Laptops/notebooks - Page 4

Rainheart · 02-01-2010, 08:36 AM

From the two HP Pavilions I've had, the old tower that ran on Windows 95 and the new 'top that runs Windows 7, I can't say I've had any problems.

Vendetta · 02-25-2010, 01:08 PM

Just thought I'd bump this to talk a bit about Netbooks. I used to think they were a waste (although I know Blueeyes used to talk positively about them,) because for usually $100 more you could get a much more powerful laptop system that included a lot of the things netbooks don't (optical drives, full-sized screens/keyboards, higher quality graphics, etc.) But lately I've been looking at some of the newer netbooks and sort of inbetween hybrids and man for the price, you can get a pretty decent system, that is incredibly portable (this is more of concern for me - as I quickly grey tired of lugging my 5.5lb laptop & accessories around everywhere.) And now a good majority of the higher end (but still under $500) netbooks can run Windows 7 Home (in both 32 and 64-bit varieties.)

So, anyone have any experience with netbooks? Positive/negative feedback?

I'm particularly looking at the ASUS Eee 1201N, which uses the Atom N330 dual core 1.66GHz processor, 2GB of RAM, 250GB HDD and the new Nvidia ION graphics chipset.

Another one I'm interested in the Dell Inspiron 11z (iM11 model,) which has a Pentium SU4100 1.3GHZ dual core (and is ultra-low energy consuming - with a faster FSB and L2 cache,) 4GB of RAM, 250GB HDD and a 11.6" HD LED display.

Sinanju · 02-28-2010, 04:10 AM

netbooks are gods gift to travelers. I lugged mine all over laos, cambodia, vietnam, southern china, and thailand without having to buy another backpack. They're small, cheap, and very effective for basic computing tasks. They weigh under 2 pounds so you can take them anywhere. I would never do that with an expensive laptop that also weighs too much.

tips:
-make sure to upgrade ram to max, most netbooks only come with 2/3 of their ram capacity

-they are not gaming machines. I can run most any video and any computing task but games will overheat them FAST because of the integrated chipset. I play fallout 2, emulators, rainbow six, a few other 90s era games and thats it

-battery life is great, but again make sure you buy a 6-cell, because half of them only come with 3 cell.

-I paid $299 for this acer aspire ( I liked its keyboard and layout better than the EEE.) and its been my only PC for over a year now. Very worth it and it holds up great under heavy usage. The new generation of Ion processors are out now and I may well buy one as an upgrade when I get home, because its just so convienent to throw a 2 pound netbook in your daily work/school bag. I cant even think about using a heavy laptop now, it'll just be dedicated desktop and netbook for me.

-there are many firefox addons that make the browser much cleaner on netbooks. littlefox/tinyfox/etc. these are almost required if you want to browse without scrolling constantly.

Vendetta · 03-02-2010, 04:45 PM

Yeah, I just don't need a laptop to do much more than surf the web, do some work, and watch some videos. If I want to game I have my desktop system for that.

Although I had heard some of the smaller or older systems didn't really do HD playback very well (I'm not sure if they're counting 720p as HD.) But most of the systems I've been looking at have the Nvidia ION chipset.

Sinanju · 03-03-2010, 03:18 AM

mine does 720p perfectly, the only issue i've had was a 1080p matroska file that had dual audio.

Vendetta · 03-18-2010, 11:54 AM

So, I ended up getting the Inspiron 11z. It's a really nice machine that runs fairly quick for such a small system (it's not technically a netbook, but with an 11.6" screen and no optical drive it's pretty close.) I'll be testing out the battery life probably sometime this weekend.

EDIT: Also, it's currently going for right around $500 on Amazon.com (which for these specs is about $200-300 under Dell's website price.)

EDIT 2: So ran it last night on battery only doing software installs and running videos in VLC and I got about 5 hours of battery life. This is incredibly good.

nicolearos12 · 04-21-2010, 08:22 AM

Thats good be happy it last for 5 hours then none at all.

