Latest wisdom on mini laptops?

[Joe Frickin' Friday]

It's been about a year since this thread on mini laptop PC's.

 

Anything changed, now that Windows 7 Starter is available, as well as new hardware features?

 

Anyone have opinion's on Dell's offerings, pro or con?

[johnlt]

Got bored on a consulting trip to DC the other night so I went to Best Buy and got a Asus NetBook. Really like it. Has Windows 7 and MS Works. 250GB solid state "disc" and 1 gig of memory. Built in wifi. Best thing is it has 11 hour battery life and the power adapter is very small. When I put the small right angled adapter plug on it to eliminate the cord, it is the smallest I've seen. Got Mapsource and a couple different version of CN on it and all works great. Very happy. Also got an external CD/DVD player that isn't much bigger than a hard CD case. Very tiny and has a "kind of" built in cable. I used it to load my software but normally won't take it with me on trips.

[pokorskij]

Can't help with mini laptops, but I have had very bad service experience with Dell and my son's laptop for college.

 

Lot's of repairs, and then they repaired it less than 30 days from the end of the warranty, and the repair went bad just after the warranty ended and they wouldn't repair their defective repair. So they don't stand behind their own repair. Seems a repair should be warrantied more than a couple of weeks.

 

Thanks for the opportunity to rant.

 

PS. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to rant.

 

Than when ordering a part for a different laptop, they inquired what I thought about Dell and I told them my experience. After originally tell me that shouldn't have happened, they ran me around the bush a few times and I got nothing accomplished. They would not repair my son's laptop. That probably bothered me the most, I had gotten over the original rejection, and then they raised expectations again, only to disappoint.

 

I know we all can probably relate horror stories on service, but I probably will never purchase another Dell because of the past experience.

[enfoman]

Same here for EEE Asus! Although I don't have the 1 gig Ram, I can up it to that. I have had it since the new year and it is working well. The $350. price from Newegg didn't hurt either! The 11 hour Batt. really sold me. It also has 500 gb web storage if needed but the servers and such are in Micronesia. Not too thrilled about that so I am shying away. Win 7 starter is OK but I still perfer XP. I keep the touch pad off as I have a hard time using and getting used to, but it seems easier to use than others. I load up a bunch of tabs with no ill effects. The flash drive within is suppose to take much more abuse that the older laptops, has 802.11n wireless, bluetooth, webcam, map program preloaded, and a keyboard that is not too bad to get used to. Perfect for traveling and throwing in the side case. Hope to test out the bluetooth with tunes while riding when the riding gets better. All in all, a thumbs up!!

[tallman]

Sort of like tires and saddles.

We had no problems w/our daughters' laptops (Dell) in over 10 years of use and got another one 2 1/2 years ago which is also working fine.

Now for the minis, seems a lot of folks like the direction john pointed out above.

[artig]

My Acer Aspire One died about 6 months out of its 1-year warranty, so I bought an HP Mini 5102 with 3-year warranty to replace it. It has higher screen resolution, and comes with Win 7 Pro. The model I bought also has 3G mobile.

 

So far I'm happy with it, although I miss the separate PgUp and PgDn keys the Acer had. And it's strange having to press the Fn key to use the function keys as normal function keys.

[marcopolo]

I've got an Acer Aspire One, which I've had for about 18 months. I like it, though it's primary purpose is for carrying with me on the bike and planes. In that role it works very well (I've loaded Mapsource on it for GPS mapping tasks). Its biggest advantage is small size and weight.

 

I've just started looking again at netbooks, as my wife wants one to replace her laptop. The newest ones have a later version of the Intel Atom processor, a slightly larger display (than mine), and many come with Windows 7 Starter, as opposed to Win XP. I've looked at comparisons on sites like CNet, and the Toshiba NB305-N410 (Win 7 version) receives a lot of positive comments. I guess it really depends on what's most important for you, operating systen (Win XP vs. Win 7 Starter), longer battery life, display size etc.

