12" Netbook + Dvd Writer ... Travellers' Solution?

[Trevor25222]

I've been using a 15".4 Toshiba Satellite laptop since 2006 but it rarely fits inside hotel safes and is clunky to transport and show security at airports. Good machine though -- apart from the dismal technology which is the battery -- and its metering & alarm system.

Better to separate the DVD drive, which is seldom used, from the main machine -- and the weight is still less than a laptop. Any suggestions for a reliable manufacturer of 12" Netbooks with 2 GB of RAM? Thanks.

[dave_boo]

Not 12" (13.3), but perhaps the UL-30 may suffice for you? I have the big brother with the Optimus technology built in and am quite happy with it.

[negreanu]

Not a netbook but nice and thin and light and specs better: Macbook Air.

[dave_boo]

Not a netbook but nice and thin and light and specs better: Macbook Air.

Not a bad idea other than the Macbook Air is not offered on Apple's Thailand website. Buying it in the States results in a purchase price of 48 852 THB. Quite a premium for a notebook that gets all of 4 ¹/₄ hours web browsing (compared to the UL-30 which is 1/2 the cost (in overpriced LOS) and gets more than 2x the battery life), but you would get a shiny exterior and OSX....

[negreanu]

Macbook Air 53,900 available through store.apple.com/th select education discount.

It's not a netbook thats the difference performance wise it blows your average netbook out the window. Screen real estate is better and it is so so so light and thin. It's also just cool.

[liveinlos]

Not 12" but I use a Acer One with 2gb of ram and the 6 cell battery.

The battery lasts forever on this thing.

Loaded with factory Windows XP Pro, MS Office, Photoshop, FTP, Adobe Acrobat PDF has everything I need to do any job

Also with crystal eye built in webcam and microphone, MSN video chat or Skype video chat is crystal clear and easy to hear with no extra wires to carry around

I have a Western Digital 500 gb passport USB portable hard drive and I save all data on that and not directly on the PC

PC is never bogged down with downloaded junk and runs extremely fast

Never had a problem yet.

The Acer was around 12,000 baht and the HD Passport hardrive around 3,500

For me the perfect lightweight travel solution

There is also external USB DVD/CD drive reader available for 2200 baht.

[CHdiver]

Acer Timeline 1810 Serie may be a good choice, 11,6 Screen, better (faster) cpu`s then the Netbooks, runs 6 or more hours, Top Models have 3G/GPRS Edge with all frequencies included.

[bubba]

I bought a MacBook Air from the Apple Store Thailand about a month ago, and it's definitely available here:

MacBook Air - Buy MacBook Air notebook computers - Apple Store (Thailand)

It arrived from Singapore in three days time...easy.

I also like iStudio. Might be a good idea if you are a first time Mac user, as the staff are very helpful and friendly. They also have the MacBook Air and locations all over the city if you'd like to have a look at an Air:

www.iStudio.in.th     

I've used netbooks in the past and was extremely disappointed with them. Yes, they are indeed cheap, but they are vastly underpowered and with inferior displays. I also can't take the downsized chiclet-style keyboards on netbooks, and Air actually has a full-size keyboard. The MacBook Air was perfect for what I needed. It is in a completely different performance class than netbooks in both processor power and graphics, and the LED display is beautiful. I went for the top-end model and got the 128G solid state drive since I had been replacing too many hard drives on my laptops due to too much travel and abuse. Build is solid with unibody all-aluminium construction. Another thing I like is the digital video output that I can connect directly to LCD TVs in hotel rooms and watch my own streaming TV (Hulu) or movies, rather than the usual junk that plays on normal TV and resolution is outstanding. This machine is so small and thin that I sometimes have to double-check to be sure it's in my case. And yes, it does look cool. I can't say how many people saw it and wanted to fondle it! Could be a date-book, in a manner of speaking.

[craigt3365]

It depends on what you are using the PC for. If cruising the net, looking at a few pics, etc...then a netbook is great. I just got back from a 4 month trip with mine and it was fantastic. Great battery, plenty of space....sure, small screen, but then again it is a very small PC. Light weight....prefect for travelers....unless you need to do fancy stuff...and they are really cheap. For DVDs, I have an 16GB thumb drive...fill it up and head to the local internet shop to burn.

