Netbook recommendations?

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Major2

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Mar 15, 2010
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Karl Blues said:
Bingo! Much better than a netbook.
Click to expand...
Hahaha...you Apple lovers ;) kidding...they are pretty good. Check out Lenovo's, they are the same company that made the IBM thinkpads. I have a couple Lenovo's a Toshiba and have used a ASUS (which will give you the best bang for your buck). Also, I prefer to shop at NCIX...sorry, I'm into OEM. I will not pay an extra $100 just because a hard drive or whatever is in a box at Future Shop. Give it to me in a static bag and I'm a happy camper :)
Also, I use my laptops for business...if your a gamer, you're going to want to spend way more. But then again...it's best to play games on PC.
BTW, low end Toshiba's are crap. I've used them before. My Toshiba is a Portege R600 which I like for business, but it's worth $2000 ;)
 
D

dunnochit

Banned
Feb 19, 2008
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Major2 said:
Hahaha...you Apple lovers ;) kidding...they are pretty good. Check out Lenovo's, they are the same company that made the IBM thinkpads. I have a couple Lenovo's a Toshiba and have used a ASUS (which will give you the best bang for your buck). Also, I prefer to shop at NCIX...sorry, I'm into OEM. I will not pay an extra $100 just because a hard drive or whatever is in a box at Future Shop. Give it to me in a static bag and I'm a happy camper :)
Also, I use my laptops for business...if your a gamer, you're going to want to spend way more. But then again...it's best to play games on PC.
BTW, low end Toshiba's are crap. I've used them before. My Toshiba is a Portege R600 which I like for business, but it's worth $2000 ;)
Click to expand...
Here is the link to the Lenovo new x100e series. They are a true notebook.
http://shop.lenovo.com/us/landing_pages/thinkpad/2010/X100e
Here are the spec’s on the three most popular x100e units that are avaialble in Canada;
Prices below are about 2 weeks old. Lenovo is having a big sale this weekend, so the price could be less.

Thinkpad X100e Series
- part# 350828U
- AMD MV-40 Neo 1.6GHz Processor
- 1GB Ram
- 160GB HDD 5400 RPM HDD
- Wireless BGN
- 6 Cell Battery
- 11.6” WXGA LED Display
- WebCam
- Windows 7 Home Premium
- one year warranty
Priced at $549.00
1 week

Thinkpad X100e Series
- part# 350824U
- AMD MV-40 Neo 1.6GHz Processor
- 1GB Ram
- 160GB HDD 5400 RPM HDD
- Wireless BGN
- Bluetooth
- 6 Cell Battery
- 11.6” WXGA LED Display
- WebCam
- Windows XP Home
- one year warranty
Priced at $599.00
Stock Toronto

Thinkpad X100e Series
- part# 350829U
- AMD MV-40 Neo 1.6GHz Processor
- 2GB Ram
- 250GB HDD 5400 RPM HDD
- Wireless BGN
- 6 Cell Battery
- 11.6” WXGA LED Display
- WebCam
- Windows 7 Professional
- one year warranty
Priced at $669.00
Stock Toronto
 
Last edited:
T

tokugawa

Member
Sep 8, 2005
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I guess I should have been a bit clearer. I already have a Mac Book Pro, a PC Desktop and a Linux Machine so I am not looking for anything with power. I just want something that is light that I can take to a coffee shop or travel abroad to do some surfing, skyping, listening to tunes and watching some videos that won't break by back. After doing a bit of research, the ASUS Eee PC Seashell 1005PE-PU17-BU 10.1-Inch Blue Netbook looks like a pretty decent machine: http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B00322PYZY/ref=ord_cart_shr?ie=UTF8&m=A3DWYIK6Y9EEQB

I also went to a couple of review sites and it seems that Toshiba (NB305-01E) machine might not be that bad of a machine. It seemed to have received some positive reviews I think????? - http://www.bestnetbook2010.com/
 
