Netbook - Users Experience Please

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Messiah

Messiah

Well-known member
Jan 13, 2008
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Hi Guys,

My laptop is on its last legs and I am considering potential replacements. I trawl daily through the Dell website sbuilding various spec laptops and PCs. However, for the same money I could buy a netbook along with a 1TB NAS Drive and other bits and pieces.

Does anyone have any comments about using a netbook apart from the limitation of the resolution?? How does it perform with movies etc.

Thanks!

EDIT - I should also add that I have no plans to do anything too hungry either just web browsing, playing music/videos etc...
 
I bought a Samsung NC10 netbook nearly two years ago basically for taking on holiday and using round the house on WiFi. However, it now sits on my desk with an ethernet connection, a large Acer screen and logitech wireless mouse and keyboard. I have done away with my desktop computer and use the netbook for everything. It is certainly fast enough for all my needs.

I have an external DVD drive and a 1TB Buffalo NAS which I use for my Sonos system.

(I doubt it would be fast enough for some computer games or video editing, but it is fine for browsing, big spreadsheets, word processing, iPlayer, etc.)

Andrew
 
Andrew,

Thanks for the response. I am kind of leaning this way as I have also been considering a Sonus set up and if I get a netbook I can also get a NAS and be on the first step of this path.
 
Hi,

A netbook works fine for most tasks, HD 1080p video could be a problem perhaps, but does not make a lot of sense given the screen of course. If you also want to rip your cd's you must buy a separate (usb) dvd/cd player.
 
I bought a Samsung NC10 about 18 months ago. I'm using it now to write this. It replaced a Dell Laptop.

I love it, and use it every day for all my PC needs. My wife also uses it in preference to her all singing all dancing IBM/Leveno laptop.

Pros:
  • Small &Lightweight
  • Runs Office 2010, Firefox, Itunes, Windows XP, DBPoweramp, Picassa very well. Although, loading times of certain programs such as Itunes is a little slow
  • Excellent service from Samsung when I had a small issue with the speakers
  • Amazing battery life
  • Quiet & doesn't get hot
Cons:

  • Struggles to play some streaming video from Youtube at 480p / 720p and the HD stuff on iPlayer.
  • Can be a little slow at doing power hungry tasks to do with video, as the graphics card is a bit underpowered
  • No internal CD drive, but I have an external one, which rarely gets used anyway
  • No HD screen, although I would think newer models will have HD screens
  • Small internal speakers, which are a bit rubbish
Things to note - my vertical resolution is 600 pixels. A freinds Dell netbook is a little less at 578 or something, which does make a difference. Also, the keyboard on my Samsung is almost 100% size, which makes typing a breeze, some netbooks have smaller keys.
 
Thanks for the feedback guys!

Not too bothered about the HD stuff. My next plan is to rip DVDs to a NAS so the resolution would be fine for that.
 
I bought my daughter the Samsung NC10 ... she loves it... and it's pretty quick too for surfing... add a couple of speakers to it ... nice
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Another vote for Samsung or Asus -10"-11" netbooks, especially those with nvidia or intel Pine Triail chips (optimisied for balanace of power consumption against graphics performance). I used to work for HP until recently, and know PC business quite well. We have 2 Asus eepc 1008 for the kids,which are great, and I chose these overt he Samsung NCxxx range (which are also very good.

My biased view is to avoid Dell. Reason: for maximum margin, they batch manufacture and purchase components, which means through the life of any single product, indivudual component's quality can vary from batch to batch, even though specs are broadly the same. So, reliablity can suffer, and if you do have a problem, repairs can take longer as Dell source spares back to batches etc. Just my view, but HP forward-purchases a whole quarter's forecast componentry via outsourcing (and we are talking huge volumes), keeps it all version-controlled, then pulls it off in batches. I think Asus, Samsung, Acer, Tosh do the same. Dell's over heating and exploding power supplies issue took a lot longer for them to resolve than the similar issue did for HP.

Samsung Asus - can't go wrong. £330 max. They fufill the tin legend. And the batteries last for ages. Great for sofa browsing etc, but not really for CPU and graphic intensive apps.

