Netbooks - Worth It?

[AndrewGC]

I currently use a 'put together' desktop that I use mostly for games and a Fujitsu Laptop I use primarily for my eBaying and accounts. The latter I use to answer emails, send out sales emails and printing out invoices and labels and also for general surfing.

However I find the laptop basically has stayed next to the desktop over the last 18 months (mostly due to the poor battery life) but also because I find it just too unwieldy to move about. It's not as portable as I wanted it to be.

Anyway this Christmas the daughter wants a laptop and the easy option is she gets mine and I get a netbook.

I've looked at a few - the unfortunately named Wind and most especially the one even Webuser rated highly, the Samsung NC10. Effectively the Samsung is liable to be the one after what I have read about it.

After all that, the basic question I have is, who else has a netbook (any sort) and what is your experience of them? Worth the money in terms of ease of use? Did it change your internet habits for the good?

All comments appreciated.

[BurrWalnut]

I wouldn’t touch them with the proverbial bargepole but I probably have different requirements to what you have!

They use oldish technology, have a small HDD and insufficient RAM. They rarely have an internal optical drive and most important of all, to me, the screen is small and low quality.

I suggest you wait until the end of October and buy a pre-installed Windows 7 machine (not Vista plus a Windows 7 voucher). You will be able to buy a powerful system with a small footprint, e.g. a 12” screen but will have to pay a bit more for it.

[greysts]

I'm with Burr on this. They seem to follow the maxim that 'small is beautiful' - not necessarily so!

As you get older you need bigger keyboards and bigger screens not smaller. I am part of the Digital Inclusion team at Age Concern and I am frequently asked by clients whether they should buy a laptop or a desktop. I always ask the same question - 'How many rooms will you be using when you are on the computer?' Invariably the answer is one room and one desk so why buy a machine with a screen you can't see properly and a keyboard that's too small simply to leave it in the same place all the time?

You say you haven't moved the laptop for 18 months so it clearly hasn't made any difference the fact that you could move it about if you wanted to. You say the battery life is poor - a netbook will be even worse because it's that much smaller. If you really must have mobile computing get a good quality laptop but before you do, ask yourself the question, where am I going to use this machine.

[AndrewGC]

I understand the concerns and felt the same way until I started researching and I have been looking at a Samsung NC10. It changed my viewpoint somewhat.

1GB of RAM, that you can expand to 2GB for about £15.

160G HDD, and okay only a 1.6 processor but I only want it for eBaying work and Excel bits on the move. 6 cell battery that reviewers on eBuyer and Amazon say gets 5 hours and more. I have a desktop for more processor hungry work, this is designed to actually make me more mobile and less deskbound.

I understand the issues on screen size and keyboard but again my first experience of technology was working for a company where the Psion organiser was the top of the game.

The issue with the laptop I have is it just is not portable enough. I want something I can stick on the arm of the chair rather than spending too much time at the desk.

Thanks for the replies but just wondered if anyone else actually had used one or had one and how they got on.

[Mouse]

Depends what you want a laptop/netbook to do?

This is what I/we need it to do:

I bought the wife one earlier in the year as she's gone back to Uni, so a laptop/netbook was essential and as I'd sold her old 17" laptop, which was a heavy beast, I looked around at the options available.

From researching the web I came across the Wind (as in "wind up", rather than "brrr it's windy" from what videos I've watched) and NC10, as these both had reviews that interested me and what the wife's requirements were.

I settled for the NC10, equal reviews and was available and at a good price.

She doesn't need anything that requires anything more than web, office applications, extended battery life and light portability, as she will be using it anywhere in the house, with having a toddler on the go and taking it to and from work and uni for presentations etc.

It's a great piece of kit and does exactly what she wants. She gets around 6 hours of use from the laptop as it's got a superb battery, if it had an optical drive it would make the netbook heavier and less portable and discreet.

The display is really impressive and the keyboard is really easy to use and is bigger than you would expect.

Just my 2 cents

[AndrewGC]

Cheers Mouse. Essentially you have described what I want a netbook for and you looked at the two I have considered. I originally went for the Wind until reviews etc. steered me towards the NC10.

As I mentioned I want something that will sit on the arm of the chair, in my lap outside, on my knees in bed that I can do simple sales emails on for eBay and basic office apps to keep accounts. When I need to print things out I'll just spend a short time at the desktop - I just find at the moment I'm not 'mobile' enough.

The thing to bear in mind about the laptop I am using now is it will effectively become a potential pressie for my daughter who I feel will use it more.

Anything more strenuous that I want to do will be done on the desktop.

Currently the NC10 has 80 reviews on eBuyer and is rated 5 out of 5 which must say something. I've only stalled buying because as the laptop will become a Christmas present I don't really want to give it too early or mothball it.

I've also heard that Samsung like others will be releasing newer netbooks with Windows 7 (out of my budget) but that could make the NC10 drop in price further.

Thanks for the reply - much appreciated as I wanted the opinion of a user.

[dougfoot]

Horses for courses.I use a PC at home but bought a netbook for use on holiday
(with a mobile broadband dongle)and also now find I use it around the house which has extended my internet use thanks to wireless broadband.Yes the battery life is limited (to about 3 hours in my case) but I knew this going in.
I would certainly miss it now.

[Braindead]

I know this thread is a bit old, but my contribution may still be valuable...

... I have a Samsung Q1, one of the original generation of "origami" computers, and for nearly three years now, it has done its job. Its value lies in its extreme portability. It's so easy to bung in a bag and work anywhere with, that I wouldn't go back to a full size laptop at all. I have that for the portable work, and a desktop for work in one place. Connecting the Q1 to a vga display was a good and easy solution for when I was working with it at home, before I had my desktop...
...At work I can use either Dell or Fujitsu netbooks, with 9" screens and the same applies. It really is "horses for courses" - think about the job you want the computer to do, and get the machine for it.
If I was going to get another netbook, then the Samsung NC10 would be top of my list.

[AndrewGC]

Glad for another response.

I have been allowing my daughter to use my old laptop at weekends up to Christmas so she gets familiar with it and customises it to her own specs.

Over this time I have been watching prices. EBuyer had the NC10 at over £300 then two months ago ran it at £248. Missed that one as I wanted to buy it later in the year.

It then jumped back up to £299 and then about a few weeks ago dropped to a very attractive £238. I waited until my Credit Card statement was due - wanted it to fall on the following month - and on the VERY day it went up to £411 (and it isn't through lack of stock as they have 226 in)!

Anyway, I can still see it on other sites (PC World etc) for £258 (with the addition of a £20 Samsung Cashback), but the sheer shift up and down in price has been extremely interesting.

Quite happy to delay until it drops again - it will, but this time I WILL be buying!

[cromwell1230]

Your patience is worthy of comments FilthyRaider but I'll bet the moment you get your hands on a new Sammy(that's how they call the Samsung NC10 dearly) you'll never part with it. I have had it for less than two weeks now and the honeymoon never ends...my Sammy is just amazing! I got it for £258 from Curry's...it's the 6-cell battery one giving me 7 hours of use. I intend to upgrade the memory from 1gb to 2gb when I'll have the time to visit PCWorld. So far so good...spent more than 48hrs tweaking it with guidance from this forum thread and also setting up my home network under the guidance of mgmcc here in this thread.

I'll confirm what Mouse have said about the Sammy in this thread. I'm all praises for it...and in fact might buy another one with another color...I'l go for the white one maybe, I have the black one now.