Netbooks - What do I look for?

Mrs_PI

I am after getting a net book but have not the first idea of what I should look for and thought I would ask your advice.

I thought about specs like this

10" screen
160 Hard Drive
USB slot x 2 min
Windows 7
Battery life as long as possible but min of 5-6 hours

You see I really dont have a clue do I ?:rotfl:

I dont want to pay more than £250 - £300 MAX

Thanks

Snooze

If I was buying a netbook I'd be more bothered about what RAM it has over the other stuff you list. Usually they don't come with much of it, which means that it will slow to a crawl if you have more than a handful of processes running, ie. stuff like having a bunch of different tabs open or you have some multi-media running.

At the absolute minimum you'll need 1 gig of RAM to run Win 7 32-bit version and 2 gig for the 64-bit, but you'll probably notice the computer dragging its heels a bit if you've got a lot of other stuff open/running. If you can get one that comes with more RAM then it's worth it even if it does cost a bit more. Watch out you don't slip into laptop territory on the price though as you'd be foolish to buy a high spec (relative terms) netbook when you can buy a decent spec laptop (aka notebook) with a 15" screen for probably similar cash.

luci

I always said I wouldn't buy a netbook until I could get one with 2GB of RAM and Windows 7. When they eventually came out they were much more expensive.

I eventually bought one with 1GB RAM, 250GB hard drive and Windows 7 Starter and upgraded the RAM to 2GB for about £30.

I actually prefer it to the laptop as it's so portable and the laptop is rarely used now.

Laptop or netbook depends on what you want it for. My main reason was to take it on holiday so a netbook was the better option for me.

RussJK

What do you look for? The search function, and put 'netbook' in. Lots of threads with helpful information recently on netbooks.

Yes, I'm a self-appointed forum nazi But seriously, why would you start a thread before looking to see if it has already been talked about?

Mrs_PI

Well thank you for the 2 replies but not to the third

I'm sorry that I did not do as you ask I just wanted some advice not a telling off

Geoffo_M

Mrs_PI wrote: »

Well thank you for the 2 replies but not to the third

I'm sorry that I did not do as you ask I just wanted some advice not a telling off

Don't let him bother you - there are lots of pompous people on these forums

RussJK

Mrs_PI wrote: »

Well thank you for the 2 replies but not to the third I'm sorry that I did not do as you ask I just wanted some advice not a telling off

Well, I'd still recommend doing the forum search as there have been quite a few netbook threads in the past few weeks, with the same general questions and their answers just waiting to be read... i.e. good and clear information. If you have more specific questions after reading that information, then definitely ask for help.

(Surely you can understand why it would get annoying when people post the same old questions, without first checking to see whether they have been asked & answered before. Most forums make it a rule to search before posting for this very reason.)

vickssinex

I'd recommend a trip to Currys or PC World to have a look at some netbooks on display before making your mind up. That way you'll be able to judge what size of screen would suit you, or which one has the best keyboard for you. Also bear in mind that batteries with a longer life are generally heavier, and there can be big differences in weight between models. If you're going to be carrying it around with you a lot, that could be a factor too.
You could then draw up a shortlist and compare prices online.
That's what I did, anyway!

alexandera

Acer's 10-inch Netbook

Aspire One AOD150

DCFC79

Currys or pc world is a god idea so then you can get a feel for it in terms of size and weight

fiddiwebb

Netbook = Samsung range

Pretty darn good netbooks that Samsung make, bought a NC10 (6 cell battery) just over a year ago and no problems., in fact use it most of the time now instead of the desktop.

Check out sammynetbook for reviews/forums of the Samsung range of netbooks.

If you do a search in this forum I think there was a thread from last week with a Samsung N130 for £199, not sure if that had Windows 7 or XP though?