Laptop / Netbook: US$500.00

[TriniXaeno]

Follows is the configuration for a Laptop or Netbook as recommended by TriniTechSquad members at the given budget, periodically scrutinized and updated.

Lenovo Idea Pad s10 (Netbook)

CPU                      : Intel Atom 1.6GHz
Screen Size      : 10"
Memory(max)     : 1GB (1.5GB)
USB Ports              : 2
Hard Drive              : 160GB
Battery (optional) : 3-cell (6-cell)
Graphics             : Intel GMA 950
Price              : $399

Review: http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=4620

[Beomagi]

Be warned, this particular model, while having a nice screen and build quality, is prone to overheating, and spectacular crashes. Lenovo repair actually stated this so I got my money back fast.

If you're looking at portable, there's two main chips to look at. CULV Pentium/core cpu (i.e. consumer ultra low voltage) and atom. Atom will grant a longer life, but culv core cpus will get stuff done faster. expect to pay $100 to $150 more for these, or wait for sales.
for $400, http://www.gateway.com/systems/product/529668498.php - based on acer timeline really, these feature dual core core based cpus, and a larger but high res screen. gma 4500 is also a decent chip for this level of mobility.
http://www.hardwarecentral.com/hardwarecentral/reviews/article.php/3854136/Gateway-EC1430u-Review.htm


Also, consider screen resolution. My wife and I both think 1024x600/1024x576 is uncomfortable. It's just too small. Some netbooks will let you upgrade the screen to a 1280x800 or 1366x768 - e.g. HP mini 110.

Memory is another issue - I like having a minimum of 2GB in just about anything. many netbooks are not upgradeable, having memory soldered in  place - e.g. dell mini 10.

There's a few chipsets available to atom.
GMA950(majority) - good enough for minor 3d games, diablo, emulation, little steam games. No video acceleration.
GMA500(pulboso) - horrible xp support. intel had power vr make the chip, and another company did the drivers. Very bad at direct draw and 3d. Good video acceleration though. VLC for example will handle 720p movies easily. e.g.dell mini 12, sony vaio p, fujitsu u820, viliv n5 etc. exemplery battery life.
GN40 - best of both worlds. e.g. asus 1000HE
ion - only in a couple netbooks, sacrificing battery life.

[Spazosaurus]

Wow, necro alert.

But to make a bad thing worse, a lot has changed since 2009.

I for one went down the netbook road and came away disappointed. They look cute but thats about it. Too big to fit in your pocket, too small to be of any real use...well...anywhere. I rather take out my bb to browse.

While not as portable, a machine like this is the sweet sweet spot in price vs power/performance. FULL fledged, full powered laptop for $430us. Could never ever go wrong.

[TriniXaeno]

Nice update Beo, very comprehensive.

Agreed @ captain, I feel very similarly but that is from the perspective of a techie.

They are insanely popular amongst other demographics. A lot of women go for these for casual use over a laptop/desktop. Great for kids that want a "laptop" to trash around the house and take over to grandmas.

It's seen exponential growth and there is no denying the netbook segment is a hit. (sales wise)

[Beomagi]

I've actually dumped my dual core turion based MSI notebook in favor of one. I just don't play hard games on it - and trust me when I saw, the resolution really helps. 10" at HD resolutions is extremely comfortable to use. The eee I have running 1024x600 sits in a box. A chip like the atom, only really seems slow for intense processing - video encoding, gimp (or photoshop) work (and not all types either), modern games, compression.

TBH - It's a great platform to limit yourself on for development.

For a while windows and intel pushed manufacturers to gimp netbooks - higher costs of the OS/chips for putting in better hardware - they did this to prevent cannibalizing sales of higher tier products. Sucky resolutions, ram, and slower atom processors.

I'm done with 15". Perhaps it's better to segment this not only by cost, but screensize, as that seems to the the main criterion for subjective comfort.

You'd laugh if you see what I've posted on

I understand this is a "dead" thread - but it's also a sticky, and the first thing you'll see coming into this forum. Continued relevancy is implied.

[TriniXaeno]

Beo you are right, it's not a "traditional thread". Necromancy is not required.

It's meant to be updated periodically, as the months/years go by. (precisely as you just did)

Are you saying that Wintel has lifted the limitations imposed on netbooks?

What do you mean by your eee is sitting in a box?

My two greatest concerns with this platform are RAM and Res.

2GB is the minimum and ?x768 would be preferred. Under $400 and we have a winner. The 10" screen is sufficient.

I get your point about limiting yourself for development. Been updating the GATT site on my desktop, 1920x1200 res with 3ghz dual core and 4gb ram.

One day, at a customers site, I pulled it up on 800x600, what a mess! lol

[SPK]

Still have to get one for myself, I'm supposed to look at one a friend of mine is getting by month end or so:

http://www.amazon.com/ASUS-Seashell-1201PN-PU17-BK-12-1-Inch-Netbook/dp/B003QR039M/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1281919862&sr=8-2

Some pretty good specs, decent screen size & res, under $500 US....when I get a chance to test some light/mid-range games on it, I'll see how it holds up.

[Beomagi]

Are you saying that Wintel has lifted the limitations imposed on netbooks?

Not exactly - rather it seems some vendors bucked the trend anyway. My HP mini 110xp is over a year old. That came with the 1366x768 res screen - ironically, only the XP model shipped with that. The linux models only offered 1024x600. Ram is upgradable in the HP minis as well, so it's running 2GB.

 
From May - intel ditching atom screen size restrictions

What do you mean by your eee is sitting in a box?

My two greatest concerns with this platform are RAM and Res.

2GB is the minimum and ?x768 would be preferred. Under $400 and we have a winner. The 10" screen is sufficient.

I get your point about limiting yourself for development. Been updating the GATT site on my desktop, 1920x1200 res with 3ghz dual core and 4gb ram.

One day, at a customers site, I pulled it up on 800x600, what a mess! lol

I've got 2.5 netbooks - one is the HP mini 110xp which has effectively replaced my laptop. The other is an eeepc 900. 9" screen isn't bad, the resolution means a titlebar, toolbar, bookmarks bar and address bar wastes a third of the screen. Plus with the extremely cheap solid state drive they use, I BARELY use this. It's also purple.

If you ARE stuck with an older lower res netbook however, I STRONGLY suggest using Ubuntu. using xrandr, you can "upgrade" to a somewhat decent looking interpolated 1280x800 resolution. While it's may not do justice to small text, it can make a fair difference to usability. NB - issues using this and GMA 500...

The .5 is a fujitsu u820 (5.6" 1280x800) which fits with my lunch for those hour long bus commutes...

I tinker with image processing - prior to using my netbook I was getting "acceptable" processing times with my overclocked core 2 duo desktop. when I moved back to my netbook, I realized it just won't cut it.

For what you're asking, there's the HP mini 210, which comes with a 1366x768 res screen. This also comes with an "upgraded" chipset - the 3150. Which is weaker than the GMA950.
NB - upgrading to 2GB violates some windows agreement they have - so buy your own 2GB stick for less.

Other than this there's gateway's EC14 series