Dear People Who Use Netbooks

[highlyeccentric]

What do I want in a Netbook?

Love,

me

Also, is this one as good a deal as it looks? I mean, it's shiny! The only spec I don't understand is processor specs, but I hear they're important or summat.

Comments

[wrabbit]

The Toshiba looks good to me. Like I did with my netbook I would upgrade the RAM to 2GB and install Crunchbang Linux.

[shadowspar]

With the different processor architectures out there nowadays, I always just end up googling the processor name and seeing how it stacks up against other CPUs I've used or might have the opportunity to buy in terms of benchmarks and reviews. ^_^;

If you are using the netbook for web surfing and editing documents (as opposed to CPU-intensive stuff like video editing, running scientific simulations), the amount of RAM is probably more important than CPU power. 4GB or more would be ideal; most netbooks don't ship with that much in to keep the price down. It's often an easy and surprisingly cheap upgrade, though -- here's a video showing how to do it on the model you pointed out. The Toshiba seems decent for the price -- 250GB hard drive is pretty standard, and the C-50 CPU seems to be equal to or better than Intel's current Atom offerings for netbook-type uses (better or comparable CPU, but much better graphics performance). One caveat: I think the manual says it only supports 2GB of RAM, but people report success with 4. A 4GB RAM module looks as though it will set you back around 40AUD.

I like to handle a netbook in-store and check the ergonomics first if I can...but that being said, we just bought one for work sight unseen because it was on a good sale for the holidays, so... ^_^;

[highlyeccentric]

Oh, gosh, RAM, I forgot about RAM. *Grumble*

[highlyeccentric]

What do I need to know about buying RAM? I gather there is RAM for laptops and RAM for not-laptops, going by the MSY online store. Can I just order something like this, or should I take Radagast down there and show him to the geeks and tell them to find me compatible RAM? (Actual changing of RAM will wait until my housemate K is home, she's of a more practical mind than I and will make sure I don't kill Radagast in the process.)

[shadowspar]

You've got it right exactly. You need the laptop-sized modules (SODIMMs). The laptop manual or specs should tell you what type (DDR3) & speed of RAM it takes (eg, DDR3-1066, which is the same as PC3-8500 -- two different ways of saying the same thing). The geeks at MSY would likely figure it out the same way. =)

[alexseanchai]

BATTERY. I love my Ubuntu Asus EEE to bits, but I cannot use it if it is not plugged in, because the battery drains SO DAMN FAST. Also, hard drive space. *eyes your link* 250GB hard drive? Clearly my EEE is obsolete. I only bought it a couple years ago and I haven't been able to run Update Manager in ages because I ran out of hard drive space. *sulk*

[cursor_mundi]

Battery life, RAM and hard drive, and USB ports -- gotta have a lot! My Asus eeePC (the 1000H 10 inch model) has been going strong since 2009 and I love it to pieces; it has 3 or 4 USB ports, a jack for a LAN connection, a port for SD memory cards, etc.

Also, check weight. Netbooks generally aren't all that heavy, but if you have absolutely identical machines and one is lighter? Go with that. Or, alternately, look into green options -- there are some companies that make an effort to use recycled materials, non-toxic (or less toxic) stuff in their batteries, etc.

Just keep in mind that a netbook cannot be a desktop replacement -- the video card is always going to be of lesser quality, ditto sound. If you're just using it for word processing and basic internet, you can go with just about anything and be happy (though, avoid Dell -- they tend to burst into flame, at least here in the US. Excellent customer support, though that's because they need it!).

[highlyeccentric]

The Dell bursting into flames was one particular battery model - a serious oversight, obviously, but it was one battery model at one time and that model is no longer on the market. Innocent III, my laptop, is a Dell and I luff both him, and Dell customer support.

[cursor_mundi]

Pfff, I am glad Innocent III has done well! But both Lint and Loopy had different model Dells, with battery problems, sensor problems (leading to overheating), problems with the plastics used to make the machines...I think my first laptop was a Dell and, well. Next to the toothless old Mac I was assigned one year, the desktop Dells I've had to use for business were horrid. So, I have many objections to the brand. (HP, too, which makes me sad because I own stock in the company...) But I'm not arguing their customer support is teh awesome! 'S a bit like Hyundai cars, here, they have a bad run on one model, get a reputation, and then spend years building up their brand.

But this shiny Toshiba netbook -- how much does it weigh? And what color will you get?