Netbook recommendations

[BwanaDik]

Been considering a netbook to use on long trips for planning and to be able to dump my company supplied, steam driven Dell. I've searched around here but haven't found a specific thread on netbooks. There was one a little while ago, started I think by Patriot, where he was looking for a cheap affordable laptop. Not quite the same, didn't get into the netbook details.

So I'm looking for a reliable, probably metal cased, netbook (notebook?) with about a 10" screen, decent memory, storage, and processor speed. I assume these all have wireless 'Net connection ability? And yes I know I have to get an external CD read/write thingy.

I was looking at the Panasonic Tough Book, really way cool but just too spendy for my taste. Looks like $350 is the going rate for your basic low end netbook but I'd go higher if there were features or value to be had for more dough.

A couple of others that poped up in a search. I'm not familiar with the brands.

Chinese metal case

Asus (seems to be a popular brand)

Asus

Or should I just go with an old reliable HP?

 

[mferriter]

I bought an eMachines 250-1162 (250GB hard drive) at Walmart about 6 months ago for $228 - great deal. Mostly use it for internet access and watching videos/listening to music (built-in SD card slot). Way better than an Ipad for less than 1/2 the cost.

I also bought an 8 hour battery from Acer for about $125.

 

[RenoJohn]

I got one a few months back, and wasn't sure how much I'd really use it. Turns out I love it. When I shopped compared, there are more in common with the choices than not, but I'd get hands-on with the different keyboards and screens to make sure you get what works best for you.

I would also highly recommend doing the 6cel battery as well as extra RAM.

You may also want to have a plan in place to load certain programs, as they don't come with a CD/DVD drive. I use an disk ISO utility and memory sticks, but there are various ways.

Lastly, because it is not likely to be your primary machine, you might want to stay consistent with whatever OS you use at home/work. Might not be the ideal venue to learn Win7 or Linux, being that it'll likely be used for quick tasks while traveling(?)

 

[Big-D]

I bought the ASUS Eee 1000 with the electronic hard drive. It came with Linux OS which sounded a little odd being used to Windows products. However, I love this little netbook. It has everything I could ever need.

The Linus OS is free from virus' and all of the programs included are compatible with Windows (i.e. Word, Excel & Powerpoint). The 10" screen is super bright, boots up in seconds, "N" router, Blue Tooth and the battery life lasts for 5-7 hours of continueous use. Charges fast, light weight. Mine came with a 30gb second HD.

I have had this Netbook for almost two years now and there has not been a single problem or issue. I use it for traveling, email, keeping up with the Forum and dumping my camera pictures into so not to need additional cards. I have a little fitted case that holds the unit itself, all wires, a Kensington retractable mouse and two 16gb Flash Drives.

I paid $330 delivered from Amazon.com

 

[tmc]

Been considering a netbook to use on long trips for planning and to be able to dump my company supplied, steam driven Dell. I've searched around here but haven't found a specific thread on netbooks. There was one a little while ago, started I think by Patriot, where he was looking for a cheap affordable laptop. Not quite the same, didn't get into the netbook details.
So I'm looking for a reliable, probably metal cased, netbook (notebook?) with about a 10" screen, decent memory, storage, and processor speed. I assume these all have wireless 'Net connection ability? And yes I know I have to get an external CD read/write thingy.

I was looking at the Panasonic Tough Book, really way cool but just too spendy for my taste. Looks like $350 is the going rate for your basic low end netbook but I'd go higher if there were features or value to be had for more dough.

A couple of others that poped up in a search. I'm not familiar with the brands.

Chinese metal case

Asus (seems to be a popular brand)

Asus

Or should I just go with an old reliable HP?

HP is decent, so is the Dell Mini series.

All right about 300 or so, depending on options of course.

You can get the older Panny Toughbooks for around $300 if you know where to look. Here's one with a Pentium M processor, although it is a 13" screen: https://www.ecost.com/Detail.aspx?edp=52105...navid=155441519

 

[LDRydr]

I'm happy with the remanufactured Acer Aspire One I purchased off Woot a while back. I upgraded the RAM from 1gb to 2gb, dumped the Win XP Home that came on it and loaded WIn 7 Pro (I'm a Microsoft partner so reduced price). I'm still thinking about dumping the standard SATA drive that came in it and going with a solid-state drive, but one big enough to load the OS, Office and all my mapping software (Streets & Trips and Garmin Mapsource) is still a bit spendy. But SSD drives continue to drop in price.