Will run Sonos or Squeezebox SW very well, but I would still advise running core app on a NAS box or better still chep fanless server hooked to your router. Netbook will make a great server console so that you never have to touch main boxes.
 
simonclayt:

Will run Sonos or Squeezebox SW very well, but I would still advise running core app on a NAS box or better still chep fanless server hooked to your router. Netbook will make a great server console so that you never have to touch main boxes.

Hi Simon,

Thanks for your suggestions. The main reason I have gone for Dell is that my current laptop from them has performed very well over the last few years. I originally went with them because I heard they had very good customer service and this is important.

Could you elaborate a bit more on how the server will operate or what you mean by running the core apps on a NAS??

Thanks.
 
Reading this on my Samsung N110, it is great for serfing etc, struggles with video at HiRes and you need an external CD drive for loading softwarebut if you are not to bothered about that than probably do the Job.

If you are not too fussed about portability another option might be a Net-Top PC.

http://www.acer.co.uk/acer/productv.do?LanguageISOCtxParam=en&kcond61e.c2att101=68913&sp=page16e&ctx2.c2att1=17&link=ln438e&CountryISOCtxParam=UK&ctx1g.c2att92=242&ctx1.att21k=1&CRC=2669969291

http://uk.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=JEaDVvtKZ9hHhda2

http://uk.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=JEaDVvtKZ9hHhda2
 
What is your budget ? Which netbooks are you thinking of ?

Netbooks look good and are very portable but don't compare to a proper laptop, in most situations I would choose laptop over netbook. The biggest downside with netbooks is the screen real estate, the early netbooks running Windows XP or Vista didn't have enough room for some of the dialog boxes !

Out of the current batch of Netbooks the Sony's are the best made and specified.
 
Thanks for the continued feedback.

At the moment I am now kind of set on not getting a netbook. I think there are too many limitations and I can get a much better machine for not too much more. I think in the long run I will be better saving a bit more and getting a proper machine.
 
Agreed but ultimately whatever you get has to fit your budget and criteria. Good luck
 
Question :

''Does anyone have any comments about using a netbook apart from the
limitation of the resolution?? How does it perform with movies etc.''

Answers given are true to those who wrote them.... you looking for a different thing ?

Then WHY ask the question ?

Oh, and the notebooks mentioned ARE proper dude
emotion-38.gif
emotion-3.gif
cheeky @~*@
emotion-2.gif
 
I have had several netbooks through work, can't remember their exact names but the last one was called Sam Sung I believe. I'm a web programmer so my employers believe all I do is work in some text editor. They were wrong because I'm a human and every one of those machines was not capable of most tasks without dying. if you can wait until the next gen intel chips come out, if not, get a machine you have tested and have no doubts it is capable of what you need in life.
 
Alantiggger:
Question :

''Does anyone have any comments about using a netbook apart from the
limitation of the resolution?? How does it perform with movies etc.''

Answers given are true to those who wrote them.... you looking for a different thing ?

Then WHY ask the question ?

Honestly, you have lost me here...
 
Alantiggger:

Question :

''Does anyone have any comments about using a netbook apart from the limitation of the resolution?? How does it perform with movies etc.''

Answers given are true to those who wrote them.... you looking for a different thing ? Then WHY ask the question ?

Oh, and the notebooks mentioned ARE proper dude
emotion-38.gif
emotion-3.gif
cheeky @~*@
emotion-2.gif


Surely the post is to gauge opinion to see if a netbook will suffice for the job that it is required to do ? Some netbook fans have replied, others are in favour of an alternative. To re-iterate; the question is to seek fact and opinion to help assist in a judgement, ultimately the poster is looking for the right tool for the job.

Why mention notebooks ? The discussion was regarding a netbook.

On the whole netbooks are limited in their capability not just by resolution, the processors tend to be tuned for longevity of battery rather than performance, graphics and audio will be limited too. According to the Samsung website the NC10 has a resolution of 1024 x 600 (see note below) so movies wise would not even make 720p, however it does have HD audio apparently.

