Monies = Netbooks?

[Mentor]

Hello,

My birthdays just been and since the takings were pretty good i thought i could finally justify buying one of the eee pc (or other net books around) that i've been hankering for, for a while now.

Ideally i wana look between 300-350 £ (less is always better), I'm currently looking at the "Asus EEE PC 1005HA Netbook (http://www.ebuyer.com/product/166570)" With the n280 processor (for the 10 hour battery life)
In addition i've gone for a 2gb ram (http://www.ebuyer.com/product/142421) stick for it and an usb dvd/cd drive (http://www.ebuyer.com/product/156222) to make booting a new O/S on to it a little easier - Plan is to shove a copy of Windows 7 Pro (off msdnaa) on there.

Totaling at around: £347

Whats everyones take on it, are there better netbooks around, or a cheaper place to buy the bits - or generally any other suggestions for mah monies to be spent on. :p

[Recursion]

Just a small niggle but I would PERSONALLY have got a smaller USB DVD drive so I could just shove it in my bag :P

And pfft at your MSDNAA access! :(

[The Professor]

That netbook is very highly rated by cnet, if you have the money I'd say that's the best one by far to get :)

[Barmi]

Hello,

My birthdays just been and since the takings were pretty good i thought i could finally justify buying one of the eee pc (or other net books around) that i've been hankering for, for a while now.

Ideally i wana look between 300-350 £ (less is always better), I'm currently looking at the "Asus EEE PC 1005HA Netbook (http://www.ebuyer.com/product/166570)" With the n280 processor (for the 10 hour battery life)
In addition i've gone for a 2gb ram (http://www.ebuyer.com/product/142421) stick for it and an usb dvd/cd drive (http://www.ebuyer.com/product/156222) to make booting a new O/S on to it a little easier - Plan is to shove a copy of Windows 7 Pro (off msdnaa) on there.

Totaling at around: £347

Whats everyones take on it, are there better netbooks around, or a cheaper place to buy the bits - or generally any other suggestions for mah monies to be spent on. :p
I have very little experience with netbooks. My gut tells me you can get similar specs for a lower price, but probably not as pretty-looking or as reliable. I might not be right there, though... and from what I've read, it is well thought of.

What is the maximum amount of RAM you can have? If you're putting in a 2 GB max straight away, I don't know how future-proof this might be. Then again, given my limited experience with netbooks, I'm not familiar with how memory intensive they can be.

Will it be a secondary computer, or will you be using it for most/all tasks?

[N!ck]

Yes, looks like a good choice. I was going to suggest the Samsung NC10 before I noticed it didn't have the N280 that you mentioned.

Edit: A slim drive? http://www.ebuyer.com/product/165713

[The Professor]

I have very little experience with netbooks. My gut tells me you can get similar specs for a lower price, but probably not as pretty-looking or as reliable. I might not be right there, though... and from what I've read, it is well thought of.

What is the maximum amount of RAM you can have? If you're putting in a 2 GB max straight away, I don't know how future-proof this might be. Then again, given my limited experience with netbooks, I'm not familiar with how memory intensive they can be.

Will it be a secondary computer, or will you be using it for most/all tasks?

Pretty much all netbooks have the same specs these days: 160GB HDD, Intel Atom 1.6GHz, 3 usb ports, 1GB Ram, Windows XP blah blah. The differentiating factor these days is the type of atom processor (there's the N270 and N280, the latter of which is newer and better) and the hardware itself. The keyboard, battery life, screen quality, aesthetics and expansion slots (SD card reader, expresscard etc) are the deal makers.

Futureproofing also isn't really an issue as they're very underpowered by the standards of fully fledged notebooks and desktops anyway, they're designed to have specs of the past rather than be ready for the future :) Tbh the 2GB RAM he's putting in is a bit overkill for a netbook!

[Barmi]

Pretty much all netbooks have the same specs these days: 160GB HDD, Intel Atom 1.6GHz, 3 usb ports, 1GB Ram, Windows XP blah blah. The differentiating factor these days is the type of atom processor (there's the N270 and N280, the latter of which is newer and better) and the hardware itself. The keyboard, battery life, screen quality, aesthetics and expansion slots (SD card reader, expresscard etc) are the deal makers.

Futureproofing also isn't really an issue as they're very underpowered by the standards of fully fledged notebooks and desktops anyway, they're designed to have specs of the past rather than be ready for the future :) Tbh the 2GB RAM he's putting in is a bit overkill for a netbook!
Thanks! :) Sounds like a great buy then. What's the benefit of the N280 over the N270 - a faster FSB speed?

[The Professor]

Thanks! :) Sounds like a great buy then. What's the benefit of the N280 over the N270 - a faster FSB speed?

God knows, its just better :P I get bored when reading those sorts of reviews before I get to the end :eusa_whis

[Mentor]

Thanks! :) Sounds like a great buy then. What's the benefit of the N280 over the N270 - a faster FSB speed?

