more if you buy just the lisence)

I think thats everything.

totalsolutions

Hi, The "best " ones are made by a company called Samsung, look at the NC10, NC20 and NC110, I think there may be an NC120 as well.

The net book should not be used as your only or main PC. If you have desktop as well then you can utilise that CD/DVD drive quite easily by a process called mapping. Just ask later.

Samsung will have Windows XP pre-loaded, but dumped that and put Windows 7 straight on. Samsung laptop and netbooks are well supported on various forums.

Getting one with a SSD is much better than a harddrive, it will run faster, will not fail, last for ever take less power. Battery power lasts over 6hr and more.

Mrs_Bones

Thank you, that helps.

I am going to have alook at them when I can next get into town. I figured I'd just have to finger type because of the keyboard but I would only be using it just for making quick notes, not loads of writing. I did look at laptop pc's at the start of the year, but when I tried one I realised that was too cramped for my hands to touch type on so thats why I've stuck with a desk top. Just trying to think of a way round things, I get so fed up with myself at times not being able to do the stuff I should be able to do.
I'm only stay for an hour at a time when looking stuff up so the battery life isn't such a big concern.

Leopard

It's important to check out the keyboards and screens on them yourself, in a brightly-lit shop, to discover which one suits you, personally, most comfortably.

If you find the screens on "the best ones, made by a company called Samsung" are too glossy and reflective for you to live with, track down a 10" netbook called the Advent 4211 or an MSI Wind 100. They're usually less expensive than the Samsungs and they come with a non-reflecting matte screen.

tomsutton529

There are other ways you can get round the typeing issue if you find the netbook cramped,

http://www.thinkgeek.com/computing/keyboards-mice/5a7f/

OR

http://www.virtual-laser-keyboard.com/

totalsolutions

Hi again You are not unique (well you are) in your quest for bigger keyboards or larger mouse for example. You will be pleased to find that any requirement you desire has already cropped up and has an answer or product for you, did you know you can speak and your words will appear on screen? Regarding matte screens vs glossy, matte screens tend to be of lower resolution and grainy in appearance while glossy are more vibrant and brighter colours and go up to HD in veiwing quality.

Leopard

totalsolutions wrote: »

Regarding matte screens vs glossy, matte screens tend to be of lower resolution and grainy in appearance while glossy are more vibrant and brighter colours and go up to HD in veiwing quality.

The native screen resolutions of the Samsung NC10, of the Samsung NC110 and of the Samsung NC120 are identical to those of the MSI Wind 100U and its clone, the Advent 4211. All five are 1024 x 600 and none of them are "grainy".

The Samsung NC 20 is a 12" laptop with a (glossy) screen resolution of 1280 x 800.

The NC120 has a larger (97% of standard size) keyboard form factor than that of the NC110 (which is 93%).

totalsolutions wrote: »

You are not unique (well you are)...

kwikbreaks

I am currently using an Advent 4211 and the screen is fine but the main reason I'm posting about it is to say that it has been discontinued and you'll probably only find refurbs on sale now (I saw some at excellent prices not long ago).