 

http://reviews.cnet.com/laptop-reviews/?filter=1101502_17294757_&tag=topPanelArea.1

 

 

[BanjoBoy]

I was in the market for a mini awhile back. But then I had to kill about 8 hrs at the in-laws Thanksgiving. (I watched most all of the Lonesome Dove DVD on my 15", 5yr old Dell Inspiron.)

So I decided I really need a DVD player in my next LT. I bought a 13.3" XPS from the Dell outlet. It has back lit keys, Core 2 duo, 2.4 GHz w/ 4MB cache, 4G of 1066 fsb RAM, 7,200 rpm 320 GB shock resistant HDD, a 512MB video card, DVD writer, 7 Premium delivered to my door for $900. (That includes the obscene CA sales taxes.) I just got the 6 cell battery which is only good for about 4 hrs. (A 9 cell was optional.)

I've had great luck with Dells myself, and it was the only LT I looked at that came with a restore DVD.

 

Good luck with whatever you choose.

[Joe Frickin' Friday]

Thanks for the advice so far.

 

Primary purpose for us having a netbook is the ability to check email/web while away from home, but it would be nice to be able to do other things with it, too.

 

Without an external player at viewing time, is there any way to watch movies/video on a netbook? Can I rent DVD's/Blu-Rays from Blockbuster, preload them onto the netbook (using an external drive at home), and then watch them during a flight to Katmandu?

 

 

[artig]

Without an external player at viewing time, is there any way to watch movies/video on a netbook? Can I rent DVD's/Blu-Rays from Blockbuster, preload them onto the netbook (using an external drive at home), and then watch them during a flight to Katmandu?

 

Not legally. At least in the USA. As RealNetworks with their RealDVD product found out recently, to their cost.

 

However, there are other companies with products that claim to remove encryption, copy protection and region coding. See, for example, a company called SlySoft. Since their products are still available I presume they are legal in some countries. Maybe in Kathmandu, so you can watch the DVDs on the way back?

 

 

[David]

Without an external player at viewing time, is there any way to watch movies/video on a netbook? Can I rent DVD's/Blu-Rays from Blockbuster, preload them onto the netbook (using an external drive at home), and then watch them during a flight to Katmandu?

 

Handbrake and VLC. The latter removes copy protection and the former encodes it in another format. Both are free and work extremely well.

 

http://handbrake.fr/downloads.php

[markgoodrich]

I have had one (Dell Inspiron Mini 10") for about six months. I've never adapted to the small keyboard; typing on it is a hassle for me. Otherwise, it's fine. I don't watch movies on it, and need to find a cd drive to borrow to install some software. I use it mainly for reading news sites, and toss it in the topcase when I travel. I doubt I'll get another.

[SageRider]

Fujitsu UH900

[Selden]

I saw the latest model Acer Aspire One at Wally World this weekend for $298. They have made the keyboard a little bigger, and have gone to a new, bigger trackpad with a larger button bar. 1gb RAM, Atom 1.66 gHz processor, and 160gb HDD seems to be the standard config. I've been throwing my Acer in the top case for 9 months now, and the HDD seems to be taking the abuse. One thing to look for with any netbook is access panels on the bottom that let you get to things like memory and HDD; with a 2.5" form factor drive, you can swap out the 160gb for a 32gb SSD for around $100 if you are really going to abuse the thing.

 

Although I have an external optical drive for backups, I haven't tried playing movies; my guess is that the Atom processor and the usual graphics chipset just aren't up to working with HD video. Internet streaming video is OK, but if you want a machine for watching movies on long flights, you're going to have to spend more.

[Joe Frickin' Friday]

Bluetooth seems to be all the rage these days. Apart from being able to use a Bluetooth mouse without having to plug in a USB receiver, why else might I want a mini to be equipped with Bluetooth?

