Acer Netbooks

[RickSee]

Am interested in buying a netbook. Have seen some reasonable reviews re the ACERs (10.1 inch) models. Does anyone have any experience with these to share? Either the ACERs, or any other good propspects, for that matter. Also, where is the best place to buy in BKK? thanks, RS

[bangkokburning]

I purchased one last year - so comments about this years model may be far different given new processors and battery life but I found it quite acceptable. I did though dislike the weight and the glossy screen. reviews stated that the wifi was weak - seemed ok to me. I sold it up.

This year I have a lovely asus netbook. Its the tits. Small ac adapter, lighter, matte screen, "11 hrs battery life", nice keyboard and a nice shell. its running W7 which I am very ambivalent towards but i would not buy a dnsaur operating system XP. I a partial to Asus products and whould have bought one year prior but read some poor reviews and back out last moment.

When iTunes runs on Linux - I'll be there.

I'd go with the asus clamshell, matte screen. I've had both

Panthip of course, but review prices on Amazon prior. I think I pad about uUS325 and fifty more for a 2GB upgrade RAM

[hotpotato]

I bought a Samsung at Fortune Tower Computer Center, it's great, I got the model KAO1TH, full size keyboard was the most important item to me. It travels very well. White color, glossy screen which I like for the brightness. Best work tool for the money I have ever purchased. Fortune Tower offers a much more civil atmosphere compared to Pantip, I love it our there. Very easy to get to via the MRT subway, great place with many specialty shops and then a whole host of variety shops plus adjacent to Tesco. Hop on the MRT walk straight into the place at Rama 9 Station, piece of cake. Samsung has a wide variety of netbooks and a on site service center. Purchased mine from the IT Banana shop which is the COM 7 INTERNATIONAL CO., pleased with their pricing, staff and inventory. Just got a 22" LG monitor there last week.

[keemapoot]

Yup, I bought one of the Acer netbooks Aspire one last year when they first came out, and I just bought the new model for my niece for college.

They are great little units, battery lasts about 7 hours, and it runs all the programs and windows you want, but make sure to get the 2gig memory.

[AyG]

I have an Acer Inspire One. It's battery has just gone dead. Expensive to replace. Apparently this is a common problem with these netbooks - particularly if they're not used for a few weeks (which was the case with mine).

Incidentally, the Linux operating system provided with Acer netbooks is pretty horrible and very restrictive. Almost immediately after purchase I ditched it for Ubuntu, which works fine (as you'd expect).

Also be aware that the keyboard is tiny, and really isn't good for fast touch typing.

Check whether the model you're buying has bluetooth or not. Mine has a bluetooth switch on the front, but doesn't actually have any bluetooth capability. A bit misleading in my opinion.

[cdnvic]

I was happy with my Acer netbook until I accidentally smashed it. I replaced it with an HP Mini which was about $50 more but had much better battery life and Windows 7 which I'm quite pleased with.

[welo]

Get one with a 6-cell battery for longer battery life (instead of 3-cell)

The 2nd generation Intel Atom CPU/platform is more energy efficient and called 'Pineview', CPUs are named N450 and N470. Some 1st generation netbooks might still be on sale.

1st-generation, 3-cell netbooks should be the cheapest, 2nd-generation with 6-cell battery the most expensive.

[RickSee]

Thanks to all for the useful suggestions. Went ahead and got the Samsung N150 with and extra 1 Gb memory at Fortune Town. All functionality is acceptable so far though notice a little slower than my old Compaq in loading some web pages, including TV. All else is fine. RS

[bangkokburning]

HEY!

i had the 6cell and it was really a boat anchor. i love this little asus and the adapter is half size. yeah NOTE: as i recall the mfg info says that the batteries have a really short lifespan. I really freaked out when I read that. For all i know - same true for asus but unstated. but i have had both and id go with the asus. their h/w is truly superior after you get over the cosmetics.

fortune town is fine, i live in the area now. it is more civilized and if you can get the same price - id go there. i think in some ways its better than panthip. except it doesnt have a hardware house :-((

[bangkokburning]

FYI: I was just in FT yesterday and it has all sorts of acers, etc..

All the big boys are there..Hardware House, Banana IT..

Hope this helps

[Loz]

hmmhmmmm so...

Samsung or Asus?

I guess if the Asus comes with Windows 7 (starter) and the samsung doesnt, I'd be moved to buy a brand I don't know ( Asus ) as you chaps seem torate it. both have the anti glare screen and the rest is much the same, right?