Netbook Computers - Help /Advice Needed Please

[Old Timer]

At the moment I am hefting my Toshiba laptop around with me as I travel about.

Whilst I am delighted with Toshiba as a make, the one criticism I have is the awful "Tru-Brite" screens they now use.

This makes the laptop all but unusable outside and definitely unusable in the sun.

I am becoming more rapidly inclined towards a smaller netbook such as :

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?moduleno=261330

Can anyone advise / help, please ?

I am trying to establish if the screen can be read outside in the daylight, but especially on bright sunny days ?

If anyone uses such netbooks, any comments or advice would be much appreciated.

Thank you.

Old Timer

 

[asylumxl]

I like my MSI Wind. It's very powerful compared to most notebooks . Its screen goes very bright and is easilly readable in sunlight.

 

[generalvegitable]

by the looks of that it should fit the bill perfectly, but I would suggest ditching windows xp and putting ubuntu netbook on it because on a netbook windows just doesn't work, it is far too bloated, plus it would lower the battery life

 

[Turbostar]

Have a read of this, maybe this will help you with your enquiries:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TruBrite

 

[EM2]

I have one of these:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HP_2133_Mini-Note_PC which I really like. In fact, I like it so much that it's now my only computer. It has 1GB RAM, 160GB HDD, WinXP, Bluetooth, WiFi and webcam and only weighs about 3lb
Admittedly, it's only really used for browsing, email, a bit of YouTube-ing and some layout design but it's great.
Two downsides though. The battery life is short (I use it on mains at home) and the motherboards are a known weak point. Mine has gone once but replaced within a week under warranty.

 

[jon0844]

My mid-2008 MacBook Pro had the option of a matte screen - which I went for. So glad I did, considering how much people suffer with the glossy ones on the latest models.

I am amazed that people still lap up the glossy screens. I actually think it's better in an office environment (if you can move the screen or tilt it to avoid reflection), rather than on a laptop. It's not as easy as you think to move around to get a good position, especially outdoors. This conflicts with what's said on Wikipedia and http://arstechnica.com/hardware/news/2006/10/8022.ars but reflects my personal experience. Mind you, on a matte screen you do need to turn up the brightness to maximum outdoors.

Glossy screens DO look stunning though; especially if you're watching films or other graphics. But, I agree about the lack of colour accuracy - no good for graphic designers or for matching the screen to print. Thus, I'd concur that it's little more than a gimmick.

 

[poshbakerloo]

Netbooks do look kinda cool, but I have used them, after a while the small size becomes annoying...

 

[SWT Driver]

Netbooks are great for browsing the net & light office work, however if you intend to use more intensive applications then they're really not much use.

They (most) also suffer from one serious flaw & that's the lack of an optical drive (OD), it means you need to carry an external HDD/CD + the requisite PSUs, which tend to negate the whole idea of a netbook for anything other than a web browsing tool.

I thought about getting one but you have to buy a 3G dongle & pay extortionate data fees as well & mobile BB isn't the fastest or most reliable thing in the world.

Personally I'd rather stay with a normal laptop.

You can find some useful information at www.pcpro.co.uk or google "uk laptop reviews"

Sony Vaio, Acer & ASUS laptop seem to be rated quite highly.

Then there's the Apple Mac option as well..

 

[Old Timer]

I find this worldwide high rating of Acer to be unbelievable, bearing in mind the myriad of simialr stories about units failing or developoing faults within a short period of purchase.

I had four different attempts at buying and using an Acer laptop. Everyone ended in failure. Mostly to do with updating MS which would not update or after update the machine became unstable.

I tried two different models each from two different suppliers to eliminate a batch problem but gave up in the end.

Acer support, or rather the lack of it appears to be universally broadcast around the internet.

I bought two Asus for my daughter and have found those to have been less than relaible as well. The first went off for tech support and eventually arrived back with the same fault, which I then ended up in a long drawn out debate with Asus about.

Just beyond th warranty period the power supply went, and foolishly I was persuaded to buy her a replacement computer from Asus. This now switches itself off randomly, with Asus stating it is a software (which is excluded from the 3-year Warranty) not a hardware fault, and if, when sent back it IS confirmed to be a software related fault, I will end up paying carriage costs, their assessment cost, and whatever the repair cost is :roll:

So far the only reliable Company seems to be Toshiba who have an excellent Tech support unit, with none of the extended waiting times you tend to find elsewhere.

