Need a powerful netbook, any suggestions?

DKLS

Am looking for a netbook, to take on my work travels, however I would also like to run a few programs such as Adobe Premiere CS4 and use the netbook as a monitor for my camcorder, and to use on photoshoots etc as well as watching movies whilst travelling back from london on the train

I was considering a budget of up to £500 for an 11.6" screened netbook, until I saw this is it worth it?, Are they reliable since Dell took over, and are there any other netbooks that would fit the bill.

kwikbreaks

Most netbooks are much of a muchness and based on low powered Intel graphics + Atom processor. They are no good for gaming and pretty ropey for video too.

The newer Ion graphics based machines (eg Samsung N510) are supposed to be much better.

The machine you've linked to weighs 4.5lbs which is maybe 50% heavier than a netbook but at least the battery life looks good.

DKLS

Weight isnt much of an issue, as I have been lugging a 17" laptop around, I just need the best performance in a machine with a screen no bigger than 11.6".

I note that the Alienware notebook, is available cheaper in the US, might have to order via a relly in Boston, if there isnt a viable alternative.

[Deleted User]

Be careful about buying from the US if you do not spend much time there, as the warranty will only be valid there! Of course you also need to bring it through customs. The computer would then also have a US keyboard, which is a bit different to a UK keyboard and so could affect the value of the computer if you later tried to sell it in the UK.

fiddiwebb

kwikbreaks wrote: »

Most netbooks are much of a muchness and based on low powered Intel graphics + Atom processor. They are no good for gaming and pretty ropey for video too.

The newer Ion graphics based machines (eg Samsung N510) are supposed to be much better.

The machine you've linked to weighs 4.5lbs which is maybe 50% heavier than a netbook but at least the battery life looks good.

and pretty ropey for video too............erm, not my NC10.
Plays videos fine thankyou.

LeeSouthEast

My VAIO P-Series plays videos just great as well.

kwikbreaks

It depends what video you mean.

Mine will play most normal SD stuff but stutters on downloaded BBC material (I tested this after I saw someone asking here because like you I thought mine would be OK) Streamed video is fine too. It will not play HD even at 720p.

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I found the old thread on this - http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=2148695

LeeSouthEast

YouTube, iPlayer, DVD's, Hi-Def, it does it all. The only time it struggles is the first 5 seconds of a DVD for some reason (dropped frames). After that it's fine. Not that I'd recommend watching videos terribly often on an 8" screen

cuppajoe

You could probably get your hands on a decent 2nd hand Asus N10 as they were released about a year and a half ago.

Nvidia graphics, hdmi, all in a netbook shell.

A review posted here.

If you can't deal with the 11" screen then the updated Asus N20 comes with a 12" screen and an Intel Core 2 Duo T5800.

swvillafan

Hi there,

Lenovo have released a small 11.6 laptop called the X100e for approx £400, read the PC Pro review here. Looks quite good but think it uses a single core AMD cpu, a dual core version is on the way though!

Fifer

I've been looking at the new generation of CULV Pentium based portables to replace my Eee PC. This looks interesting. I don't know how the spec lines up with CS4 though?