Anyone got a Notebook mini laptop thing?

apple tango · Crazy Courier Joined: 03 Apr 2007 Karma :

I'm considering buying some sort of mini laptop/notebook/PDA thing.

I'd be using it for web surfing (wireless) and watching movies, on journeys and in hotel rooms etc.

Does anyone have any recommendations? I ain't fussed about it having a million gig hard drive or anything like that.

Don't really fancy spending over 200 smackers either.
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Itchy · Super Spammer Joined: 07 Apr 2005 Karma :

I have an asus 901 EEPC with linux the only thing is that its a tad clunky with internet video , youtube is ok , erm others like red tube are unsync'd with the sound.

But its small and neat and I got it cheap when I was in HK.
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The Shaggy D.A. · Super Spammer Joined: 12 Sep 2008 Karma :

Was playing with one of these in Carphone warehouse today; they're £154, and down to their last 12 in stock.

Asus SD701 7" EEE Mini PC
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Nebzor · Trackday Trickster Joined: 17 Feb 2008 Karma :

They are called netbooks FYI Thumbs Up

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B10Hazard · World Chat Champion Joined: 29 Jan 2009 Karma :

I have one as my perminant computer, ( on it now )

Mine is very good and was 250 pound,
Its an advent.
160g hard drive 2 gig ram, its top Very Happy

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Nebzor · Trackday Trickster Joined: 17 Feb 2008 Karma :

Bendy · Mrs Sensible Joined: 10 Jun 2002 Karma :

Bit out of the OPs price bracket, but I went for the Dell Mini 9 - all solid state so no huge hard drive (though it's still bigger and faster than my first PC!) but very light, very quiet (no fan) and has good battery life. Bit fiddly to type on at first but you get used to it.

Rob · World Chat Champion Joined: 16 Mar 2002 Karma :

I use a Macbook Air as my portable machine.... but this: https://www.engadget.com/2009/01/09/dell-adamo-hands-on/ looks like it might be a good machine when it is released although not in the same price bracket as a small netbook!
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Phil. · World Chat Champion Joined: 02 Feb 2002 Karma :

I bought an Advent 4211 recently (which is just a rebranded msi wind) and it's been ok.

You can't expect a great deal from these things so i suppose it's about picking one with the least amount of negatives.

Battery is terrible on this thing, although i use linux mint which knocks about 30 mins off the battery life compared to xp which came with it.

You want to re-install xp to get rid of the tech guys partition they force on you? Better hope you have a spare hour or 2, xp disc & a 1gb memory stick..has to be 1gb because fat 16 is shit.

It struggles with some flash video at full screen. Notably on rev3 content. (again maybe a linux/flash issue)

I added an extra gb of ram to mine which did help it out with a few applications open but often it's the atom that's the weak link.

Keyboard isn't bad to type on, 3 usb ports, web cam, eithernet, wifi, bt, most of which i never use/need.

panrider_uk · World Chat Champion Joined: 23 Sep 2007 Karma :

HP Mini-Note netbook is £190 on Ebuyer.

Well made, all the usual stuff. Linux but will take XP.

Mark
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apple tango · Crazy Courier Joined: 03 Apr 2007 Karma :

ThoughtContro... · World Chat Champion Joined: 14 Aug 2008 Karma :

apple tango · Crazy Courier Joined: 03 Apr 2007 Karma :

ThoughtContro... · World Chat Champion Joined: 14 Aug 2008 Karma :

apple tango · Crazy Courier Joined: 03 Apr 2007 Karma :

I decided to order an Acer AOA150-Ab Atom for £200.

The thing is, it doesn't come with a cd/dvd drive and has a Linux based OS pre-installed.

I'd like to format it and put XP on. Will there be any way of me doing this without splashing out 40 or so quid on an external cd/dvd drive?
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menz83 · Borekit Bruiser Joined: 06 Mar 2009 Karma :

I have an Asus eee 701 and a Samsung NC10. The eee was a great machine when I first got it. By far the smallest you can buy, but a poor 7" screen and a keyboard fit for a 4 year old makes it one to avoid. The CPU is poo too so youtube etc are useless.

The NC10 is just fantastic although a little pricey. The keyboard is great, nice big screen and plenty of processing punch for your mobile needs. The 6+ hours battery life ain't bad either Thumbs Up

Phil. · World Chat Champion Joined: 02 Feb 2002 Karma :

nowhere.elysium · The Pork Lord Joined: 02 Mar 2009 Karma :

I've just bought a Dell Inspiron Mini 9 with a few extra trimmings today, and I'm pretty excited about getting hold of it.
Incidentally, those discount coupon sites are rather good, aren't they? I managed to get an extra 30 quid knocked off, so I paid 100 quid off SRP, thanks to Dell doing a free shipping and 50 quid off deal already...

I've been waiting for netbooks to happen for some years now: the only equivalent machine I was able to lay hands on was an ancient 10-inch thinkpad 240x, stuffed to the gills with a wifi card and strange workarounds to make it work properly in debian...
God bless the clever bastard that decided to make small notebooks cheap; I was never intending to buy a vaio, and definitely not at the prices they were asking, so tiny cheap machines is a godsend to the likes of me. Means I can do my job in the bar at work Wink

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apple tango · Crazy Courier Joined: 03 Apr 2007 Karma :

Yep they're certainly cool. Mine arrived 30 min ago. I was messing about with it but needed a 'number 2' - so i've brought it with me to the toilet. Great stuff.

Only down side to mine is no cd drive. I think i'm gonna have to buy an external one as theres stuff i wanna install. I also wanna see how it can handle some games.
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Phil. · World Chat Champion Joined: 02 Feb 2002 Karma :

panrider_uk · World Chat Champion Joined: 23 Sep 2007 Karma :

menz83 · Borekit Bruiser Joined: 06 Mar 2009 Karma :

As others have said, dont worry about an external drive even though they are cheap enough. Just rip the cd's onto a memory card of some sorts and transfer them over.

As for games, netbooks are pretty crap with the nasty intel 945G graphics, most modern games wont run for shit. I can confirm that even half life 2 is useless on my NC10, whereas HL1 works fine. Have a look over at the link below for a list of compatible games before you waste your time installing games that wont work anyway:

https://www.avforums.com/forums/pc-games/892153-netbook-gamers.html

theopj · Scooby Slapper Joined: 23 Sep 2006 Karma :

https://www.aspireoneuser.com/forum/

Also there was a big thread about this netbook on the moneysavingexpert forum a few months ago, as Asda were selling them for £150 (when I got mine).

I installed windows on mine using a the connections for a USB Harddrive, but connected up a normal PC DVD drive - worked fine.
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