Notebook or Netbook Advice Needed

[marianne202]

Hey All!

Ok, so I need some advice from the IT guru's and computer savvy group here. I'm looking at doing quite a bit of traveling over the next year and thought with the new airline baggage charges I would try to trade in my bulky, heavy laptop for a newer, smaller notebook or netbook computer. I did some research and find mixed reviews. Some say that a netbook is fine for email or social networking, but not really good for other applications. I'm having trouble even finding anything about notebook computers...are these not made anymore?

My HP laptop is about 2-3 years old and it is big and heavy. I will need something that I can take with me and still work on my online classes while away, so it must do all the typical MS office functions and connect to the internet, even overseas. I also need it to hold a lot of material, as we are traveling this summer for two weeks and will want to transfer all our pictures off the camera memory card to the computer to be able to reuse our memory card. Then we would want to download the pictures when we get home. It seems that the netbooks don't have a lot of memory to be able to do that.

I'm hoping someone here can give us some suggestions. When we travel over the summer we will most likely be carrying the computer in our backpack, so it must be sturdy and lightweight.

Please let me know what you suggest. I can't afford $1,000 for an Apple laptop, so please don't suggest one. It would be nice, but not in the cards right now. Thanks for your help!

[PonyGirl93]

laptop=notebook, there is no difference as of now.

Last year I got a Dell 14" laptop, I love it. I think they only have this one at Walmart, which is kind of a +/-... Great return policy, but all the tech support would have to be from Dell themselves, Walmart is clueless :p I think I paid $630 including tax. 4GB memory (pretty much necessary for windows to run fast), and 500 hard drive.

I know a few people with netbooks and they like them, but they are fairly limited. The screen size alone is a hassle.

I think it just depends on what you want to do with it.

[rebel100]

I picked up an ASUS Eee PC for under $300 out the door at Best Buy. It runs a limited version of Windows 7 but has the full suite of Microsoft features. Its pretty quick to wake up and start computing. I purchased it specifically for lightweight to use on the ambulance to do my courses on. I believe it will do everything you mentioned (though no first hand experience in other countries).

The really great thing is the rather remarkable battery life. Its rated at 10hours by ASUS and I get a reliable 7-8 hours of computing time between charges. I don't know another brand that comes close to that. You can upgrade the RAM from 2 to 4 but I didn't and doubt I will ever need to.

Might be my best PC purchase ever and it's the envy of others with their big clunky power eating laptops.

Good luck !

Like this guy: Amazon.com: ASUS Eee PC 1015PEM-PU17-RD 10.1-Inch Netbook (Red): Electronics (though I found it $100 cheaper)

Reviews: Amazon.com: Customer Reviews: ASUS Eee PC 1015PEM-PU17-RD 10.1-Inch Netbook (Red)

[OE800_85]

for your purposes...the kind of computer rebel recommended would be quite good. I think it's a good idea for you to go to some bestbuy like store, sit down with the computer, and try to type a long e-mail. That'll give you the best idea of whether you'll like it...i had a netbook but it drove me nuts, mainly because i wanted to do gaming, which I doubt will be a problem for you.

Also try to get one with a really long battery life...the life of batteries is rated by cells...3 cells is the lowest, 6 is good, 9 now we're talkin....i've heard even 12 cell is possible in little netbooks...the more cells, basically the longer the life...check with the staff at these stores for details. Make sure you also get a good soft durable case for your laptop, you never know when you're gonna drop your bag travelling.

Another good site for deals is LogicBUY - News, Reviews, Deals & Coupons for HP, Lenovo, Laptops, Videogames, Gadgets
They find a bunch of online deals from good retailers and track when stuff goes on sale.
Cheap Netbooks Deals - LogicBUY
Oh by the way, i take personal issue with HP, i dunno why i've always had bad luck with them, but that doesn't neccessarily mean it'll go bad for you. I recommend googling any model you buy for reviews, because some models just suck and have problems, my HP Mini was such a product

Another option is a tablet, like an ipad or one of those android tablets...they have GREAT battery life...they turn on instantly (which is great when you just hit up an internet cafe and want to look something up quickly), charge quite quickly, however typing is not so convenient.

Any other questions just ask us...i'm sure this forum's got tons of geeks like us

[grauwulf]

I really like acer, dell, & mac (what I use). For a good cheap 'generic' use laptop I would recommend an Acer. For $5-600 you can get a well stocked machine that will last. Pricewatch.com Egghead.com & tigerdirect.com are all good places to search.

[toddsbiyj]

As far as cheap netbooks, I have one and love it. Other than only having a smaller 10" screen and no CD drive( you can buy an external, portable USB type), it performs well for most tasks. I was initially concerned about performance but it runs just fine and has done everything I have asked it to do. For the PC geeks - it even runs World Of Warcraft with just 1GB of ram. I paid $240 a little less than a year ago and it is still running like a champ.

Portability - love it, I carry it daily bicycle commuting for work and the battery life isn't bad. I can do all the web surfing, movie watching, & emailing that I want without issue. I managed to get a closeout model from Bestbuy (hence the cheaper price) but you can find new models at most places for around $300. My only suggestion, get 2GB ram for a little better/faster performance.

[marianne202]

Ok, so if I go with a netbook, will I need to get wireless internet service or do they work similar to an I-Pod that just connects wherever wireless service is available? I'm wondering how that will work for travel overseas, has anyone used one that way? I'm wondering if I should check with Verizon since they are my wireless carrier? I'm not particularly fond of the I-Pad, but I'm beginning to wonder if it is a better deal once you figure in additional costs to use a netbook. Thanks for any suggestions and guidance.

[rebel100]

they typically come wireless ready. You can connect to any wifi hotspot like starbucks or McDonalds.

I don't find a need to pay anything extra, I just use the WIFI hotspots or connect at work wirelessly. If you do need a constant connection Verizon or another cellular provider can fix you up. Virgin Mobile has a plug in that accesses Verizons backbone al'a 3G/4G connectivity. Cool thing about virgin deal is that you pay once for the device then you can buy minutes to connect or unlimited month to month with no contract.
I would try it without anything extra first, its been much more user friendly than I expected. I wound up not buying anything other than the computer itself and find that suits my needs well.

[ryoder]

Go to best buy.com and run your model through their trade in estimator. I got over two hundred in trade as a gift card for mine.

[toddsbiyj]

Like rebel stated, more or less, all of the devices today are wirless ready and work with any wifi hotspot. It doesn't matter if it is a Ipad, netbook, notebook, Galaxy tab, etc they just need to have an internal wireless card when built by the manufacturer.

I would be hesitant with the Verizon and other cell companies that provide internet/data services when talking about traveling overseas. I have travelled ALOT and I can tell you that most US cell providers are unusable (or cost a boatload per minute) in most of the places I have been. If you are just travelling a little bit for vacation or whatever and just want the constant internet capability at home then go for it. The carriers will tell you that their service can be used in -XX- amount of countries but I can speak from experience in saying don't trust it.