[Phil Conners]

I bought a MacBook Air from the Apple Store Thailand about a month ago, and it's definitely available here:

MacBook Air - Buy MacBook Air notebook computers - Apple Store (Thailand)

It arrived from Singapore in three days time...easy.

I also like iStudio. Might be a good idea if you are a first time Mac user, as the staff are very helpful and friendly. They also have the MacBook Air and locations all over the city if you'd like to have a look at an Air:

www.iStudio.in.th     

I've used netbooks in the past and was extremely disappointed with them. Yes, they are indeed cheap, but they are vastly underpowered and with inferior displays. I also can't take the downsized chiclet-style keyboards on netbooks, and Air actually has a full-size keyboard. The MacBook Air was perfect for what I needed. It is in a completely different performance class than netbooks in both processor power and graphics, and the LED display is beautiful. I went for the top-end model and got the 128G solid state drive since I had been replacing too many hard drives on my laptops due to too much travel and abuse. Build is solid with unibody all-aluminium construction. Another thing I like is the digital video output that I can connect directly to LCD TVs in hotel rooms and watch my own streaming TV (Hulu) or movies, rather than the usual junk that plays on normal TV and resolution is outstanding. This machine is so small and thin that I sometimes have to double-check to be sure it's in my case. And yes, it does look cool. I can't say how many people saw it and wanted to fondle it! Could be a date-book, in a manner of speaking.

It's a sexy piece of hardware, I'll grant you that, but at 55,000 baht or more it really should at least be gold plated. There are a wealth of nice laptops/notebooks out there with similar specs and prices below 20,000 baht.

[bubba]

I bought a MacBook Air from the Apple Store Thailand about a month ago, and it's definitely available here:

MacBook Air - Buy MacBook Air notebook computers - Apple Store (Thailand)

It arrived from Singapore in three days time...easy.

I also like iStudio. Might be a good idea if you are a first time Mac user, as the staff are very helpful and friendly. They also have the MacBook Air and locations all over the city if you'd like to have a look at an Air:

www.iStudio.in.th     

I've used netbooks in the past and was extremely disappointed with them. Yes, they are indeed cheap, but they are vastly underpowered and with inferior displays. I also can't take the downsized chiclet-style keyboards on netbooks, and Air actually has a full-size keyboard. The MacBook Air was perfect for what I needed. It is in a completely different performance class than netbooks in both processor power and graphics, and the LED display is beautiful. I went for the top-end model and got the 128G solid state drive since I had been replacing too many hard drives on my laptops due to too much travel and abuse. Build is solid with unibody all-aluminium construction. Another thing I like is the digital video output that I can connect directly to LCD TVs in hotel rooms and watch my own streaming TV (Hulu) or movies, rather than the usual junk that plays on normal TV and resolution is outstanding. This machine is so small and thin that I sometimes have to double-check to be sure it's in my case. And yes, it does look cool. I can't say how many people saw it and wanted to fondle it! Could be a date-book, in a manner of speaking.

It's a sexy piece of hardware, I'll grant you that, but at 55,000 baht or more it really should at least be gold plated. There are a wealth of nice laptops/notebooks out there with similar specs and prices below 20,000 baht.

Just out of curiosity, could you reference one that does have similar specs, quality and form factor to the Macbook Air and less than half the price? I honestly don't mean that rhetorically.

[Phil Conners]

I think it is rhetorical. The question is if having a "cool" laptop is worth more than twice the price to you. Otherwise there are plenty to choose from, for example the Lenovo G460 discussed here not long ago.

[Trevor25222]

OP thanks posters for replies.

It seems the Macbook Air gets the vote. As a 13-year user of Windows, what problems might I experience with the new operating system?

[craigt3365]

Availability of parts, more expensive service, some incompatibility...big reason a friend of mine dropped his Mac...but he is a full time traveler and visits many remote places. Not long ago his power supply died while he was in Africa....took him sometime to get a replacement...

But they are really cool machines!

[bubba]

I think it is rhetorical. The question is if having a "cool" laptop is worth more than twice the price to you. Otherwise there are plenty to choose from, for example the Lenovo G460 discussed here not long ago.

No, I was genuinely curious since I did do some shopping around before deciding on the Macbook Air as a netbook replacement.