Dell used to be good but having expanded they do not seem to have such good tech support according to my Company IT guys. We have an exclusive IT deal with Dell that includes a substantial staff discount but our IT people have absolutely no time for Dell these days and are lobbying to move to Toshiba.

 

[Mojo]

I can vouch for Toshiba being a good make, my first laptop from Sept 2005 - Aug 2008 was a mid-range Toshiba. I was planning on replacing it in Sept 2008 anyway but unfortunately the connection that runs the system off mains failed, leaving me some 40 Min to back up all my stuff!

I now have a low-range Toshiba I bought in Aug 2008. It's still working almost as good as the day I bought it but I frequently have errors with Explorer crashing and having to be reset if I don't shut down the computer at least once every 2 weeks. I don't think this one will last as long as the last but I'm planning on getting a MacBook Pro next summer anyway.

 

[Old Timer]

IE 8 per chance ?

 

[Mojo]

No, I don't use IE, I'm talking about Explorer as in: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Explorer

When Explorer freezes you can't do anything unless the program is already active.

 

[GB]

but I would suggest ditching windows xp and putting ubuntu netbook on it because on a netbook windows just doesn't work, it is far too bloated, plus it would lower the battery life.

That is becasue most Netbooks come with either a Celeron or Atom processor which are really not up to the task.

I have a DELL 11z and its bloody brilliant! It has a Pentium dual core processor and 4GB RAM. It weighs absoloutly nothing and my 6 cell battery can last over 6 hours depending on usuage. It also comes with Vista which runs perfectly, though I have just put W7 on it.

Yes you will need to get an external drive to use CDs and DVDs but you can pick these up cheap anyway. I have a Phillips that I got from PC world which takes its power from the USB port so no lugging a huge power brick around.

http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/p...s.aspx/inspiron-11z?c=uk&l=en&s=dhs&cs=ukdhs1

 

[Old Timer]

Im guess you haver already troubleshooted this but in case you haven't seen this page http://www.helpwithwindows.com/techfiles/explorer-crashes.html

 

[Turbostar]

I like Dell laptops, currently I have a Studio 1737. You can get them fully made from PC World etc., or, what I like, is you can go onto Dell's website, & specify what you want in your laptop, albeit it can get expensive, but at least you can decide what you want on your laptop etc. My previous one, Inspiron 6400, I got via Dell ( via my Dad's account, told him what I wanted, he passed it on to Dell, got what I asked for.)

 

[yorkie]

I have one of these:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HP_2133_Mini-Note_PC which I really like. In fact, I like it so much that it's now my only computer. It has 1GB RAM, 160GB HDD, WinXP, Bluetooth, WiFi and webcam and only weighs about 3lb
Admittedly, it's only really used for browsing, email, a bit of YouTube-ing and some layout design but it's great.
Two downsides though. The battery life is short (I use it on mains at home) and the motherboards are a known weak point. Mine has gone once but replaced within a week under warranty.

I strongly recommend the 2133 also; it's brilliant for taking on trains. The trains I mostly use (HSTs, 225s, 185s) have power sockets anyway so battery life isn't an issue, but you can get a high capacity battery. I also have 2GB RAM in mine and the 1.6GHz CPU as opposed to the more common 1.2GHz. Not very powerful, but powerful enough and ideal for those minature tip-up tables on trains!
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

They (most) also suffer from one serious flaw & that's the lack of an optical drive (OD), it means you need to carry an external HDD/CD + the requisite PSUs, which tend to negate the whole idea of a netbook for anything other than a web browsing tool.

Why do you need to access DVDs anyway? I never need it with my Netbook. It has 160GB on the HDD anyway.

I thought about getting one but you have to buy a 3G dongle & pay extortionate data fees as well & mobile BB isn't the fastest or most reliable thing in the world.

I just connect my phone to it, which has unlimited web access for about £7/month.

Personally I'd rather stay with a normal laptop.

I wouldn't realistically want to carry a normal laptop around all day so I'd not end up taking it anywhere thus defeating the purpose of having a laptop..

 

[GB]

You dont have to buy a mobile internet dongle. Most netbooks (if not all) come with a built in wireless card so you can use public wifi hotspots.

Its also a common misconception that mobile internet is slow. Yes it certainly does depend on you being in a decent area, but I have seen speeds that match my home broadband...ie 2.5 - 3mb connections.

 

[Turbostar]

You dont have to buy a mobile internet dongle. Most netbooks (if not all) come with a built in wireless card so you can use public wifi hotspots.

