Netbooks, and very short Toshiba rant

[Joe Nerve]

Anything anyone can tell me regarding netbooks as I am running out in a 1/2 hr to purchase one? Need to keep it under $300.

Purchased a Toshiba laptop about 1 1/2 yrs. ago that I used maybe 40 or 50 hrs tops (for traveling only). It never worked right, was returned 2X to fix the same issue (blue screen crashes), and they refuse to do anything further because they claim they told me I had 30 days after the last repair to return it again. They absolutely did not tell me that. They won't do anything now, and I threw $600 to the wind with Toshiba.

[elgecko]

I love mine. They're MUCH lighter and run cooler, longer, and quieter than a regular laptop. I got the biggest one I could find (12.1). They are a bit more delicate than a regular laptop. I dropped mine and killed the screen. The cheapest I could find a new replacement for was $120.

[dbhokie]

Asus has been in the netbook business a long time, and I have supported over 20 in the past few years, and not had a problem with them. I know they aren't a huge brand, but they really did carve a niche in the netbook business.

You could consider one of the tablets as well coming out according to your needs, the Android tablets are quite nice, many of them.

[Joe Nerve]

Thanks. Androids and tablets out of my price range right now, plus I'd really want to research them and I have to buy this thing NOW. Checked some quick reviews and Asus netbooks are at the top of the list. I'm going to check for them, acer or hp. I've had pretty good experiences with acer thus far.

Can you watch netflicks on a netbook?

[dblthumbballad]

I bought a Gateway netbook a year ago for ~$300. It still works (running Ubuntu), but there have been some conductivity issues with the battery. I occasionally get a weird error message that is remedied by taking the battery out and putting it back in.

Make sure to "test" it out when you bring the netbook home because you usually have 2 weeks for a "painless" exchange. The other thing is that the really cheap netbooks usually skimp on the battery (1-2 hour charge!).

[Bting]

Best advice I can give (and I have supported a few dozen at work here is)

They are not a long term-substitute for a primary computer.
They are great a secondary, mobile paltform, but if you try to use it as a sole computer, it will be dissapointing. No dvd-drive, small screen, small keyboard, reduced horsepower, etc.

You could use to bridge a gap between now when you need somethign cheap, but useful, and have the plan to get a "proper" pc or laptop later. You'll be fine there. THey work fien for Office Document type editing, browsing, emailthat sort of thing.

You could get external display, keyboard and mouse, and DVD, but by then you will have spent more than a full size laptop, and used all of your USB ports.

2nd vote for Asus brand as well.

Good luck.

[L-A]

Bting's post has good advice. I don't own a netbook, but if I was to get one it would be one from Asus too.

[fourstringdrums]

My mother in law had a Dell before she passed away and it was given to her daughter. I got to play with it a bit and I really wasn't impressed. My g/f is the computer geek in the relationship and she said that even though it was only about 4 months old, performance wise it was equivalent to a computer that was 2 years old. It was very slow and I found even checking my email on it to be frustrating.

[MJ5150]

Originally Posted by Joe Nerve

Can you watch netflicks on a netbook?

Streaming, yes. Most netbooks do not include a DVD/CD drive though.

-Mike

[Ziltoid]

Third vote for asus here.

[Absentia]

Get an Asus eee
or a Lenovo s10

[carl h.]

Have you considered an Ipod touch? I use one for traveling to check emails, google maps, and streaming movies. Much more convenient than lugging a laptop around all day.

[Joe Nerve]

Done deal. Asus 1015PE.

I hate toshiba and wish bad things upon them.

And in an unrelated rant, the help at bestbuy is ludicrous. 2 people helping me that cldnt tell me more than that u can't do as much w a netbook as a laptop. Took 15 minutes to find a ladder... and then said they actually had 3 asus models. But didn't know the differnce. All within $10 of each other. They googled them and still couldn't tell me. I asked them if they cld leave me alone w a computer and realized battery life was the major difference.

Not having the greatest people experiences today. Must change my tude and start fresh!

[MJ5150]

Do you realize it doesn't have a DVD/CD drive?

-Mike

[Joe Nerve]

Yes. I bought one when I bought my POS toshiba.

[L-A]

No CD/DVD drive is becoming less and less of a disadvantage. There aren't many things you do on a netbook that can't be installed with a download.

[elgecko]

Originally Posted by L-A

No CD/DVD drive is becoming less and less of a disadvantage. There aren't many things you do on a netbook that can't be installed with a download.

Si! I've been meaning to buy an external drive ever since I bought my netbook 1.5 years ago but I've been able to download everything I've needed. I do still plan on getting an external to rip CDs...an external blu ray drive with an HDMI out would be nice!

[blendermassacre]

for the record, I love my toshiba laptop and they've done great by me, customer service wise.

[seanm]

I have a love/hate relationship with Toshiba. I bought an Intel based Toshiba laptop and love it. So I bought another Toshiba laptop... this time AMD based to save some money. What a POS. Overheats something fierce.

[dbhokie]

I have a hate relationship with Toshiba, I have been in IT for 11 years now, the two brands I have encountered the most issues (hardware-wise) are Toshiba, and Gateway. IME.