Ordered my Dell MINI!!!!
For the longest time I've wanted a laptop but I really didn't know if I'd use it. As time went on, the need for a laptop grew but I never really got around to buying one. I did imagine what I'd be able to do with one. I pictured myself on my laptop in coffee shops and at school in between classes browsing my favorite forums like hardocp.com. When I got to Mississippi I was given a brand spankin' new laptop. I didn't pick it out and I would probably have spec'd it differently but nontheless the thought of mobile computing excited me.
Well...I was disappointed. Laptops definitely aren't as portable as I had originally thought. I found it to be bulky and cumbersome. I had a hard time fitting it in my backpack with my books and such. I just think that your typical laptop has alot more functions than I actually need. I have a newly built desktop which handles anything and everything I throw at it. I don't need to burn CD's on the go, I don't need a full size screen on the go, I don't need a 100+ GB of storage on the go, I don't need a dual core CPU on the go....I just need the bare minimums. I need to be able to take notes, browse the web, chat, and maybe play some very simple games.
So fortunately when I had this revelation about how frustrating mobile computing is, a new craze/fad had caught on. NETBOOKS! I had remembered reading reviews about the new Intel Atom and Via Nano processors and pretty much took them with a grain of salt. Why do I care about super, small, and efficient processors that are way too underpowered for me to ever use? Well I should have cared because these processors have been the answer to people with mobile computing woes like me!
Netbooks are very very small laptops thus making them ultra portable. Netbooks weigh around 2.2-2.5lbs. They aren't made for heavy computing...just basic tasks like web browsing, chatting, listening to music, watching movies, and word processing. These are tasks that people probably use their laptops for 90% of the time. That's why netbooks are ideal for people who have a different computer as their main computer. And the biggest plus of them all....netbooks are CHEAP! You're looking at $300-400 which IMHO is very reasonable since you can easily get away spending $300 or less especially with Black Friday coming up!
Most of the netbooks out there ae 99% the same in specs so if you buy one the things you wanna look at are operating system, screen size, battery, and hard drive. You have the option between Windows XP/Vista or Linux....most of you will proabably get Windows just because you've never used Linux ever. Screen sizes range from 7" to 10". The most common screen size is 8.9" which is what I reccommend....because they have a 1024x600 pixel resolution which allows you to view all webpages normally and not cut off anything. Batteries are also very important...your options usually include 3, 4, and 6 cell batteries. A 3 cell battery allows 2.5hrs, a 4 cell is around 3.5-4 hrs, and a 6 cell can do and up to 7 hours. Lastly you have hard drive options. You either have a choice between standard platter based hard drives like the one in your desktop computer or a solid state drive which uses the same technology as in your USB thumb drive. Platter based hard drives are bigger usually supporting 100GB but they use more power, run hotter, and are noisy. Solid state drives have zero moving parts but are only offered in 4, 8, 16, and 32GB options. Solid state drives however use less power and are less prone to damage due to no moving parts. Also keep in mind that no netbooks have a cd/dvd drive.
Let's look at some netbooks!!!!
Asus EEE PC
Acer Aspire One
MSI Wind
Dell Mini 910
Lenovo S10 Ideapad
Hewlett Packard 2133
As you can see they all pretty much look the same...so it's really up to personal preference. So as the girls would put it "pick the prettiest one!"
Personally, I went with the Dell Mini 910. I think it looks pretty damn good...although I think the best looking one is the HP 2133. The picture of the Dell Mini I posted is terrible but it was the best I could find. The upgradability of the mini was a big selling point for me too. The ram, solid state drive, and all the other guts are easily accessible with just a screw driver. The price was a HUGE turn on for me too...I was able to get the Dell Mini with an 8GB solid state drive, 1GB of ram, and the Linux Ubuntu operating system for $281 brand new shipped!!!!I actually haven't received it yet, but when I get it next week I will def update with some pics and my thoughts.
I have played with one though and they are really impressive...they are alot smaller than you can possibly imagine. Here are some pics for reference.
Well...I was disappointed. Laptops definitely aren't as portable as I had originally thought. I found it to be bulky and cumbersome. I had a hard time fitting it in my backpack with my books and such. I just think that your typical laptop has alot more functions than I actually need. I have a newly built desktop which handles anything and everything I throw at it. I don't need to burn CD's on the go, I don't need a full size screen on the go, I don't need a 100+ GB of storage on the go, I don't need a dual core CPU on the go....I just need the bare minimums. I need to be able to take notes, browse the web, chat, and maybe play some very simple games.
So fortunately when I had this revelation about how frustrating mobile computing is, a new craze/fad had caught on. NETBOOKS! I had remembered reading reviews about the new Intel Atom and Via Nano processors and pretty much took them with a grain of salt. Why do I care about super, small, and efficient processors that are way too underpowered for me to ever use? Well I should have cared because these processors have been the answer to people with mobile computing woes like me!
Netbooks are very very small laptops thus making them ultra portable. Netbooks weigh around 2.2-2.5lbs. They aren't made for heavy computing...just basic tasks like web browsing, chatting, listening to music, watching movies, and word processing. These are tasks that people probably use their laptops for 90% of the time. That's why netbooks are ideal for people who have a different computer as their main computer. And the biggest plus of them all....netbooks are CHEAP! You're looking at $300-400 which IMHO is very reasonable since you can easily get away spending $300 or less especially with Black Friday coming up!
Most of the netbooks out there ae 99% the same in specs so if you buy one the things you wanna look at are operating system, screen size, battery, and hard drive. You have the option between Windows XP/Vista or Linux....most of you will proabably get Windows just because you've never used Linux ever. Screen sizes range from 7" to 10". The most common screen size is 8.9" which is what I reccommend....because they have a 1024x600 pixel resolution which allows you to view all webpages normally and not cut off anything. Batteries are also very important...your options usually include 3, 4, and 6 cell batteries. A 3 cell battery allows 2.5hrs, a 4 cell is around 3.5-4 hrs, and a 6 cell can do and up to 7 hours. Lastly you have hard drive options. You either have a choice between standard platter based hard drives like the one in your desktop computer or a solid state drive which uses the same technology as in your USB thumb drive. Platter based hard drives are bigger usually supporting 100GB but they use more power, run hotter, and are noisy. Solid state drives have zero moving parts but are only offered in 4, 8, 16, and 32GB options. Solid state drives however use less power and are less prone to damage due to no moving parts. Also keep in mind that no netbooks have a cd/dvd drive.
Let's look at some netbooks!!!!
Asus EEE PC
Acer Aspire One
MSI Wind
Dell Mini 910
Lenovo S10 Ideapad
Hewlett Packard 2133
As you can see they all pretty much look the same...so it's really up to personal preference. So as the girls would put it "pick the prettiest one!"
Personally, I went with the Dell Mini 910. I think it looks pretty damn good...although I think the best looking one is the HP 2133. The picture of the Dell Mini I posted is terrible but it was the best I could find. The upgradability of the mini was a big selling point for me too. The ram, solid state drive, and all the other guts are easily accessible with just a screw driver. The price was a HUGE turn on for me too...I was able to get the Dell Mini with an 8GB solid state drive, 1GB of ram, and the Linux Ubuntu operating system for $281 brand new shipped!!!!I actually haven't received it yet, but when I get it next week I will def update with some pics and my thoughts.
I have played with one though and they are really impressive...they are alot smaller than you can possibly imagine. Here are some pics for reference.