Netbook/Notebook Recommendations? Ask For Advice Here!

[DiGiTaL MoNkEY]

Though it would be handy to get a thread setup where people can ask for advice in a consolidated thread. It should save some searching and allow users that frequent this section to share their knowledge and experiences.

Otherwise post it in the 'What / Where to buy?' section of the forum.

Thanks

[himynameisho]

Which do you people think is better, The Samsung NC10 or the HP Mini note 2140?

I can't decide

Thanks in advance

[spilla2003]

Originally Posted by himynameisho

Which do you people think is better, The Samsung NC10 or the HP Mini note 2140?

I can't decide

Thanks in advance

I've been looking to get a netbook before I go to the US in June, so I've had a quick look at the 2140, but I haven't seen anyone selling in Australia. How's it perform?

The Dell mini 10 would be sweet once it gets the GPS and stuff.

[DiGiTaL MoNkEY]

Originally Posted by spilla2003

I've been looking to get a netbook before I go to the US in June, so I've had a quick look at the 2140, but I haven't seen anyone selling in Australia. How's it perform?

The Dell mini 10 would be sweet once it gets the GPS and stuff.

I've played around with one not long ago, and really liked the keyboard compared to some asus netbooks i've looked at, but the touchpad is so so.

StaticICE shows up quite a few places: http://www.staticice.com.au/cgi-bin/...te+2140&spos=3

DSE: Seem to have the product, and looks like there is a $100 cashback offer http://www.dse.com.au/cgi-bin/dse.st...ct/View/XC4279

[spilla2003]

Originally Posted by DiGiTaL MoNkEY

StaticICE shows up quite a few places: http://www.staticice.com.au/cgi-bin/...te+2140&spos=3

DSE: Seem to have the product, and looks like there is a $100 cashback offer http://www.dse.com.au/cgi-bin/dse.st...ct/View/XC4279

I probably should have searched before I posted. I last checked about a month ago.

[DiGiTaL MoNkEY]

Originally Posted by himynameisho

Which do you people think is better, The Samsung NC10 or the HP Mini note 2140?

I can't decide

Thanks in advance

Personally i like the look and HP's general support from past experiences. But HP Mini note is a bit heavier than the Samsung, not by much, but something to consider.

The keyboard is pretty good as well, but it depends on your taste and how you type. The touchpad design is similar to normal notebooks as the buttons are on the bottom, and not on the sides like on the HP

Here are some reviews to look over:

Samsung: http://www.laptopmag.com/review/lapt...sung-nc10.aspx
HP: http://www.laptopmag.com/review/lapt...mini-2140.aspx

[Dexamenus]

got a u100 wind, love it

[koma_white]

Help me OCAU... recommend me a netbook/notebook.

Budget: $500-800
Use: Email/connectivity, Photoshop/Illustrator, ArchiCAD, Word/Excel/Office, digital photo offload from DSLR's CF cards... and of course media playback whilst i'm away from home.

The contenders so far are:
Netbooks
Lenovo S10 - good build quality, nice LED screen, great price ~$550

Laptops
Lenovo R500 - superb old school IBM style build, ~$850
Dell Studio 15 basic - LED backlit screen, slim, average build quality, ~$950
Sony Vaio VGN-NR37GS - nice Vaio build quality, bit over budget ~$980

I'm in need of some sort of portable for work and connectivity. I'm just about to travel overseas for the next month and need something that will allow me to continue my work whilst i'm away as well as being a connectivity and media player.

I have a few hesitations about going with a netbook as the majority of my work is Photoshop, Illustrator and CAD. No 3D modelling input whilst i'm away, but i do need to be able to view them in ArchiCAD to check progress of projects, etc.
I don't need to be able to work at 100% of my usual speed so i'm happy to suck it up with a smaller setup than i usually work on (twin 20" screens). My workstation runs fine on XP Pro with 2gb RAM so i'll probably do the same for the portable.
I've no real need for an optical drive so netbooks might work for me. Battery life needs to be a reliable 4 hours between charges with me working lightly in Photoshop etc, so i'd imagine ~30% average constant cpu/ram/disk use.

Size is something i've debated. If i'm near my workstation i'll always use it over the portable, but as long as they keyboard is big enough for my medium/fat hands to type an email quickly i'll be fine.

I will be travelling and working with my Wacom 6x9 tablet which is a tiny bit bigger than a 10" netbook, so any serious work or long term use will use that as my primary form of input.

I'm hoping someone might be able to recommend something or sway me either towards or away from the netbook.
Is it feasible or possible to photoshop/CAD on a netbook?

[Slugoid]

Originally Posted by koma_white

Help me OCAU... recommend me a netbook/notebook.

Budget: $500-800
Use: Email/connectivity, Photoshop/Illustrator, ArchiCAD, Word/Excel/Office, digital photo offload from DSLR's CF cards... and of course media playback whilst i'm away from home.

