I want to buy a netbook - are they all much of a muchness?

[said]

I always attempt to research these things before buying but than confuse myself into a corner.

Basically, I want something I can look at the internet (mn), facebook, youtube and check emails on. I'd like to watch stuff on iplayer. I don't want to pay too much - there's an Acer one for about £240. And I don't want a laptop. I just want to surf and watch telly at the same time really

Any to avoid and what should I look for in particular?

Thanks

[said]

No, I have normal size hands . But I prefer tiny keyboards, I can type better when not having to move my hands about as much.

Right, that's one to check out anyway. What are its limitations - can I do all the stuff I'd like to do on it (as per my OP)?

[megcleary]

I just got one yesterday HP mini tis fab, DH who is IT bod and helped pick it has tried to nick it twice already!

He said look at the processor? mine has a 450 as opposed to 240 can have about 4 windows at once.

PC world £299.

[ButterPie]

Can I watch this? My laptop has died a death and me and DP sharing a computer just isn't working...

[Hulababy]

Dd had a pink Acer one and it is fab. She's had it a year now and it is reaaly good. It runs all the software required and is about to be updated to Windows 7.

We did get an external DVD to go wth it though so DD can use it for some of her games and for DVDs.

[said]

Oh excellent, more stuff.

So, they can cope with iplayer and youtube fine?

[megcleary]

Currently lying on moi's bed listening to The News Quiz on the iPlayer and mumsnetting joy of joys.
So yes it copes well.

[nappyzoneloveslindor]

I looked into these tuther month and was told you couldnt run windows 7 on them as only have 1gb of ram so for £299 i bought a dell 11z which is a tiny bit (1inch so an 11inch lappy) bigger than a regular netbook, it has 2 gb ram and is shiney and sleek and sexy and i love it. I got it from carphonewarehouse and saw same one on line for a hundred quidos more. sexy wee thing

[said]

That's getting into pricey for me since I just want to surf and watch telly. Looks nice but is it laptop size or netbook size - can't really tell from the link?

What does Windows 7 do and what will it mean if I only have teh Windows 7 starter thing?

[nappyzoneloveslindor]

its a smidgey bigger than a netbook and a lot smaller than a lappy. its got an 11" screen as oposed to a 10" one.

[said]

Oh, interesting about teh Dell one then.

I was looking at that Acer one before.

Oh, they're all lovely and I'm feeling happy that no-one has said they're crap.

[nappyzoneloveslindor]

i dont know much about acer to comment - i looked at one myself in comet but just knew dell was good and the salesman talked a load of guff asnd sucked me in .

[Skegness]

Hi said- I have a Samsung NC10 too (in a natty blue colour) and it is fab. Does everything you want (and got me through an essay heavy course recently too so can do a bit of non-fun stuff should you ever need it to). I am a bit of a sucker for impulse purchasing (esp.gadgetry) and sometimes repent at leisure but this has been one of my lucky buys- cheapish, in use every day, good looking and, importantly, enables me to do the surf/watch tv combo!

Not sure if it's any better than other makes and models, tho. Think I chose it because the gadget show (beloved by my boys) said it was the best one and because of the blue colour...

[shivster1980]

I have an Acer Aspire One and use it for the same purposes as you. It is great! Took me a short time (very short) to get used to the dinky keyboard but is great in every way otherwise.

[said]

Oh, I'm all excited! And I'm not a gadget person really - have resisted the allure of the iPhone - but these were just made for me.

[NetworkGuy]

www.ebuyer.com/product/190282

Asus Eee PC 1005P SeaShell Netbook

Intel Atom N450 1.66GHz
1GB RAM
160GB HDD
No Optical Drive
10.1" WSVGA
Webcam
Windows 7 Starter

Now £249.97 inc. VAT (Free delivery)

[giraffesCANdriveAcar]

I have an acer one. Had a normal sized laptop before but the fan got to noisey, was convinced it was going to explode. So when got birthday money I treated myself. Took a long time to get used to size, but it now seems normal. Can always soom the screen in a bit if needed too. Not had any probs with it and it came with xp not vista which is fab as IMO vista is a nightmare.

Only thing to consider is no cd drive which is ok for the most park but lots of programmes need CDs uploaded first, you can often find them online though.

[NetworkGuy]

"John Lewis give you 2 years warranty instead of the usual 1" - good point, herbietea.

[said]

Thank you for the info.

Whats does Windows 7 Starter do??

[NetworkGuy]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_7_editions

I did a quick search for versions of windows 7 comparison" and "versions of windos 7 explained" and that has an "easy to understand" table.

[NetworkGuy]

Use this as a working link (other one had a couple of underlines in so instead of 7 it showed 7

I meant to add "It's more about what it doesn't do". However, I'd be the first to say I have no clue about at least half of the things (if not 75%) so for many purposes I suspect the fact it doesn't include them will make no difference whatsoever.

One thing I spotted (not being able to do a backup over the network) might be a bit of a pain, but so long as it is possible to copy files off the netbook to some other PC (ie using some other PC to hold an archive of any downloaded software or whatever) then you'd be fine.

I did see a little unit on Ebuyer.com which is aimed at users of netbooks. It's suitable for 10" and 11" netbooks and offers some extra USB ports, and has slots to hold both hard drive and optical drive. It costs 20 quid, but for anyone who wants to be able to 'plug in' their netbook to write a DVD or have somewhere to store 500 or more GB of films, music, etc, it looks like a handy item.
See www.ebuyer.com/product/198610

(Many people would store things at home on a big desktop PC which could hold extra disk drives, etc, but this would be a tidy unit if you were going away to look after friend/ family and wanted extra storage, or to be able to play one of your favourite films on DVD without needing to take anything really big, or if you simply don't have a big desktop PC and do want to be able to play CDs/DVDs or use them for software installation etc.)

[said]

Thanks for the info, very helpful.

I spotted an Acer one in John Lewis yesterday that had been reduced from 239 to 199 but didn't get a chance to ask why. I suspect it might have been the older version with only a 3 hour battery. It's not online though.