"There are a wealth of nice laptops/notebooks out there with similar specs and prices below 20,000 baht."

So I was interested in learning more about some of those "wealth of nice laptops notebooks" might cost less than half that of a MacBook Air with similar specs, such as performance, form factor, and quality. So I looked up the Lenovo and I got as far as the form factor. It weighs 50% more than a Macbook Air and it's more than three times as thick. That's quite a difference for those of us who are looking for something small and light as a replacement for a netbook, so I wouldn't even place the Lenovo G460 in the same category, as miniaturisation costs money. And that's even without mentioning that it's made out of plastic and looks like a black plastic brick as well, although I suppose I might be criticised for preferring a notebook that exhibits some design aesthetics. Just like many other things in life, I am willing to pay something for design and aesthetics. If you want to compare Apples, the Lenovo G460 is really closer to a standard Macbook notebook, although even the entry level Macbook weighs less than the Lenovo.

[filingaccount]

1. If you expect the same performance out of a netbook as you get from even a several year old laptop, you will be mistaken. Netbooks are very slow.

2. Netbooks suck for anything more than surfing the web. It is NOT a replacement device, it is an COMPLEMENT device.

3. If you want a genuine travelers laptop, there is none better than the Lenovo Thinkpad series. They are built from the ground up for the traveler in mind. A Macbook Air is nice and all, but not very durable compared to a Thinkpad.

4. Price. A 12.1"Thinkpad x200si is surprisingly low priced. You can get a very decent one for about 27,000 Baht or so. That's half of the Macbook Air, and you might get many more features and flexibility, and you get the legendary Thinkpad service and support.

For the record, I have a Thinkpad x200si here, and it works very well. I do not own a Macboook, nor do I think I ever will, simply because of the price/performance.

I also have an ASUS laptop, and ECS laptop, and I have owned laptops from HP, Compaq, Acer, Dell, Toshiba, Alienware and probably some more.

Personally I think Acers are the worst of them all. Bad build quality, poor support, and generally the laptops give a flimsy feel.

ASUS is good, but seriously lack support (specially driver support). Also has a reflective scrren making it unusable in any other conditions except indoors with shades drawn.

ECS simply work... I have one that is over 7 years old, and still works fine. Slow, yes, but very useable for limited tasks using puppylinux.

The Thinkpad is brilliant for travel. Very light at 1.4 kg with a 6 cell battery, 5 hours of battery with moderate use, up to 6.5 hours light use (real world tested). It has a matte screen. This is critical for traveling as a screen that reflects and gives off glare is unusable. Plenty of other benefits as well.

Anyhow, for a frequent traveler, support and warranty is the top priority. Whichever you choose, please make sure you have the support you need when you need it.

[bubba]

OP thanks posters for replies.

It seems the Macbook Air gets the vote. As a 13-year user of Windows, what problems might I experience with the new operating system?

I made the switch to from Windows as well and I found the Mac OSX operating system far more intuitive and easier to use. I had zero problems with file compatibility, since I mostly use MS Word, Excel, and Powerpoint when I am on the road, and those are all platform independent formats. I eventually switched from Powerpoint to Apple's Keynote, which I find not only much easier to use, but it also beats Powerpoint hands down for features. This is especially true for doing graphics and using transitions, plus you will end up with something that looks different from all the tired old Powerpoint templates and graphics. You can also import and export into Powerpoint with Keynote. We also use some proprietary software that is Windows only. Any current Mac can also run Windows as well if you get stuck on that and need Windows. You'll just need a copy of Windows and install the included Apple Boot Camp software. Once that is installed, you can boot straight into Windows when you need to.

BTW, here is a link from Laptop Magazine rating the best and worst laptop/notebook brands:

http://www.laptopmag.com/mobile-life/scores-by-brand-best-brands.aspx

Edited June 12, 2010 by bubba

[Trevor25222]

I note the Macbook Air has only ONE 2.0 USB port which also has to double-up as an ethernet port by means of a short adapter socket.

Q1) If I buy a cheap 4-into-1 USB hub is it possible to run a mouse, DVD drive, printer and ethernet cable through the single USB port?

Q2) Can I run external speakers via the existing headphone socket? Thanks.

Edited July 13, 2010 by Trevor25222