On the choosing of netbooks

[Fostire]

Hello everyone.

I'm planning on acquiring a netbook for college purposes but since I have no prior experience in buying such devices I have no idea what's good and what not so I decided to come to you for advice.

Basically what I'm looking for is something cheap, portable, and durable that will be used mainly for writing essays and internet browsing (e-mail mostly).

I've looked online at some netbooks but I don't know what would work for what I want. My main concern is that a cheap enough netbook (~300 dollars max) might come with a screen and keyboard that would be too small to comfortably type on for long periods of time.

Any recommendations?

[Skavensrule]

If you are concerned about the keyboard, you can buy a portable USB or WiFi keyboard for the longer sessions of typeing. Try them out in the store before purchase though. For screen size, when you are at your dorm hook the netbook to your TV if possible. When on the road you're stuck in the question of portabilty vs function vs convenience. Just remember to check out everything before you buy. My stepfather spent $200 on a netbook and DVD drive but the little netbook could not recognize the drivers for the DVD because it only had the partial version of windows. He wound spending another $400 before it could do what he wanted and it was still pathetic. My netbook I bought a year ago and spent $600 for but it is almost a full computer. My sister bought an ACER recently for about your price range, she likes it, but it all depends on what you want to be able to do.

[Icewalker]

The netbook I use is this little thing. The keyboard is a full keyboard in terms of horizontal length, but it's flattened a little. I have pretty long fingers, and can type on it perfectly fine. Small but usable screen. Very portable computer. Looks like it's a tiny bit above your expected price range, but you might be able to find a cheaper equivalent.

Honestly, you probably won't have any trouble with functionality of computer when you buy it, especially if you're willing to use Google Docs or Microsoft Works (you'll have to spend quite a lot more for Microsoft Office if you want up to date Word). Most computers can do things fine. The question of usefulness will be more based on battery life, keyboard size, and possibly screen size.

[Fostire]

The USB keyboard is a great idea. As for the trying before buying, my father will be doing the purchase for me when he next goes to Canada in July (due to import taxes on electronics, buying the laptop here would cost 4 times as much) so that's kind of not going to be possible.


Honestly, you probably won't have any trouble with functionality of computer when you buy it, especially if you're willing to use Google Docs or Microsoft Works (you'll have to spend quite a lot more for Microsoft Office if you want up to date Word). Most computers can do things fine. The question of usefulness will be more based on battery life, keyboard size, and possibly screen size.
Fortunately, my brother has a couple of extra copies of Office from his company so I can get those for free.

Would buying one without a pre-installed OS be cheaper? is it even possible? cause I think my brother also has copies of Windows 7 he can give me.

[Fera Tian]

The USB keyboard is a great idea. As for the trying before buying, my father will be doing the purchase for me when he next goes to Canada in July (due to import taxes on electronics, buying the laptop here would cost 4 times as much) so that's kind of not going to be possible.


Fortunately, my brother has a couple of extra copies of Office from his company so I can get those for free.

Would buying one without a pre-installed OS be cheaper? is it even possible? cause I think my brother also has copies of Windows 7 he can give me.

get ubuntu (http://www.ubuntu.com/) instead of windows, windows is dumb (it is also free and wont get viruses like windows)

[Fostire]

get ubuntu (http://www.ubuntu.com/) instead of windows, windows is dumb (it is also free and wont get viruses like windows)

AFAIK there is no Office compatibility in Ubuntu (yes, I used openoffice and hated it) and between free linux and free windows I'd rather use windows and avoid any compatibility complications.

Also, does anyone have recommendations on specific brands or models?

[Mando Knight]

Would buying one without a pre-installed OS be cheaper? is it even possible? cause I think my brother also has copies of Windows 7 he can give me.

Considering that a device like that is always factory-built (unless you're a techie with a fantastic supplier), probably not.

Besides, Win7 isn't that bad... I'd have to say it's my favorite version of Windows yet.