M

Major2

Member
Mar 15, 2010
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tokugawa said:
I guess I should have been a bit clearer. I already have a Mac Book Pro, a PC Desktop and a Linux Machine so I am not looking for anything with power. I just want something that is light that I can take to a coffee shop or travel abroad to do some surfing, skyping, listening to tunes and watching some videos that won't break by back. After doing a bit of research, the ASUS Eee PC Seashell 1005PE-PU17-BU 10.1-Inch Blue Netbook looks like a pretty decent machine: http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B00322PYZY/ref=ord_cart_shr?ie=UTF8&m=A3DWYIK6Y9EEQB

I also went to a couple of review sites and it seems that Toshiba (NB305-01E) machine might not be that bad of a machine. It seemed to have received some positive reviews I think????? - http://www.bestnetbook2010.com/
Click to expand...
Just remember you get what you pay for. I believe the low end Toshiba's only have a one year warranty and from experience with many corporate laptops they tend to have issues after a year of regular usage. You may want to look into extended Toshiba warranty, unless you don't care and will be upgrading again in a year or so. Hell...it's only $400 and that's what you probably spend on a SP for a couple of hours anyways....the laptop will give you unlimited milage for over a year! lol
 
D

dunnochit

Banned
Feb 19, 2008
511
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tokugawa said:
I guess I should have been a bit clearer. I already have a Mac Book Pro, a PC Desktop and a Linux Machine so I am not looking for anything with power. I just want something that is light that I can take to a coffee shop or travel abroad to do some surfing, skyping, listening to tunes and watching some videos that won't break by back. After doing a bit of research, the ASUS Eee PC Seashell 1005PE-PU17-BU 10.1-Inch Blue Netbook looks like a pretty decent machine: http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B00322PYZY/ref=ord_cart_shr?ie=UTF8&m=A3DWYIK6Y9EEQB

I also went to a couple of review sites and it seems that Toshiba (NB305-01E) machine might not be that bad of a machine. It seemed to have received some positive reviews I think????? - http://www.bestnetbook2010.com/
Click to expand...
Your Toshiba comes with Windows 7 Starter, which means an additional $100 to upgrade to a functional Operating System. With Win 7 Starter, you cannot even change your wallpaper, it is not supported.
D
 
D

Devils_Advocate

Banned
Jun 9, 2003
663
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Vancouver
Not to steal your thread, but I'm also looking for a cheap netbook mostly so I can install OSX. I want to be able to dual boot into Windows 7 and Snow Leopard.

Dell Mini seems to do the trick. Any one else tried Hackintoshing? Recommendations?

http://www.hackintosh.com/
 
T

tokugawa

Member
Sep 8, 2005
484
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dunnochit said:
Your Toshiba comes with Windows 7 Starter, which means an additional $100 to upgrade to a functional Operating System. With Win 7 Starter, you cannot even change your wallpaper, it is not supported.
D
Click to expand...
Thanks for your comments as I really appreciate all your guys' help. The key here is all I am really concerned about is using this machine to surf the web, listent to tunes and watching the odd movie. So maybe Windows 7 starter is enough.

dunnochit are you saying that I should focus on getting a netbook that has an XP Operating System? It seems most new netbooks are carrying Windows 7 Starter. Note: my price range limit is $400 as I see no reason to spend anymore since I already have a Mac Book Pro with both Snow Leopard and Windows 7 Home. The purpose of this netbook is just for travel and going to beach/coffee shop.

Anyway, I have narrowed it down to netbooks:

ASUS Eee PC Seashell 1005PE-PU17-BU 10.1-Inch Blue Netbook looks like a pretty decent machine: http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B003...A3DWYIK6Y9EEQB

or

Toshiba 10.1" Intel Atom N450 1.66GHz Netbook (NB305-01E) http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/produ...893d177a99en02

Another concern right now I have is technical support. Has anyone ever dealt with Asus in terms of technical support or warrantly issues?

Toshiba on the other hand has pretty good technical and warrnaty support say if you were to buy it through London Drugs. All you have to do is just return it back to London Drugs????????

Any thoughts on technical and warranty support for Asus and Toshiba?
 