[tazplas]

You could also try DVDShrink and DVDFab for placing movies onto your LT.

http://www.dvdshrink.org/what_en.php

http://www.dvdfab.com/download.htm

 

Cheers

 

Steve

[artig]

To a question about using HandBrake on a netbook with 1024x600 resolution, the HandBrake forum gives the following response:

"No. HandBrake is not suitable for netbooks, so we don't support them. End of story."

 

So perhaps another solution is preferable.

 

[artig]

Bluetooth seems to be all the rage these days. Apart from being able to use a Bluetooth mouse without having to plug in a USB receiver, why else might I want a mini to be equipped with Bluetooth?

 

To backup the directory on your mobile phone?

To transfer data to your mobile phone?

To connect to the internet via your mobile phone?

To exchange data with another computer which has BT?

To connect to a BT printer?

To connect a BT keyboard?

To exchange data with your Garmin or other GPS?

 

Admittedly these can all be done with a BT USB adapter.

 

[Scarecrow]

. . .Also got an external CD/DVD player that isn't much bigger than a hard CD case. Very tiny and has a "kind of" built in cable. . . .

 

I just got a Toshiba netbook which I pretty much like. It also is supposed to have a long battery life, but I find that if I don't use it for a couple of days, the battery drains anyway. (yes, I've shutdown, not just put it in standby).

 

Anyway, back to the quote above, what's the name of the CD/DVD player you bought?

 

TIA,

[Selden]

Bluetooth seems to be all the rage these days. Apart from being able to use a Bluetooth mouse without having to plug in a USB receiver, why else might I want a mini to be equipped with Bluetooth?

So far, I have had no reason to use Bluetooth with a computer, and in fact on the two Macs in our household that are Bluetooth-enabled, it is turned off. Wired printers to the main computer are accessible wirelessly via CUPS from my netbook and my wife's laptop. For the netbook, I bought a wireless mouse with a USB receiver that is so tiny (about 0.13" x 0.5") that it's all but unnoticeable, but ended up using it exclusively with the desktop machine. Realistically, however, I almost never use a mouse with the netbook, and when I do, a compact wired mouse with a built-in reel meets my needs.

[pokorskij]

Here is some information on the latest Atom processor that was recently released, the Atom 450.

 

The integrated graphics processor in N450 is capable of 720p high-definition graphics natively, but Nanduri insisted the N450 processor is meant to consume Internet content, not to play graphics-intensive games or view high-definition movies.

 

"These are not meant for hooking a Blu-ray player to it," Nanduri said. However, Intel is validating technology from companies like Broadcom that vendors can integrate into systems with the Atom processor to let users view full 1080p high-definition content.

 

Netbooks powered by Atom N450 will run Windows 7, Windows XP or the Linux operating systems, Nanduri said.

 

There are a number of Atom processors, so be sure to know what you are purchasing and it's ability.

 

HSN had a Gateway with this processor for $379, no idea if that is a good price or not, but video seemed very good.

[SageRider]

Bluetooth seems to be all the rage these days. Apart from being able to use a Bluetooth mouse without having to plug in a USB receiver, why else might I want a mini to be equipped with Bluetooth?

Bluetooth headset for use with Skype or equivalent.

[Selden]

Bluetooth seems to be all the rage these days. Apart from being able to use a Bluetooth mouse without having to plug in a USB receiver, why else might I want a mini to be equipped with Bluetooth?

Bluetooth headset for use with Skype or equivalent.

+1 -- that's a truly useful application for Bluetooth and a portable computer.

[David]

To a question about using HandBrake on a netbook with 1024x600 resolution, the HandBrake forum gives the following response:

"No. HandBrake is not suitable for netbooks, so we don't support them. End of story."

 

So perhaps another solution is preferable.

 

Good catch. Thanks!

[tallman]

Mitch,

Is your GS-911 the bluetooth version?

Or, if you don't have one, will you be using the bluetooth version when you have one?

[Joe Frickin' Friday]

Mitch,

Is your GS-911 the bluetooth version?

Or, if you don't have one, will you be using the bluetooth version when you have one?