[Trazoi]

I've got a Dell Inspiron Mini 9 a couple of years ago as a travel computer. It's pretty nifty, although I haven't used it as much as I liked due to a lack of travel (if I'm at home, I prefer the desktop). However I don't think this model is still available. Even if it was, the keyboard might be too small for your needs (9" netbooks are tiny!) and the battery life is okay but not fantastic (maybe 3 hours? depending on use.)

The thing I do like a lot about it is I got the model with a solid state drive. While it means I only have a tiny amount of HD space (16GB), it also means it has no moving parts so it's totally silent. The lack of HD space isn't an issue because I don't need it to do much more than run a browser and edit documents.

That said, most of the models I've seen in showrooms seem decent these days. I'd test out a few of the keyboards and see if they work for you. Other than battery life and the overall sturdibility of the netbook, the specs aren't that important. They all should be able to web surf and edit docs.

[Marc5567]

I've had a HP Mini netbook for a couple of years now. It cost ~$350 when I bought it, but it may have gone down in price since. The keyboard is a pretty good size, something like 90% the size of a full keyboard, sans num pad of course. It has a weird "double" battery pack that I think comes with most all of them and gives it at least 6 hours of battery life, I've gotten more than 8 with all the power saving options on. It does stick out the bottom of the computer a good inch or so, which I thought would be annoying, but its actually a rather good thing. It tilts the computer at just the right angle for typing, plus keeps it up off of surfaces for good ventilation. The HP is certainly no power house, but it works great for your listed jobs. I used it as my main computer for about a year actually. It meant I couldn't play really ANY games, but it let me browse the intertubes and do up my essays and such for school. All in all, I'd definitely recommend it.

Also, not bashing or anything, but I would avoid the Acer's... my ex-wife has one and its... frankly... a piece of junk. My little HP cost about $100 more, but it was completely worth it because it runs circles around hers.

Good luck, I hope you find something you like!

[Don Julio Anejo]

Also, not bashing or anything, but I would avoid the Acer's... my ex-wife has one and its... frankly... a piece of junk. My little HP cost about $100 more, but it was completely worth it because it runs circles around hers.
The irony is... the physical computers themselves for HP and Acer are made by exactly the same manufacturers, the only thing different is the casing and the logo. What you get depends on the specs, not the brand.

Also, I'm surprised no-one recommended Asus. They're the guys who literally invented netbooks and are still great at them. Slightly more expensive ($400-450 CDN) than Acer/HP/Toshiba/whatever, but better battery life and pre-built to deal with techies who like to overclock, customize, rip out internal components and the like.

PS: OP, look for a netbook with great battery life (i.e. 7+ hours). This way you'll be able to carry it around with you at school all day, take notes, study, etc, with no considerations for when the battery is going to run out. Also look for one with _normal_ Windows 7 (i.e. Home Premium or above), or if not - find a buddy with a copy of Windows and install that. Starter edition is impossible to use or really do anything with.

[yilduz]

I used to sell netbooks (along with laptops, desktops, tablets, iPads, etc and just about any other electronics you could think of) in my previous job and I have to say the brand I'm most impressed with is Samsung. I even bought one for my wife and intend to get one for myself as well. I think her model is NC10-13. Hers is pink, and it cost somewhere around $200.

As far as hardware, they're all pretty similar across the board. Most of them use the Atom processor, 1 GB of ram, and they're usually with 160 GB hdd. The main differences are going to be in pre-loaded software which is usually annoying and Samsung includes almost none. Other things you'll want to look at are the keyboard, trackpad (although I generally deactivate the trackpad and use a mouse), the screen, and one that has become very important to me over the years: the hinge. In my opinion, Samsung is at, or near, the top of the list in everything.

[Fostire]

This is all great advice everyone. My dad is leaving in a few hours and hopefully this info is enough to help him make a good choice for me.
Thanks a lot, I really appreciate your help :smallsmile: