Anybody have a netbook

[Rambler]

Mostly I was wondering if netbooks use the same OS as regular laptop and desktop computers, or was it Windows Mobile or Windows Pocket Edition or whatever the Windows for pocket size/pda type devices was called. My concern was about whether the OS of a netbook would be compatible with the program's requirement. Guess more research is in order. I don't know if the genealogy programs are particularly greedy of memory etc.

They typically run on Windows XP, with a few of the newer ones running the new Windows 7. They are probably sufficient for genealogy work.

R

 

[Rustic23]

My Asus 1000HE runs XP. It is about a 8 months old. It came with one gig of memory and it was about $25 to upgrade to 2 gig. It comes with a 160 gig hard drive divided into two 80 gig partitions. I highly recommend it.

 

[Achiever51]

My Asus 1000HE runs XP. It is about a 8 months old. It came with one gig of memory and it was about $25 to upgrade to 2 gig. It comes with a 160 gig hard drive divided into two 80 gig partitions. I highly recommend it.

Ditto. In fact, I rarely use the family decktop unit unless I need lots of viewing space for particularly large spreadsheets (the desktop has a 21" screen).

BTW: This morning on Buy.com, they're offering an Acer 10.1" netbook with 160 gig hard drive for $270 -- with XP. Probably brooming them out for new stock with Wdos 7.

 

[megacorp-firee]

Mostly I was wondering if netbooks use the same OS as regular laptop and desktop computers, or was it Windows Mobile or Windows Pocket Edition or whatever the Windows for pocket size/pda type devices was called. My concern was about whether the OS of a netbook would be compatible with the program's requirement. Guess more research is in order. I don't know if the genealogy programs are particularly greedy of memory etc.

My notebook uses the same Windows OS as my laptop.

 

[Gotadimple]

Do any of you who use a netbook also use a cooling fan accessory? Saw one advertised for netbooks at Fry's for $20.

-- Rita

P.S.: Yes I bought one on Black Friday, should arrive in 10 days.

 

[Rustic23]

I have used on for my full size laptop, but never found it needed for the netbook.

 

[ziggy29]

Do any of you who use a netbook also use a cooling fan accessory?

In my experience, the processors in a typical netbook aren't powerful enough to produce the kind of heat that would require an extra cooling fan.

 

[REWahoo]

In my experience, the processors in a typical netbook aren't powerful enough to produce the kind of heat that would require an extra cooling fan.

If CFB were around he'd beg to differ with you, insisting anyone with a netbook containing an AMD processor should use it only with an asbestos lap cushion and a fire extinguisher within arms reach.

 

[walkinwood]

Do any of you who use a netbook also use a cooling fan accessory? Saw one advertised for netbooks at Fry's for $20.

-- Rita

P.S.: Yes I bought one on Black Friday, should arrive in 10 days.

If your notebook is from one of the big manufacturers (Apple, HP, Lenovo, Dell), you shouldn't need it. However, if you have your notebook on your lap, you may inadvertently block the vents. I use a plastic cutting board to avoid that problem.

 

[megacorp-firee]

Do any of you who use a netbook also use a cooling fan accessory? Saw one advertised for netbooks at Fry's for $20.

-- Rita

P.S.: Yes I bought one on Black Friday, should arrive in 10 days.

I have never used one for my laptop or notebook. I make sure that I don't block the vents. On my notebook, there is a fan that is obviously running (slight noise and some vibration). I have never had a problem due to heat.

 

[NW-Bound]

I don't yet have a netbook but am looking to buy one for my wife before Xmas. All the ones I have seen use the Intel Atom processor, which is no match for the usual dual-processors (whether Intel or AMD) used inside notebooks. So, the netbooks are slower than the notebooks by design, in exchange for smaller batteries (read lower weight) and longer running times. Most run Windows XP, because Vista would make them too slow. I have heard that Windows 7 is leaner than Vista, hence some new netbooks come with that. My son told me he saw one with Windows CE - what Kyounge1956 inquired about. I have never used WinCE, but know that it is a limited OS intended for PDA's and even some GPS. So, I would stay clear of those.

There were several stores offering various netbooks for $199 for Black Friday. I did not even leave the house to try to get one. No need to get trampled for nothing. I have seen post-Black Friday sales for $250. My bet is that between now and Xmas, we will see more offers like that. By January, there may be shelves of them at the $200 price.

 

[Lakewood90712]

I got a HP110 about 3 mo. ago . $340 at Costco , with 2 yr HP warranty and the Larger battery. Windows 7 wasn't out yet.

The oversize battery props the back end up about 3/4" so cooling hasn't been a problem.

Use a sprint 3G broadband connection , a little slow, but works in most any urban area of Los Angeles. I tried ATT but the coverage is spotty in LA.

Most of the cellphone carriers are offering great deals , like a $120 netbook with 2 year contract for broadband. Bad thing is, those deals have an imbeded modem and you are stuck with the carrier for the life of the netbook. This doesn't affect wi-fi.

I think if I had to do it over again, I would go for a low end full function laptop. (The only reason I bought it is I'm often tied to a desk these days, and policy against using gov't network, for any non-gov't use is actually being enforced) .

 

[NW-Bound]

I think if I had to do it over again, I would go for a low end full function laptop.

Yes, I would guess that a netbook would be hard-pressed for use as a replacement for a real notebook. We already have a very usable 13" notebook, but for travel a netbook would be preferable. It's an excuse to spend some money, really

 

[tuixiu]

Recently picked up a HP Mini 311, was waiting for Windows 7 to take the plunge. Now Flash 10.1 has come out (in beta) so can use the graphics accelerator for more. Good times.

 

[rescueme]

My Asus 1000HE runs XP. It is about a 8 months old. It came with one gig of memory and it was about $25 to upgrade to 2 gig. It comes with a 160 gig hard drive divided into two 80 gig partitions. I highly recommend it.

I would also. While I have a Dell laptop, I left it behind for our travels around the world. The Dell reminded me of my pervious employment (of which I'm retired) of the problems of weight, along with problems getting through airport security.

My Asus is carred as part of my carry-on, and is used primarily for email and to manage my wife's pictures (via it's SD card reader).

We were in Australia in June; my wife shared her previous journies with othe folks while on a train (8+ hours). No problem with the battery at all.

For someone who travels, it (or any other named Netbook) is a great advantage over the "old" laptop, IMHO.

BTW, when we get back from our travels, I just copy the picture files from the netbook to my latptop and desktop over my home network (3 copies). Don't have to worry about the camera at all.

Incendently, it does run all the applications from my "main" PC (e.g Office 2007) with no problems at all.

- Ron

 

[tuixiu]

Incendently, it does run all the applications from my "main" PC (e.g Office 2007) with no problems at all.

Yup. I've been running noted pig Visual Studio 2008 with no problems. I've got two gigs of memory maybe that helps.

There is little doubt these things will suffer if you're doing processor intensive stuff like decoding video etc. but for running most apps the lag isn't anywhere near what I feared it would be for an Atom cpu.

 

[NW-Bound]

Yup. I've been running noted pig Visual Studio 2008 with no problems. I've got two gigs of memory maybe that helps.

There is little doubt these things will suffer if you're doing processor intensive stuff like decoding video etc. but for running most apps the lag isn't anywhere near what I feared it would be for an Atom cpu.

It's not the CPU speed. It's not the keyboard. It's probably not the RAM.

But, but, but to think of the screen of 1024x600 resolution...

It is smaller than the SVGA screen of 1024x768 I had 20 years ago.

The little thing is OK for E-mails or to surf the Web. But to think of writing code using Visual Studio on that screen...

 

[ERD50]

It's not the CPU speed. It's not the keyboard. It's probably not the RAM.

But, but, but to think of the screen of 1024x600 resolution...

It is smaller than the SVGA screen of 1024x768 I had 20 years ago.

The little thing is OK for E-mails or to surf the Web. But to think of writing code using Visual Studio on that screen...

Well, when I bought my little 10" netbook, I had to watch out for "feature creep". $20 would buy me this, another $20 would get me that - pretty soon I had a full sized laptop.

I had to remind myself, I wanted something cheap and SMALL. So a small screen is a feature, not a hindrance. But it just depends on your needs. I've been happy so far. Will try upgrading to Ubuntu 9.10 after the holidays. This is now my main music player, and I don't want to deal with any possible upgrade issues until after the holidays.

-ERD50

 

[W2R]

I think a netbook would have been wonderful for the frequent and sometimes grueling work travel that was required of me at one time. They are so light and portable - - and with MS Office I could have got a lot done between meetings.

Now that I am retired, I don't have an excuse to get one but I still think they are neat!

 

[NW-Bound]

Yes, the portability of a netbook is what makes it desirable. I am surfing the Web to look for a good deal as I am writing this.

But some masochistic people want to use it in lieu of a notebook. Again,

Regarding screen resolution, have you seen the tiny Sony VAIO P Series with its 8" screen, 1.4-lb weight, and yet with 1600x768 resolution? Stunning! The only problem: its cost!

 

[Gotadimple]

I think a netbook would have been wonderful for the frequent and sometimes grueling work travel that was required of me at one time. They are so light and portable - - and with MS Office I could have got a lot done between meetings.

Now that I am retired, I don't have an excuse to get one but I still think they are neat!

Oh, sure you do! You're retired now, you can have any excuse you want!

Take it with you on occasional trips to store the photos from your digital camera. And check email. Oh, and those recipes you have in various and sundry places? Scan 'em and load to the netbook -- the newest appliance in the kitchen!

Mine arrives next week.

Rita

 

[W2R]

Oh, sure you do! You're retired now, you can have any excuse you want!

Take it with you on occasional trips to store the photos from your digital camera. And check email. Oh, and those recipes you have in various and sundry places? Scan 'em and load to the netbook -- the newest appliance in the kitchen!

Mine arrives next week.

Rita

Hmm!! Food for thought, that's for sure!

 

[tuixiu]

But, but, but to think of the screen of 1024x600 resolution...

It is smaller than the SVGA screen of 1024x768 I had 20 years ago.

The little thing is OK for E-mails or to surf the Web. But to think of writing code using Visual Studio on that screen...

It's a mini 311, resolution = 1366x768.

Still takes getting used just because at work I use two side-by-side big monitors but I've found 1366px wide handles the editing screen and a couple vertical toolbars.

 

[Zero]

Earlier in the week I received my Lenovo IdeaPad S10e from NewEgg for $229. It is 10.1", and has a nice size keyboard, very close to normal size, surprisingly. The build quality is superb and I'm now a big Lenovo fan. "Only" 1GB and 160GB HD and 3 cell battery but I got exactly what I paid for. Lenovo S10e

So far Office 2007 is on it and working flawlessly. Also loaded a small photo editor that came with my Canon DSLR, and my scanner, printer, etc.

What's not to like. Next time that deal comes around, it's worth considering.

 

[ziggy29]

The little thing is OK for E-mails or to surf the Web. But to think of writing code using Visual Studio on that screen...

I have Visual C# Express 2008 loaded on my netbook (Asus EEE 1000HE, which I selected for its battery life). There's not all that much room for a code window....

I did get a new setup for my desktop computer (actually an "early 2009" Mac mini) -- I set it up to dual boot Mac OS X 10.6 and Windows 7 and got a new 22" wide-screen monitor for it. Suffice it to say, Visual Studio has a bit more real estate there...