Best Netbook To Buy And Why ?

[roderick17]

I am looking to buy a netbook but I'm having a hard time selecting between the various models on offer. They all look very similar to me. If anyone out there in LOS, were comtemplating buying a netbook which one would you settle-on and why ??

Thanks heaps

Roderick

[neverdie]

I dislike notebooks with a passion. However, having said that, about 15 months ago I had to get a notebook & after searching hi and low I bought an Asus Notebook & to say the least it has impressed me to no end.

I purchased it overseas & spent about $2300AUD (which is about 62,000THB in todays terms) on it, so it wasnt a cheap one BUT it was well worth the money.

It has been dragged half way around the world, including many thousands of kilometres off rough Australian outback roads. Its nearly always constantly turned on, thanks to the Thai GF & has performed really well, without fault. Since purchasing this one, a number of friends also purchased the same model & all are giving it the thumbs up.

Personally I will be closely examining the Asus range again when I need to upgrade. Take a look at their gear & remember, you only get what you pay for.

[filingaccount]

I am looking to buy a netbook but I'm having a hard time selecting between the various models on offer. They all look very similar to me. If anyone out there in LOS, were comtemplating buying a netbook which one would you settle-on and why ??

Thanks heaps

Roderick

What do you intend to use it for?

If you know that, then the answer is pretty straight forward.

If it is just for the occasional websurfing, email checking and chatting, then any one of the Intel based ones are fine. The cheaper the better.

If you require more, then forget netbooks.

[Phil Conners]

There is a long thread here that discuss all the available netbooks in details. It's a few months old but I don't think the available netbooks have changed much since.

[roderick17]

Hi Neverdie

Thanks for your comments about the Asus netbook. Many years ago, I bought an Asus laptop from a supplier in Panthip Plaza. It was a great machine and served me well

What model Asus netbook did you buy for $2300 ? At the moment. an Asus notebook in Australia is selling for around $800 AUD,s oeither prices have dropped or you have picked up a more powerful machine than the ones I've been looking at

Thanks again for your help

Roderick .

I dislike notebooks with a passion. However, having said that, about 15 months ago I had to get a notebook & after searching hi and low I bought an Asus Notebook & to say the least it has impressed me to no end.

I purchased it overseas & spent about $2300AUD (which is about 62,000THB in todays terms) on it, so it wasnt a cheap one BUT it was well worth the money.

It has been dragged half way around the world, including many thousands of kilometres off rough Australian outback roads. Its nearly always constantly turned on, thanks to the Thai GF & has performed really well, without fault. Since purchasing this one, a number of friends also purchased the same model & all are giving it the thumbs up.

Personally I will be closely examining the Asus range again when I need to upgrade. Take a look at their gear & remember, you only get what you pay for.

[jackdanielsesq]

Samsung NC10 - 10 hours of WiFi - which is the only reason to buy one of those little critters.

BR>Jack

[pete_r]

Samsung NC10 has my vote - but I couldn't find it in Thailand. Otherwise, the Acer Aspire One, Asus EEE or Benq Joybook are ok, but the battery life is much shorter.

All the brands have released new models with larger screens since January, 10" instead of 8.9". When you buy, check that you are getting a 10" model, it's a bit more comfortable.

[Netfan]

Just my experience - DO NOT buy a Benq. Had the misfortune of buying a joybook. Zero customer support - no one in the Benq office here speaks one word of English. Impossible to get an English manual. And you will need customer support. Constant crashes. battery lasts about 45 minutes, mine would not re-charge at all after 6 months. Someone finally did me a favor and stole it.

I now have an an Acer Aspire 4315 - very happy. It's nothing fancy, but it works. I get 2 hours from battery. I think it was 16,000 baht a year ago.

[pilou]

Samsung NC10 has my vote - but I couldn't find it in Thailand. Otherwise, the Acer Aspire One, Asus EEE or Benq Joybook are ok, but the battery life is much shorter.

I bought an Asus 1000HE a few weeks ago, this is my 3rd Asus netbook after the 701 and 900, battery life is good and the machine is very nice, at least for my use ( typing this on it at the moment ) , comfortable 10" screen, nice keyboard ( I type with 2 fingers..) and still very portable despite a weight slightly superior to other netbooks, due to the battery size. I still can use the bag I bought for my 701 which was a 7" netbook.