T

threepeat

New member
Sep 20, 2004
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tokugawa said:
Thanks for your comments as I really appreciate all your guys' help. The key here is all I am really concerned about is using this machine to surf the web, listent to tunes and watching the odd movie. So maybe Windows 7 starter is enough.

dunnochit are you saying that I should focus on getting a netbook that has an XP Operating System? It seems most new netbooks are carrying Windows 7 Starter. Note: my price range limit is $400 as I see no reason to spend anymore since I already have a Mac Book Pro with both Snow Leopard and Windows 7 Home. The purpose of this netbook is just for travel and going to beach/coffee shop.

Anyway, I have narrowed it down to netbooks:

ASUS Eee PC Seashell 1005PE-PU17-BU 10.1-Inch Blue Netbook looks like a pretty decent machine: http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B003...A3DWYIK6Y9EEQB

or

Toshiba 10.1" Intel Atom N450 1.66GHz Netbook (NB305-01E) http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/produ...893d177a99en02

Another concern right now I have is technical support. Has anyone ever dealt with Asus in terms of technical support or warrantly issues?

Toshiba on the other hand has pretty good technical and warrnaty support say if you were to buy it through London Drugs. All you have to do is just return it back to London Drugs????????

Any thoughts on technical and warranty support for Asus and Toshiba?
Click to expand...
I bought a netbook a couple of months ago and ended up returning it because it was waaaaaaaay too slow. I wanted to love my netbook -- so small, so cute, so cheap -- but it takes a frustrating amount of time to do anything. Installing XP Service Pack 3 (not the OS, just the Service Pack) took almost an hour for it to grind away. I'm not sure where the bottleneck is, because even a 1GHz processor should not be that slow, but the bottom line is it sucks. And if you look at the specs for all the netbooks, you'll see the hardware is almost identical no matter what brand name you buy. Mine had an Intel Atom N270 processor, which was horrible. Based on the specs, the new Atom N450 should be about 10% to 16% faster, but that's no guarantee an N450 netbook will be 10% to 16% faster than an N270 netbook.

Moreover, I had a helluva time trying to wipe the netbook hard drive and install a clean version of XP on there -- the drivers on the Gateway web site simply didn't work. It's almost as if they are purposely sabotaging any efforts to not use their restore partition.

My advice is to forget the portability and get a full-blown laptop for less than $100 more. If you get a refurbished laptop like those that sell at Laptop Depot it could even cost less.

If you must get a netbook, I say get it from a place that has a great return policy like Future Shop or Best Buy, just in case you end up hating your netbook as much as I did.
 
C

Cobra GT

New member
Feb 7, 2010
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I've bought 3 Lenovo's directly from Lenovo's website and have never had a single issue with any of them :
http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/...CFA687B046BB9888E33FD857B492&menu-id=products
Positives : They always have online coupons that bring down the cost of the unit anywhere from $280 to $350. I bought all of mine for under $340 after taxes + free shipping. Light weight and thin.
Negatives : They take 3 to 4 weeks to get to you. They are shipped from China to Toronto, then to you....similiar to Apple Ipod products.
I have purchased the S10, S10e, and the S10-2. I am waiting for the S10-3 price to drop a bit more before buying that. 6 cell batteries on the Lenovo's gives about 7 hours of usage.
The new S10-3 is slightly heavier than the S10-2 and has bluetooth.

If you want a really nice screen, then one of the Sony's for $499 has the highest resolution screen...more than typical xxxx X 600....I think it has xxxx X 768.

My coworkers have the older Toshiba NB's and they are happy with them. For full size laptops, I have 5 toshiba's and they never die, they last forever.
 
D

dunnochit

Banned
Feb 19, 2008
511
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tokugawa said:
Thanks for your comments as I really appreciate all your guys' help. The key here is all I am really concerned about is using this machine to surf the web, listent to tunes and watching the odd movie. So maybe Windows 7 starter is enough.

dunnochit are you saying that I should focus on getting a netbook that has an XP Operating System? It seems most new netbooks are carrying Windows 7 Starter. Note: my price range limit is $400 as I see no reason to spend anymore since I already have a Mac Book Pro with both Snow Leopard and Windows 7 Home. The purpose of this netbook is just for travel and going to beach/coffee shop.