 

[Texan]

I bought an iPad last week. If you want email, internet, photo storage (and some really addictive games, plus magazines like cycleworld), it's much better than a netbook. It's way faster, lots smaller, 11+ hours battery life, and has a keyboard that's much better than I expected.

My favorite part is how quick it is to resume from sleep. I can pick up a sleeping ipad and be surfing in under 5 seconds. My netbook is much slower and a bit flakey even with Win 7 (much better than XP).

I don't use my netbooks anymore at all.

 

[Bungie]

I bought an Asus PC1000HE last spring. That little ***** is the ****!

 

[BwanaDik]

Thanks for the tips. After exhaustive research this morning, looks like I'll probably go with the HP Mini 5101, primarily because it appears to be (at least advertised as so) more rugged than the models at $100 less. About $400 before add-ons.

So did you all buy the external CD drive? If not, how do you load stuff like S&T, Mapsource, etc? Most everything these days still seems to come with a CD for installation.

 

[LDRydr]

I bought an external, but you could also copy the installer files you need onto a USB drive and install that way. Or network the netbook and share the CD/DVD drive off another PC to do it that way.

Don't forget to compare battery capacity when you make your choice. Sometimes they are exactly the same computer with just a bigger battery. Bigger is better.

 

[juniorfjr]

I've had the HP for about a month now, it will fit the bill for the motorcycle. Does email, internet, and maps. Mine has 3 usb ports so many things can be plugged in.

The I pad is really the neatest thing I've seen, but is big bucks by comparison. In the very near future most of the windows based companies will be coming out with a notepad like the Ipad. FWIW.

 

[RenoJohn]

Thanks for the tips. After exhaustive research this morning, looks like I'll probably go with the HP Mini 5101, primarily because it appears to be (at least advertised as so) more rugged than the models at $100 less. About $400 before add-ons.
So did you all buy the external CD drive? If not, how do you load stuff like S&T, Mapsource, etc? Most everything these days still seems to come with a CD for installation.

Good move, I've got the HP Mini as well and am very happy. First thing I did was un-install all the crap HP puts on their machines, after removing all of the obvious, there are programs that can help you clean out OEM installed programs you don't need. I then put the basic stuff I need, including a simple anti-virus etc etc.

didn't load all of the MS office suite, instead just Word and Excel. Has a couple of map programs, email, ftp and some picture editing stuff. Firefox, adobe ........

In short, I havea very lean and pretty fast little machine that handles all the tasks I need.

As far as loading programs, sometimes you can get it done by transferring disk stuff to a memory card and install from that, but often times that is not possible (ie MS streets and trips) so you'll want to either have an external drive ...

OR, do as I do, create an ISO image of the disk on your home machine, copy this image to a memory card. With an ISO image reader on your netbook the install is easy. IMO this is the best way to go, as you can then "mount" the electronic version of the disks you need, and if you want to keep backup of the images(disks you want), you likely have plenty of room on your HDD to do that.

have fun, I sure like mine, use it infinitely more than I had expected at the time of purchase.

 

[BwanaDik]

One additional thought. Currently when I get a new **** tube, I get a CD of the operating system in case it gets scrambled and I have to re-install it. How does HP (or Other) handle the operating system backup/install?

 

[BikerGeek99]

I bought an HP last year. That thing has ridden in my Givi trunk for thousands of miles, problem-free.

Rather than an external CD/DVD drive, I just mapped one of the DVD drives on my main desktop at home to the netbook. All I've really needed to install via CD is MapSucks, which went fine over the network.

It's a good little machine, does what I need it to do while taking up minimal valuable space on the bikes.

Random thoughts:

* Get the 6-cell battery. The one that came with mine does not have a very long life.

* Rather than MS Office, I installed Thunderbird for email and OpenOffice for any word-type documents or spreadsheets.