For the sake of a few inches more you could get a much better specified laptop, I paid under £500 a few years ago for a Toshiba laptop / tablet, 12.1" screen, 2Gb RAM, stuck an SSD in it. The Toshiba satisfied the need for being portable and powerful enough to do what I wanted without the limitations of poor resolution (it was 1440 x 900), granted it is more than the cost of a netbook.

Trawling through the Samsung website I'd come across this on the support site

"You may be able to work around the minimum resolution requirement by temporarily changing the NC10's resolution to 1024x768. To change the resolution to 1024x768, follow these steps ..."
 
nc10 owner - great battery life, light and portable - easily upgradable to 2gb

frustratingly slow - i'd buy another laptop if the netbook was going to be your only machine
 
Messiah:simonclayt:

Will run Sonos or Squeezebox SW very well, but I would still advise running core app on a NAS box or better still chep fanless server hooked to your router. Netbook will make a great server console so that you never have to touch main boxes.

Hi Simon,

Thanks for your suggestions. The main reason I have gone for Dell is that my current laptop from them has performed very well over the last few years. I originally went with them because I heard they had very good customer service and this is important.

Could you elaborate a bit more on how the server will operate or what you mean by running the core apps on a NAS??

Thanks.

Hi Messiah,

I did not mean to put a major neg' on Dell - just my experience and the fact that at corporate level Dell have some severe problems (dodgy accounting under exteneded investigation; losing market share to Acer/HP; and major cost cutting and headcount reductions read: customer service)

A headless, fanless server will sit on your router and never stop. If you run music serving software, (I run Squeezeserver), but you can include Media Monkey, itunes, and Sonos, it makes sense to have it running 24/7, but without having to have a PC/mac switched on and without any other potentially disruptive or conflicting apps. I call these 'core apps'. Tversity for movie streaming across network is the only other app i run on server, aprt from admin tools. The box, running WHS, is never used for browsing therefore doesn't collect cookies and all the rubbish that goes with it. Neither does it do automatic updates. It's sterile. I update Squeezeserver manually 2 versions behind latest release, and the storage balances and backs up automatically. Adding additional storage is cheap and easy so is creating removable full back up on an RDX drive, which I store in mate's fire safe, along with boot USB key and disc. Having messed around with homes NAS boxes (I am an enterprise NAS sales specialist) I find the dedicated black box to be most robust and quietest solution, and at £350, pretty good value. It's quick too.

I can access server box from anywhere via web browser Remote Access, but I mainly run Remote Desktop Connection on a Laptop to copy across to shared drive all ripped, tagged and downloaded music and movies, once virus checked. I have DBpoweramp and Media Monkey as key desktop apps for music. I can bring up Squeezeserver console for occasion restart if needed. But basically I do all my messing around away the server and don't care if the lap top fails. Likewise i run ipeng on an iTouch for remote control.

£300 Netbooks are just great for this stuff and all the constant duty cycle stuff can remain on server. PCs etc are disposable fater 3 years. We have an iMac too for the kids and for itunes/ipod syncs etc

PC and macs are for playing. Server for the real important stuff ie music.
 
Agree with server solution as a central repository regardless of the means of access (desktop, media streaming, laptop). Still begs the question can the netbook do the job ?

PC's are disposable after three years ? On what basis ? I have a Dell Precision M90, 2.16Ghz Core 2, 4Gb RAM, 256 SSD, four years old now, it runs Windows 7 (64bit) smoothly and arguably better than it ever ran Windows XP (32bit), it also has a BD drive. Admittedly it was high end at the time (and is still a good specification).

My current PC's at home and work are high end too, ironic as my current development is using Lightswitch.
 
I was recommended a Tranquil PC Harmony T7 wall mounted box by a techy work mate. dual core, 2Gb RAM, 500Gb hdd = about £325 (about price of a decent NAS box) Internal HDDs are Western Digital. I later went for external USB expansion with WD drives to 2TB direct attach, sicne these are about £70 per TB now and will power from server. Minimising need for additional PSUs clogging up the floor.

British company with top quality products and very well supported. imho. 100% satisfied.

http://www.tranquilpc.co.uk/default.htm

I bought from Ripcaster who were also very knowledgeable in Squeezebox and Sonos networking integration.

HP home servers OK too (caveat - i used to work for them)
 
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