02-01-2010, 08:36 AM	#31
Rainheart Sappin' Sentries Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: You gots uh map? Posts: 32 Thanks: 2 Thanked 4 Times in 4 Posts	From the two HP Pavilions I've had, the old tower that ran on Windows 95 and the new 'top that runs Windows 7, I can't say I've had any problems. __________________ "Hi, BILLY MAYS HERE." -Billy Mays

02-25-2010, 01:08 PM	#32
Vendetta Out in the Open Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 567 Thanks: 18 Thanked 156 Times in 103 Posts	Netbooks Just thought I'd bump this to talk a bit about Netbooks. I used to think they were a waste (although I know Blueeyes used to talk positively about them,) because for usually $100 more you could get a much more powerful laptop system that included a lot of the things netbooks don't (optical drives, full-sized screens/keyboards, higher quality graphics, etc.) But lately I've been looking at some of the newer netbooks and sort of inbetween hybrids and man for the price, you can get a pretty decent system, that is incredibly portable (this is more of concern for me - as I quickly grey tired of lugging my 5.5lb laptop & accessories around everywhere.) And now a good majority of the higher end (but still under $500) netbooks can run Windows 7 Home (in both 32 and 64-bit varieties.) So, anyone have any experience with netbooks? Positive/negative feedback? I'm particularly looking at the ASUS Eee 1201N, which uses the Atom N330 dual core 1.66GHz processor, 2GB of RAM, 250GB HDD and the new Nvidia ION graphics chipset. Another one I'm interested in the Dell Inspiron 11z (iM11 model,) which has a Pentium SU4100 1.3GHZ dual core (and is ultra-low energy consuming - with a faster FSB and L2 cache,) 4GB of RAM, 250GB HDD and a 11.6" HD LED display.

03-18-2010, 11:54 AM	#36
Vendetta Out in the Open Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 567 Thanks: 18 Thanked 156 Times in 103 Posts	So, I ended up getting the Inspiron 11z. It's a really nice machine that runs fairly quick for such a small system (it's not technically a netbook, but with an 11.6" screen and no optical drive it's pretty close.) I'll be testing out the battery life probably sometime this weekend. EDIT: Also, it's currently going for right around $500 on Amazon.com (which for these specs is about $200-300 under Dell's website price.) EDIT 2: So ran it last night on battery only doing software installs and running videos in VLC and I got about 5 hours of battery life. This is incredibly good. Last edited by Vendetta; 03-19-2010 at 10:53 AM.

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02-28-2010, 04:10 AM	#33
Sinanju Fly, touch the sun. Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 177 Thanks: 2 Thanked 46 Times in 29 Posts	netbooks are gods gift to travelers. I lugged mine all over laos, cambodia, vietnam, southern china, and thailand without having to buy another backpack. They're small, cheap, and very effective for basic computing tasks. They weigh under 2 pounds so you can take them anywhere. I would never do that with an expensive laptop that also weighs too much. tips: -make sure to upgrade ram to max, most netbooks only come with 2/3 of their ram capacity -they are not gaming machines. I can run most any video and any computing task but games will overheat them FAST because of the integrated chipset. I play fallout 2, emulators, rainbow six, a few other 90s era games and thats it -battery life is great, but again make sure you buy a 6-cell, because half of them only come with 3 cell. -I paid $299 for this acer aspire ( I liked its keyboard and layout better than the EEE.) and its been my only PC for over a year now. Very worth it and it holds up great under heavy usage. The new generation of Ion processors are out now and I may well buy one as an upgrade when I get home, because its just so convienent to throw a 2 pound netbook in your daily work/school bag. I cant even think about using a heavy laptop now, it'll just be dedicated desktop and netbook for me. -there are many firefox addons that make the browser much cleaner on netbooks. littlefox/tinyfox/etc. these are almost required if you want to browse without scrolling constantly.

03-02-2010, 04:45 PM	#34
Vendetta Out in the Open Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 567 Thanks: 18 Thanked 156 Times in 103 Posts	Yeah, I just don't need a laptop to do much more than surf the web, do some work, and watch some videos. If I want to game I have my desktop system for that. Although I had heard some of the smaller or older systems didn't really do HD playback very well (I'm not sure if they're counting 720p as HD.) But most of the systems I've been looking at have the Nvidia ION chipset.

03-03-2010, 03:18 AM	#35
Sinanju Fly, touch the sun. Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 177 Thanks: 2 Thanked 46 Times in 29 Posts	mine does 720p perfectly, the only issue i've had was a 1080p matroska file that had dual audio.

04-21-2010, 08:22 AM	#37
nicolearos12 Junior Member Join Date: Apr 2010 Posts: 3 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Thats good be happy it last for 5 hours then none at all.