Anyway, I have narrowed it down to netbooks:

ASUS Eee PC Seashell 1005PE-PU17-BU 10.1-Inch Blue Netbook looks like a pretty decent machine: http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B003...A3DWYIK6Y9EEQB


or

Toshiba 10.1" Intel Atom N450 1.66GHz Netbook (NB305-01E) http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/produ...893d177a99en02

Another concern right now I have is technical support. Has anyone ever dealt with Asus in terms of technical support or warrantly issues?

Toshiba on the other hand has pretty good technical and warrnaty support say if you were to buy it through London Drugs. All you have to do is just return it back to London Drugs????????

Any thoughts on technical and warranty support for Asus and Toshiba?
Click to expand...
I am suggesting you avoid the Win 7 Starter kit, because it is bare bare bare bones. Many come with XP Home, Win 7 Home, Premium etc.. ASUS Service is as good as any service nowadays. it is nothing like 10 years ago. Your comment to just return to London Drugs, is true, but you do not get another laptop. What you get is a sheet of paper that says you dropped off your laptop and they are shipping it for repair, or having their techie look at it. With Lenovo you call them, they send you an Easycare box, you send it to them for repair and you get it back, usually within 5 business days. No one compares to Lenovo for service, because IBM is still the repair channel. Here are a couple of ASUS to have a look at: http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=40579&vpn=1005HA-PU1X-BK&manufacture=ASUS
Whatever you choose, if you simply want to cruise the Internet, check email and watch streaming, any of the Netbooks will probably do the job. If you want to do anything above that, then have a look at the Lenovo's. You also want to try and type with it before buying. Many have complained about the keyboard layouts on some of the netbooks.
Good luck and hope whatever you choose turns out to be a happy choice.
Cheers
D
 
T

tokugawa

Member
Sep 8, 2005
484
3
18
dunnochit said:
I am suggesting you avoid the Win 7 Starter kit, because it is bare bare bare bones. Many come with XP Home, Win 7 Home, Premium etc.. ASUS Service is as good as any service nowadays. it is nothing like 10 years ago. Your comment to just return to London Drugs, is true, but you do not get another laptop. What you get is a sheet of paper that says you dropped off your laptop and they are shipping it for repair, or having their techie look at it. With Lenovo you call them, they send you an Easycare box, you send it to them for repair and you get it back, usually within 5 business days. No one compares to Lenovo for service, because IBM is still the repair channel. Here are a couple of ASUS to have a look at: http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=40579&vpn=1005HA-PU1X-BK&manufacture=ASUS
Whatever you choose, if you simply want to cruise the Internet, check email and watch streaming, any of the Netbooks will probably do the job. If you want to do anything above that, then have a look at the Lenovo's. You also want to try and type with it before buying. Many have complained about the keyboard layouts on some of the netbooks.
Good luck and hope whatever you choose turns out to be a happy choice.
Cheers
D
Click to expand...
Thanks for the advice.
 
M

Major2

Member
Mar 15, 2010
88
11
8
tokugawa said:
Thanks for the advice.
Click to expand...
Lenovo's are also built like a tank. I went to a Lenovo conference and they showed the inside of the chassis and they have separate compartments within the outer frame. The guy giving the demo was even holding the laptop from the edge of the LCD swinging it around. Very well built, plus they have drain holes under the keyboard in case you spill your drink on it. I’ve taken apart Toshiba’s and MacBooks and have never seen a chassis like Lenovo’s.
FYI, I believe NCIX price matches as well.
 
D

dunnochit

Banned
Feb 19, 2008
511
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Major2 said:
Lenovo's are also built like a tank. I went to a Lenovo conference and they showed the inside of the chassis and they have separate compartments within the outer frame. The guy giving the demo was even holding the laptop from the edge of the LCD swinging it around. Very well built, plus they have drain holes under the keyboard in case you spill your drink on it. I’ve taken apart Toshiba’s and MacBooks and have never seen a chassis like Lenovo’s.
FYI, I believe NCIX price matches as well.
Click to expand...
They are the ONLY laptop on the market that still has a frame. No twisting or stress issues, they are indeed built to travel.
D
 
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