There might be better models now, but I would definitely recommend it to anyone.

Phil

[Deke]

I bought an Asus 1000HE a few weeks ago, this is my 3rd Asus netbook after the 701 and 900, battery life is good and the machine is very nice, at least for my use ( typing this on it at the moment ) , comfortable 10" screen, nice keyboard ( I type with 2 fingers..) and still very portable despite a weight slightly superior to other netbooks, due to the battery size. I still can use the bag I bought for my 701 which was a 7" netbook.

There might be better models now, but I would definitely recommend it to anyone.

Phil

The 1000HE is what I bought about a month ago and am very happy with it also. Battery life is around six or seven hours (Asus' marketing info claims nine). I paid 14,800 Baht without an OS.

[neverdie]

Hi Neverdie

Thanks for your comments about the Asus netbook. Many years ago, I bought an Asus laptop from a supplier in Panthip Plaza. It was a great machine and served me well

What model Asus netbook did you buy for $2300 ? At the moment. an Asus notebook in Australia is selling for around $800 AUD,s oeither prices have dropped or you have picked up a more powerful machine than the ones I've been looking at

Thanks again for your help

Roderick .

I dislike notebooks with a passion. However, having said that, about 15 months ago I had to get a notebook & after searching hi and low I bought an Asus Notebook & to say the least it has impressed me to no end.

I purchased it overseas & spent about $2300AUD (which is about 62,000THB in todays terms) on it, so it wasnt a cheap one BUT it was well worth the money.

It has been dragged half way around the world, including many thousands of kilometres off rough Australian outback roads. Its nearly always constantly turned on, thanks to the Thai GF & has performed really well, without fault. Since purchasing this one, a number of friends also purchased the same model & all are giving it the thumbs up.

Personally I will be closely examining the Asus range again when I need to upgrade. Take a look at their gear & remember, you only get what you pay for.

Hi Roderick,

I had some friends in Australia that bought a Asus Notebook from Harvey norman for about $599 or $699 and whilst they never had a problem with it, it wasnt much chop, but what would you expect.

The Asus I have here, was a F3S Series, which I doubt they are making anymore, they're models seem to change all the time. This one has a Core 2Duo T8700 processor, 320 Hardrive, 2GB Ram, GE Force video card, 15.4 inch screen, inbuilt camera, bluetooth, TV, DVD etc etc, got it with windows vista premium & theres probably some other stuff I can't remember, I'm certainly no computer buff.

I had to laugh about your comment regarding buying an Asus for $800 & all I can say is "Of course you can buy one for $800" but u can bet ur candy ass it wont be as good as their top end Asus. The same thing applies to everything in life, I guess.

I just googled Asus, and saw the following specs on one of their notebooks and it was $2100, no doubt next week it will be superceeded by something else

ASUS N50VN N50VN-FP206E Notebook Features:

Microsoft Windows Vista Business or XP Professional

Intel Core 2 Duo T9400 2.53GHz Processor

Mobile Intel PM45 Express Chipset

nVidia GeForce Go 9650M GT 1GB Dedicated

2GB DDR2 800MHz Memory

500GB 5400rpm Hard Drive

DVD Super Multi

15.4" WXGA Colourshine (1280x768) HDMI

2.0 Mega Pixel Camera

Firewire

Bluetooth

Battery Life: Upto 2.0hrs

Weight: from 3.05kg

on the other end of their scale, they had this one for $1300:

ASUS F6A F6A-3P120C Notebook Features:

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium

Intel Pentium Dual Core T3400 2.16GHz Processor

Mobile Intel GM45 Express Chipset

Intel GMA X4500HD

2GB DDR2 800MHz Memory

250GB SATA 5400rpm Hard Drive

DVD Rewriter Double Layer

13.3" WXGA ( 1280x768 )

HDMI, VGA

1.3 Mega Pixel Camera

Battery Life: Upto 2hrs

Weight: from 2kg

I can see the difference in the specs. According to my friend they also have dozens of models, some of which are available at some retailers or online and then others from other retailers etc. I don't know why they do that sort of thing.