 

Good point. I haven't bought my GS-911 yet, and hadn't really thought about which version to get.

 

I'll have to think about it.

[Allen Rowand]

To a question about using HandBrake on a netbook with 1024x600 resolution, the HandBrake forum gives the following response:

"No. HandBrake is not suitable for netbooks, so we don't support them. End of story."

 

So perhaps another solution is preferable.

I assumed the intent was to run Handbrake on a larger computer to create a small movie file suitable for viewing on a netbook.

[Dick_at_Lake_Tahoe_NV]

. . .Also got an external CD/DVD player that isn't much bigger than a hard CD case. Very tiny and has a "kind of" built in cable. . . .

 

I just got a Toshiba netbook which I pretty much like. It also is supposed to have a long battery life, but I find that if I don't use it for a couple of days, the battery drains anyway. (yes, I've shutdown, not just put it in standby).

 

Anyway, back to the quote above, what's the name of the CD/DVD player you bought?

 

TIA,

 

Here's the CD/DVD Player/Recorder I bought. Plug and Play through the USB port and works great.

 

http://www.buy.com/prod/lg-gp08lu11-8x-dvd-rw-drive-with-lightscribe-double-layer-dvd-ram-r-rw/q/loc/101/211874057.html

[artig]

I assumed the intent was to run Handbrake on a larger computer to create a small movie file suitable for viewing on a netbook.

 

It probably is.

 

I tried installing Handbrake on the HP Mini which has sufficient screen resolution, and it runs OK. It runs, but an estimated 28 hours to convert a 2-hour DVD means it will be uninstalled again. Soon.

 

 

[Mike O]

Mitch,

 

I was one of the folks that provided feedback in that first thread. I'll comment based on my >1yr experience with my HP Mini. Since I'm not in the market I can't provide much insight into the newest models (but that also means either the current HP Mini is still working and/or my requirements haven't changed - It's both!)

 

After a year of use, here are the Pros and Cons I've learned:

 

Pros:

 

- Still like the form factor

- Keyboard is still pretty good (its 85% of full size). It's your single human interface to the computer. If you can't get comfortable with the keyboard, the rest of the netbook's benefits quickly fade away. Imagine your RT with very small throttle grip;)

- Still like the form factor

- Display is adequate. I said...'adequate'- It's fine for watching movies, cirfing the web, emails and the like. Don't expect to get 'movie editing' quality display.

- Still like the form factor

- Like the very small external power supply. It doesn't do much good to have a netbook with power supply heavier than the netbook. Here's a picture:

 

 

- Still like the form factor.

- 60GB hard drive I thought would be a limit hasn't been an issue. Don't try to make this a desktop replacement and you'll be just fine with darn near any capacity HD.

- HP rock solid reliability; never missed a beat in a year of heavy use. (I personally would never own another Dell laptop - had very bad reliability experience in my company - 100% AFR)

 

Cons:

 

- Standard 3-cell battery power gets 2 hours...(I bought a six cell which was much better but defeated the benefit of the form factor)

- couple of I/O ports that are proprietary (can't hook a std VGA... Something I'd look far more closely at if I were in the market)

- Can get a bit warm near the memory location (don't know why) Doesn't seem to affect anything...but.

- Processor could be a bit faster. Sometimes doesn't keep up with Youtube, but that may be the network more than my netbook.

- Would kill for a back lit keyboard (love the one on my Macbook Pro!)

- Front switch to turn on and off Wifi is a waste of functionality for me.

 

Otherwise...Still love the form factor.

 

Mike O

 

P.S. On my netbook replying to this post.

 

[Scarecrow]

Here's the CD/DVD Player/Recorder I bought. Plug and Play through the USB port and works great.

 

http://www.buy.com/prod/lg-gp08lu11-8x-dvd-rw-drive-with-lightscribe-double-layer-dvd-ram-r-rw/q/loc/101/211874057.html

 

Thanks for the response, I apreciate it.

s