Yeh, but WiFi is not free everywhere, as I found out recently when I travelled by train going on holiday, plus if your not familiar with using WiFi, you can end up with problems if your not careful on the security side. In my opinion, I reckon mobile broadband is better as you seem to get better reception in most areas, as obviously your using the mobile network & not the WiFi network, & like said in a previous post, most mobiles that can access the internet these days you can use with your netbook, or laptop for that matter.

 

[Geezertronic]

I like Dell laptops, currently I have a Studio 1737. You can get them fully made from PC World etc., or, what I like, is you can go onto Dell's website, & specify what you want in your laptop, albeit it can get expensive, but at least you can decide what you want on your laptop etc.

I too have a Studio 1737. I did buy it from Dell as I wanted to specify the spec, including 2 x 500Gb hard disks but it was under £900 for the spec I had so I was happy. I run Virtual machines on the 2nd hard disk so performance of Vista is not affected.

 

[GB]

Yeh, but WiFi is not free everywhere, as I found out recently when I travelled by train going on holiday, plus if your not familiar with using WiFi, you can end up with problems if your not careful on the security side. In my opinion, I reckon mobile broadband is better as you seem to get better reception in most areas, as obviously your using the mobile network & not the WiFi network, & like said in a previous post, most mobiles that can access the internet these days you can use with your netbook, or laptop for that matter.

True, but I never said it was going to be free just that you dont have to buy a dongle to access the internet. Most forms of internet you have to pay for, whether it be a hot spot, dongle or your home broadband.

Speaking of dongles, Im typing this using a dongle, in the middle of no where on a ballast site in the cab of a 66...and its fast! thats how reliable it is these days.

 

[poshbakerloo]

I frequently have errors with Explorer crashing and having to be reset if I don't shut down the computer at least once every 2 weeks.

Every 2 weeks? That can't be good for it lol.
I sometimes keep my laptop on for 2days but I don't think much more than that will be good for it etc...

Personally I would just get a smaller laptop. You can get some very powerful 13" laptops. Still small, but not too small and just as fast as much larger ones...

 

[GB]

I rarely actually shut any of my laptops down, just stick them in hibernation when I close the lid. Makes booting up a hell of a lot quicker.

 

[90019]

Every 2 weeks? That can't be good for it lol.
I sometimes keep my laptop on for 2days but I don't think much more than that will be good for it etc...

Mine is set to sleep after 2 hours, but other than that, it's on most of the time.

It was last properly switched off about 7 or 8 weeks ago.

 

[Mojo]

I believe Vista is not designed to be "shut down" in the same way that older systems are, hence the "sleep" function.

 

[Tom B]

Every 2 weeks? That can't be good for it lol.
I sometimes keep my laptop on for 2days but I don't think much more than that will be good for it etc...

Please expand. Why would it be bad to run a computer for more than 2 days?

 

[littlemoo]

Hi
If you're really interested in a small netbook (like the 9 ins one in your 1st post) then you need to be quick.
Asus have stopped selling the 901 series, and now only do 10ins and larger, as are (i think) many of the other companies. I don't know the full ins and outs but its something top do with windows not working so well on the smaller machines with less memory.
I have an eeePC 901, and the machine itself is great. The OS, however. Well I bought it with linux on, and i am at he wrong level of computer knowledge to use linux.
It's fine it you know very little about computers and just want to load up a program and go. It's also fine if you know loads about computers and are happy with command lines and stuff. I'm in the middle - i want to change stuff and customise stuff and i can't do it and it got very frustrating.

saying that, windows is very big AND TAKES UP HARD DRIVE SPACE.


jo

 

[Old Timer]

An update chaps.

I bought a Samsung NC20 which has 12 " screen and a five hour battery life through a friend who has access to decent prices. £350 as against a retail of about £450.

Absolutely delighted so far as it is far smaller than the existing laptop, but sufficiently big enough to play CDs on and use on the plane, or in the pub in the evening without getting in the way

 

[poshbakerloo]

I rarely actually shut any of my laptops down, just stick them in hibernation when I close the lid. Makes booting up a hell of a lot quicker.

hibernation is still shutting it down...just saves what you had open.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Please expand. Why would it be bad to run a computer for more than 2 days?

Well the hard drive for one thing had moving parts that ware out over time.

 

[GB]

Hibernation is not the same as shuting down, there is a slight difference.

 

[Old Timer]

I would appreciate a little more info on that please.