Anyway, back to my original comment, You only get what you pay for & within minutes of purchasing it, it will be superceeded by something better. For Relaiablity and overall features and performance of mine, I have been happy. Goodluck

[d0ndela]

There is quite a difference between netbooks and notebooks and neverdie is listing notebooks and of course they are more expensive, but the post is about netbooks.

I would recommend Asus Eee PC 1000H which comes with Windows XP for just under 15.000 THB. It has a battery life of 6-7 hours which should be sufficient for most uses.

About the Samsung NC10 not being available in Thailand, that's not true, we sell it in our shop

[monty]

Yep,

Neverdie has netbooks confused with notebooks!

Notebooks nowadays can be close to desktop replacement. Good and big screens, big hard drives, proper graphic cards etc..

Expensive however!

Netbooks on the other hand are designed for extreme portability. Small screens (between 7 and 10"), no optical disk drive, makes them work usually pretty long on a battery charge. They are also comparatively cheap (currently most popular models are between 11,000 and 17,000 Baht)

They also use slower but very efficient CPU's (notably the Atom) which further extends battery life. You won't do video editing on them, now will you play 3D games on them. But you surf the web, do most office tasks without problem, great portability and long battery life.

[neverdie]

Sorry guys, you are right, somehow (in my old age) I looked at the word Netbook & thought it said Notebook, even now it still looks like an 'o'.

Sorry about that, now I know why he is talking about an $800 Asus.

Never used a Netbook, can imagine they are alot slower than a bigger notebook.

The otherday I was in the Apple shop and they had the smallest, thinest, netbook i have ever seen, well at least thats what I thought it was. I guess their main purpose is for internet access, as opposed to all the other options of a notebook.

Sorry, my mistake

[Green19]

I've just come back from looking at a few netbooks in the local mall. The two that have my attention right now are the Toshiba NB200 and the HP dv2. The Toshiba is along the same lines as the Asus thats proved popular, its about B2,000 more than the Asus but the quality of finish is exceptional.

The dv2 is a bit bigger than the netbooks but smaller than laptops at around 12". Again, great finish, currently around B20,000.

There are many reviews on U-tube....worth checking to help us decide.

[simcity]

I like the SamsungN20 and the HP pavilion dv3t

Going to look at it back in Australia.

Perhaps I will wait until the window7 became available on OS as well

[jackdanielsesq]

What used-to-be a $200/$300 netbook purchase has now become a $400/$500 one.

Dont get fooled into the sticker creep as they pack more profit into mama's favorite gizmo.

The whole beauty of these critters is its a cheap, lite, overgrown PDA that gives great battery.

An iPhone3GS might be way cooler!! Plus it talks, or simply buy a regular NB

BR>Jack

[nikster]

There are no netbooks anymore. I am looking at a IT City catalog and it has a subsection "Notebooks" which has notebooks from BHT 12,000 - 25,000. Some are "netbooks" and some are not. So netbooks are really only small reasonably priced notebooks.

Anyway, I just also saw in the mall the Acer One with 11.5" "HD" display - now this is a netbook I could go for. It's 19,900 BHT but the screen is awesome and everything else is also awesome, this kind of subnotebook would have cost you $3000 from Sony a few years ago. You might say it's expensive but then it doesn't make any compromises, except the weak processor, which is kind of necessary for good battery life.

[dave_boo]

Another vote for the 1000HE. Battery life is stunning (7+ hours no wifi, 6ish with wifi), keyboard is well sized (I do have smaller hands; and the lack of a decent size palm rest gets some getting used to); draft-N(!!!!-finds and keeps even b/g connections very well), largish harddrive, bluetooth, from pushing the button to Windows log-in some 35 seconds (it has a special partition that allows it to boot super fast), good sounding speakers, and Asus's awesome software suite (there's no comparison on any other netbook I've played with). Too bad I had to give it up to the b-i-l as a graduation present.

The NC20 also seems to be a good bet. Running an overall platform that's competitive with the Atom in terms of energy consumption. It also will outperform the Atom in various tests. HD Flash playback is still an issue, on both platforms, due to Adobe's reliance on the CPU. Supposedly it also has no issues with 720p video playback either, something that takes quite a bit of configuring on the Atom to accomplish.