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"I make mistakes, I am out of control and at times hard to handle. But if you can't handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best."
— Marilyn Monroe
Netbooks aren't bad, but they typically have small screens/keyboards. The newest generation (Dell mini-10v, MSI Wind and others) are better, but they are definately more limited that a regular laptop. Personally, I think a netbook would be great for websurfing and some office use, but you have to be sure you will like the small screen/keyboard.
P.S. One thing about the netbook, and goes with the warranty poing that Thnik mentioned.
You can get a very nice netbook for $299-$349, which isn't a whole lot more than you pay for an extended warranty on a more expensive laptop. You can almost look at netbooks as 'disposable'. Rather than buying a $600 laptop today with an extended warranty that might push it to $750 or more, you can buy 2+ netbooks for the price of one stardarnd laptop + accidental damage/extended warranty coverage.
Netbooks have small keyboards. Unless you need to have a small footprint I would get a separate keyboard, mouse and monitor if I had the space.
I am using a laptop and have those connected separately. Of course that adds a lot to the price if you don't already have them sitting around. If you have good eyes you could get by with just the keyboard and mouse.
You may want to consider what the upgrade path is you will follow over the next three years. Netbooks don't offer much in the way of upgradability. If you need to upgrade the software and such it may or may not work for you.
Does the school you're attending have any specific requirements you need for the computer you end up with? If so just make sure it can do that.
Merry.
I plan on using this purchase as a laptop. It'll be rare that I'm ever using it in a situation where I'd be able to hook a regular sized keyboard, etc to it. I have my current 17" monstrosity of a laptop for anything that wouldn't be easy to do on a smaller machine.
I don't understand what you mean about upgrades. I know that things like Firefox and Office will have upgrades but would any of that really have an impact on what the netbook is able to handle?
There is no school requirement.
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"I make mistakes, I am out of control and at times hard to handle. But if you can't handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best."
— Marilyn Monroe
What I mean is mostly software. Some schools require you to have certain versions of software on your ocmputer for compability reasons.
The worst that would happen is it would make your computer run a little slower. They may have some requirements to connect to their network.
Since you say there are no requiremenst then you shouldn't worry. I just don't want you to buy something that won't work for you is all. A lot of my customers have kids that are in colleges and they have to meet certain mimimums. You may not be subjected to that.
Where are you going to school? Is it on line?
Merry.
He's primarily talking about hardware upgrades - memory, etc.
Netbooks, if you can get used to the screen size, are actually pretty good deals. I'm not sure why they're still called "netbooks", because they're now designed to do more than surf the web and check email. The newer ones have up to 2GB of memory and a descent hard drive size. What they lack is multiple USB ports and stuff like that.
They come with XP, so if you have programs that require Vista, or possibly Windows 7, it could be a problem down the road. Some more intense programs like photoshop, 'might' have problems in a netbook.
I have a netbook on my nightstand, and for webrowsing (most times when I am on after 10:00 central, I am on the netbook), I am on my MSI Wind. I have office loaded on it (office 2007), IE8 and Firefox, and FTP program, my slingbox program, so I can control/watch the TV in my office.
One way to think about a netbook, is that performance wise, they are like the laptops from three or four years ago, but with better battery life. They typically come with one gig of ram (most are upgradeable to 2gig, but MS doesn't let them ship with 2gig IIRC).
If you can live with the size of the keyboard and screen size, and will mostly web/email/minimal word processing, I think they are fine. However, there are some pretty big variances among netbooks. For instance, nearly a year ago, when the Lenovo S series was introduced, it was lauded as one of the best, now it is considered an aged design and the Dell Mini-10v (I think that's the model) and some others offer more features for the same money and overall size.
I go to the University of Montana. They don't require any computer purchase at all; it's just more convenient than spending time in a computer lab. Most of my classes utilize Blackboard extensively, but that is all web based.
Also, I hate Vista and am doing everything in my power to stay with XP. I'm going to wait and see on Windows 7.
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"I make mistakes, I am out of control and at times hard to handle. But if you can't handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best."
— Marilyn Monroe
I also prefer Intel over AMD.
This space available for lease.
My advise to would be to not go with the netbook if it's your main computer. That's what I thought your original plan was.
You can ask yourself a few questions to give you more of an idea.
What applications will you run on it and what are the requirements for thos apps.
Can you get by using those applicaitons for the next three years?
Can you live with a small keyboard and monitor for the next three years (go to a store and look at the selection to get an idea for the size)?
Do you use a number pad (if yes you can add one via USB)?
There are many variables. Computers technology changes very fast. It is better to buy more than you need than less.
Let us say the while the netbook will probably do what you want it to do, the question is will you be happy with it or will it be a three year pain in the butt.
EDIT:
I thought I would add that I've been using the same laptop for about 5 years now but I have upgraded the HDD and the memory to the max amount so who knows. I could never use the small keyboard that the netbooks come with.
Last edited by Day1BroncoFan; 09-08-2009 at 07:15 PM.
Merry.
One counter argument, and I used to be in the overbuy category. Technology changes so fast, that you can typically underbuy (which is still WAY more than you need) and replace, cheaper than overbuying.
An example being you can buy budge laptops now for $400-600 or really nice laptop for $1200-1800. Unless you really need the features on the expensive laptop, you are far better off buying the $500 laptop now, knowing that in 12 months, they will be selling the equivalent of that $1200 laptop for $500, as the next best and greatest comes out.
I have an $1800 Dell for work (XPS 1330m) and I have a $500 Lenovo Y510 at home and an MSI Wind netbook at home. I never take the XPS out of the bag at home, unless I need to do some work thing that is only on the laptop, because the keyboard isn't as good as the cheap lenovo, the power is about the same, etc. The one advantage that XPS has is it is much lighter when travelling. Both me and I guy I work with who have XPS's have said that next go around, we will likely go to netbooks as our 'travel' computer, because all we do is mail/web/word processing/etc.
Now, I am not sure I would want a netbook for my main computer, only because of screen size, but since I have used a 13" screen for long periods of time, dropping to a 10" screen isn't that bad.
It all comes down to what you are going to do with it. Netbook is better than budget laptops to carry to school, take notes, etc. Something Lenovo 15" Y530 or something on special for $500-600, is much better for all the time home use.
For the record, unless the technology massively changes, I don't ever see myself buying a 17" laptop again. 15" or smaller.
The S series are tits laptops. They can do more than just internet. Go for it babe.
We're talking the difference between being able to do what she needs versus not being able to.
$300 vs $500 computers. The laptop I have right now originaly went for $1300. That is the only reason I'm still able to use it.
I'm not advising her to spend $1300 on a computer. I just think she'll be happier with the $500 as a main computer.
No reason to get a Porshe when Cobalt will work but...
Merry.
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