The contenders so far are:
Netbooks
Lenovo S10 - good build quality, nice LED screen, great price ~$550

Laptops
Lenovo R500 - superb old school IBM style build, ~$850
Dell Studio 15 basic - LED backlit screen, slim, average build quality, ~$950
Sony Vaio VGN-NR37GS - nice Vaio build quality, bit over budget ~$980

I'm in need of some sort of portable for work and connectivity. I'm just about to travel overseas for the next month and need something that will allow me to continue my work whilst i'm away as well as being a connectivity and media player.

I have a few hesitations about going with a netbook as the majority of my work is Photoshop, Illustrator and CAD. No 3D modelling input whilst i'm away, but i do need to be able to view them in ArchiCAD to check progress of projects, etc.
I don't need to be able to work at 100% of my usual speed so i'm happy to suck it up with a smaller setup than i usually work on (twin 20" screens). My workstation runs fine on XP Pro with 2gb RAM so i'll probably do the same for the portable.
I've no real need for an optical drive so netbooks might work for me. Battery life needs to be a reliable 4 hours between charges with me working lightly in Photoshop etc, so i'd imagine ~30% average constant cpu/ram/disk use.

Size is something i've debated. If i'm near my workstation i'll always use it over the portable, but as long as they keyboard is big enough for my medium/fat hands to type an email quickly i'll be fine.

I will be travelling and working with my Wacom 6x9 tablet which is a tiny bit bigger than a 10" netbook, so any serious work or long term use will use that as my primary form of input.

I'm hoping someone might be able to recommend something or sway me either towards or away from the netbook.
Is it feasible or possible to photoshop/CAD on a netbook?

I guess the main thing to consider is screen size. I've used a 10" netbook before and to be honest the screen size is bare minimum for browsing and looking at documents. I can't imagine working on photos let alone CAD on such a small screen. I'm sure the Atom can run photoshop, but it's just about the resolution. As for keyboard, I was using the MSI Wind and the keyboard was quite good, but I found the track pad a bit too small.

As for 15" laptops, I wouldn't call them very portable as I have a 14" laptop myself and I still find it a tad cumbersome to always carry around. Best compromise would be a 12-13" laptop with at least 1280x800 resolution. That way there is more screen real estate and be running a decent dual core processor for power, not to mention more portable than a 14-15" laptop.

[himynameisho]

I just pulled the trigger on a MSI wind, and I plan to bring it to uni a lot so I think the case that came along with it isn't the most protective case so instead of making another thread, I was wondering what kind of case to get and where (neoprene? honestly, what is that?)

thanks in advance

[Aratama_Bashi]

Originally Posted by himynameisho

I just pulled the trigger on a MSI wind, and I plan to bring it to uni a lot so I think the case that came along with it isn't the most protective case so instead of making another thread, I was wondering what kind of case to get and where (neoprene? honestly, what is that?)

thanks in advance

neroprene is like that wetsuity rubbery material. not protective for drops/knocks, but good against spills/scratches. just gotta decide which you want to protect against more

[koma_white]

Originally Posted by Slugoid

I guess the main thing to consider is screen size. I've used a 10" netbook before and to be honest the screen size is bare minimum for browsing and looking at documents. I can't imagine working on photos let alone CAD on such a small screen. I'm sure the Atom can run photoshop, but it's just about the resolution. As for keyboard, I was using the MSI Wind and the keyboard was quite good, but I found the track pad a bit too small.

As for 15" laptops, I wouldn't call them very portable as I have a 14" laptop myself and I still find it a tad cumbersome to always carry around. Best compromise would be a 12-13" laptop with at least 1280x800 resolution. That way there is more screen real estate and be running a decent dual core processor for power, not to mention more portable than a 14-15" laptop.

I ended up picking up a Lenovo S10 last night brand new for an absolute steal of a price at $475, minus the 10% GST from when i head overseas makes it an undeniable bargain at ~$430!

After using one for a few hours with my graphics tablet and regular software i realised that it had ample processing power for the small work i'd do on it. If i do need the extra screen real estate then i'll pick up a CRT for next to nothing and use it whilst i'm overseas; palming it off when i'm done with it.

Currently running a cut down version of XP very well even with the stock 1gb RAM. Just installing Win7 for dual-boot to play around with it. My only criticism of the S10 so far is the somewhat sporadic use of the system fan.

[scrantic]

Just after some input got a Budget of around $1100-$1200 for a student studying music engineering type course at TAFE.

After 15" screen, small room etc...

Windows platform, been looking at ASUS or MSI but not sure what to commit to will need it to last at least 2-3 years ideally as well.

I basically just want best bang for your buck + Reliable. Haven't dealt with MSI notebooks but had some good experiences with ASUS Platforms.

[f1re]

Need a laptop for UNI. Netbooks seem perfect.. but there's so many choices. Good thing is that most of them have the same screen size, same processor (atom), similar ram, hdd etc...

but i really dont know which to get.. which is the most popular atm? Ive seen a EEEPC in real life and it looks ugly.. the hp one looks alright.

[Zzapped]

Im about to get one of these..cant seem to see anything bad about it, anyone had any experience with them

Cheers

Z