Its more power efficient and runs at 1.66ghz rather than the 1.6 of the n270 :)

In answer to your prior question, its a secondary computer (maybe thirdry :p) and as far as i can tell seems to be the best value around at the moment in terms of battery life, build quality and i've heard the keyboard on it aint bad ether :p

I'm a little unsure what the max supported ram is on the mobo, but my guess would be 2gb is around the limit. Will have to check it out though as more ram is always good :p

[StefanWolves]

listen, i own the 1005ha, had it for 3 months, swapped it for a msi wind u100.

the 1005ha is the new, improved slimmer version of the 1000he, it's a beast of a machine, the battery is amazing, and so is the screen, and the way it looks, i recently upgraded it to 2gb ram and it's rapidooo.

trust me, get it, amazon are selling it for £300 or were when i bought it a month back, go for it, you won't be let down at all.

what 1005ha model are you getting? the higher or lower end model?

btw mines white, it's the sex, i prefer it to the black.

EDIT: ill upload some pics in a second. :)

[StefanWolves]

Sorry for double post, here is the pictures:

front view, lid open:
http://www.stefancampbell.net/ftpuploads/images/laptop1.jpg

Side view, lid closed:
http://www.stefancampbell.net/ftpuploads/images/laptop2.jpg

front view, lid closed:
http://www.stefancampbell.net/ftpuploads/images/laptop3.jpg

Size compared to my hand (to show you how small is it, but how big it looks when the lid is open):
http://www.stefancampbell.net/ftpuploads/images/laptop5.jpg

side view lid open:
http://www.stefancampbell.net/ftpuploads/images/laptop4.jpg

Sorry for the poop images. Tell Steve Jobs to get a decent camera on his iPhones. ;)

I really have nothing but praise for this laptop, I love it, speedy, great screen, great camera, bluetooth, amazing battery, it really is amazing :| 10hours battery life, 2gb ram makes it even more nipply, SD card reader, big hard drive, good processor, and it looks amazing, and feels amazing, it is also quite light, and did you know, you get a carry case included in the box to? nice little surprise. :) now that's what I call value for money.

You really can't go wrong with it, you won't be let down, trust me.

EDIT: I know you guys like my sexy hands and my dodgy cable box in the background. :8

[Mentor]

The high end model for the n280 :p Whats the included carry case like as i was planning on buying a case as well, if its good i can probs save myself a 10er :p

[StefanWolves]

its a very nice little case, hasn't got a handle, or arm strap, but it's perfect for just carrying about, as it fits perfectly in your hand. I wouldn't bother buying a case, the one supplied is more than adequate.

[HotelUser]

I have an ASUS EEE 901 and I say go for it. Though I don't know how well Win7 will work. XP can be sluggish at times, so Win7 might be going alittle overboard.

[StefanWolves]

I ran W7 RTm on it and it worked perfectly, you can't compare performance between the 901 and 1005ha, there is no comparison.

[Blob]

For 2 more pound you can get a normal laptop with 3GB memory, 15.6" screen, 250GB hdd, 2.2GHz proccessor?

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/product/000075

Or are you set on wanting an EEE PC? If so, ignore that, just thought I would share.

[Recursion]

For 2 more pound you can get a normal laptop with 3GB memory, 15.6" screen, 250GB hdd, 2.2GHz proccessor?

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/product/000075

Or are you set on wanting an EEE PC? If so, ignore that, just thought I would share.

Just a "first off":The fact it is sold by PC World and made by Advent is a turn off LOL

[Blob]

Just a "first off":The fact it is sold by PC World and made by Advent is a turn off LOL

Two good points there ;).

[GommeInc]

Advent aren't too bad :P Their desktops are pretty good at least :D Only decent computers you can by from PC World :P

ASUS seem to be the better of the evils either way. It's their shining grace :)

[Barmi]

For 2 more pound you can get a normal laptop with 3GB memory, 15.6" screen, 250GB hdd, 2.2GHz proccessor?

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/product/000075

Or are you set on wanting an EEE PC? If so, ignore that, just thought I would share.
"Up to 2 hour battery life". I think Mentor was particularly interested in battery life, i.e. 10 hours from the gem he's looking at.

[Mentor]

For 2 more pound you can get a normal laptop with 3GB memory, 15.6" screen, 250GB hdd, 2.2GHz proccessor?

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/product/000075

Or are you set on wanting an EEE PC? If so, ignore that, just thought I would share.

Yea, i have an big-ol ordinary laptop with an appalling battery life already, i'm really looking for a netbook for true netbook use - as in, on the move and away from power supply for extended periods of time.

That said, i expect even with the difference in clock speed an n280 could hold its own against a Celeron in terms of speed

[StefanWolves]

Yea, i have an big-ol ordinary laptop with an appalling battery life already, i'm really looking for a netbook for true netbook use - as in, on the move and away from power supply for extended periods of time.

That said, i expect even with the difference in clock speed an n280 could hold its own against a Celeron in terms of speed

The N280 is speedy, I must admit, but I think it was built mainly for maximising battery life, which it does... superbly.