Netbook Advice

goingsenile

Hi
I'm considering purchasing a net book to replace my very heavy Dell Laptop for travelling.
I'll be travelling to the USA and Australia in the next 6 months and don't really fancy carrying my Dell laptop with me
I'll be using it for browsing the web, email, watching films
I came across the Windows CE Ultra portable netbook which Maplin are selling today but having read up a bit about it on the web I'll not bother!!

Does anyone have any suggestions as I'm not technical at all!!!
THanks
AJ

kwikbreaks

Any netbook that runs Windows XP or more lately Windows 7 is probably what you should be looking for. Linux probably isn't for the non technical (unless you just use it as supplied and don't want to change anything or install anything).

jitters

Samsung have some great offerings namely the NC10 and the newer NC110.

PCpros A-list review of netbooks can be found here

I saw somewhere online today (most likely hotukdeals) an NC10 (6 cell) f[STRIKE]rom Currys[/STRIKE] Ebuyer for £238. £209 @ [STRIKE]Currys[/STRIKE] Dixons! Third times a charm - thanks Donnie

You don't give a budget. Also, the RAM may be less than in your current laptop but this is typical with netbooks and they run fine. Also, you can add an extra gig if/when you need it

HTH

goingsenile

Thank you both for your advice and suggestions I'll away and have a look at them now
AJ

macman

When you say 'watching films', do you mean playing DVD's? If so, a netbook is not a good choice, as they don't come with optical drives. you would need an external USB drive, which adds back the weight.

jitters

macman wrote: »

When you say 'watching films', do you mean playing DVD's? If so, a netbook is not a good choice, as they don't come with optical drives. you would need an external USB drive, which adds back the weight.

Very true. OP - if that is a problem for you can get a decent external DVD drive for ~£40.

EDIT: I wouldn't worry about the additional weight, it'll still be less than your old laptop.

kwikbreaks

The "watching films" bit flew right over my head for some reason.

I don't agree that a £40 external DVD would still be lighter than a lappy as at that price level it would be a 3.5" type with a fat power brick rather than a svelt slimline one with a double USB connector.

No- I'd say that if playing DVDs is a requirement a netbook isn't the answer - a small laptop would be better (and a lot more expensive).

jitters

kwikbreaks wrote: »

The "watching films" bit flew right over my head for some reason.

I don't agree that a £40 external DVD would still be lighter than a lappy as at that price level it would be a 3.5" type with a fat power brick rather than a svelt slimline one with a double USB connector.

No- I'd say that if playing DVDs is a requirement a netbook isn't the answer - a small laptop would be better (and a lot more expensive).

I agree to a point. Obviously the OP will have to work out what their requirements are and whether the 'lack of optical drive' from the onset is a problem. But you can get slimline USB powered DVD drives for around the £40 mark, granted maybe a little more toward the upper limit of my estimation.

macman

Extra DVD drive means an extra power supply, plug adaptor, more bits to pack and unpack....
Personally I'd go for a smaller lightweight laptop with an internal drive. Anyway, watching DVD's on a 10in netbook screen is not much fun.

kwikbreaks

jitters wrote: »

But you can get slimline USB powered DVD drives for around the £40 mark, granted maybe a little more toward the upper limit of my estimation.

Yes you are right a slimline DVD/CD-RW can be had for £40 or less - I was thinking of a DVD-RW which I'd been looking for recently. I decided to stick with my housebrick because of the prices.

Viz_2

To solve the problem, why not rip dvds to the hard drive at a reduced size before the trip ?