Best notebook/netbook

[ladysaint]

Sorry but I am not sure what the difference is between a netbook and a notebook but my laptop screen wont come on and the laptop has been on its way out for about 6 months now. I thought I would replace it with a netbook or notebook as I really only use it for the internet and the occasional game. Anyone have any recommendations please really dont want to spend more that £300-£350.

[saint_stevo]

Netbook is usually 10'' screen with a lower spec and just really for browsing the internet(porn)

 

Notebook is a normal laptop. Some great deals out there at the moment, check http://www.hotukdeals.co.uk and see what's about

[sotonjoe]

Netbooks were all the rage in early 2009 when they came on the scene but many people have now realized that their severe hardware limitations make them pretty useless unless you just want to do some basic internet browsing. They run office applications okay as well, but you don't really want to be doing significant amounts of work on a cramped keyboard and on a tiny screen. An average netbook is going to come with a single core Intel Atom processor, 1gb RAM and hard drive up to 250gb. You won't get an optical drive so will have to think about how else you are going to install additional software.

 

Falling laptop prices have made netbooks a bit of a white elephant. You can buy an average netbook for £250 but it's not uncommon to be able to purchase an average laptop for £100 more. This extra money is going to get you a machine that will handle the usual range of home computing tasks, although it will also be a lot bigger physically; 15.6" screen size seems to be all the rage now.

 

Personally, I think netbooks are a waste of time. We just inherited one that was running Windows 7 Starter and it was so ridiculously slow, that I've just installed Ubuntu Notebook in order to make it usable. It's a nifty little machine for surfing now it has a decent OS on it but I wouldn't have spent my own money on it. I tried to make the jump to a netbook when they first came out for work and it was a complete no no. I persevered for a year until I was lucky enough to be able to hand it back in and get a proper laptop instead.

 

If you have a smartphone for casual browsing, definitely go for a proper laptop. If you don't have a smartphone and literally just want to play on the internet, a netbook may be an option. However, you should make sure you give the exact model you're considering a test run before purchase so you can see if you can live with the slow speed. Novatech in Portsmouth will sell you a netbook without an OS so you could download and install Ubuntu for free it you have any sort of technical know how.

[ladysaint]

Thanks for the advice and think I am now convinced to go with a laptop instead, I was wondering about the speed etc., of them and like most woman I dont have much patience.

[skintsaint]

stick 2gb in a netbook and its fine for running programs, had FM10 running no troubles at a decent pace. Much easier to carry around too.

 

But with all things you get what you pay for, spend extra dosh on a decent lappy and you get much better performance for multiple programs running at once, graphics etc.

[Give it to Ron]

We bought the Samsung NC10 good machine, spec and does everything you will need it to.

[buctootim]

These are good, well worth the money - Acer 4810T. Very light, reasonably fast and great battery life. Ive got the slightly faster version with Windows 7 and a graphics card (4810TGZ). The graphics card really helps with the games, but its an extra £100. The ONLY downside with it is that the inbuilt speakers arent great, but if its important you can add a £20 set of external ones.

http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/acer+aspire+timeline

Edited 31 December, 2010 by buctootim