The Netbook Thread.

diabloo · 3rd September 2009, 17:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by jkdas

No issues till now but it doesnt come with a XP CD and recovery can be an issue unless you have backed up stuff to a DVD using on board software.

Lenova netbook comes with OneKey Recovery key, which will re-image the hard-disk.

tj123 · 6th September 2009, 01:38

Today saw the Lenovo S10-2 & HP Mini110-1018TU. I felt that the HP Mini had a better keyboard design & it was quite simple to type on it , which the Lenovo was not.

Price wise HP Mini was expensive by approx INR 500 and it did not have a built in blue tooth device which the Lenovo had. Rest almost all the parameters remains same.

I am thinking of going for the HP Mini, guys help me to make up my mind.

jkdas · 6th September 2009, 10:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by tj123

Today saw the Lenovo S10-2 & HP Mini110-1018TU. I felt that the HP Mini had a better keyboard design & it was quite simple to type on it , which the Lenovo was not.

Price wise HP Mini was expensive by approx INR 500 and it did not have a built in blue tooth device which the Lenovo had. Rest almost all the parameters remains same.

I am thinking of going for the HP Mini, guys help me to make up my mind.

If you found the HP to have better keyboard and if you are ok without the bluetooth, then you should be ok with an HP.

Please confirm that it has a recovery option like the Lenovo and better battery life.

tj123 · 7th September 2009, 11:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by jkdas

If you found the HP to have better keyboard and if you are ok without the bluetooth, then you should be ok with an HP.

Please confirm that it has a recovery option like the Lenovo and better battery life.

HP Mini is provided with a sync software but there is no recovery option like the Lenovo S10-2. Battery life is almost the same.
Will be trying out the Dell Mini & Toshiba net book over this weekend to take a final call.

lazy · 7th September 2009, 13:01

Got Lenovo S10-2 for the wife on Sat.
Couldn't find a Pink coloured one, so took grey.

HP Mini was priced at 23.5K, while the lenovo was 20.5K.
Plus got an opt. mouse, headset & an anti-virus cd.

Yes the HP keyboard is better, but 15% premium over lenovo...hmmm.

cheers

tj123 · 8th September 2009, 12:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by lazy

Got Lenovo S10-2 for the wife on Sat.
Couldn't find a Pink coloured one, so took grey.

HP Mini was priced at 23.5K, while the lenovo was 20.5K.
Plus got an opt. mouse, headset & an anti-virus cd.

Yes the HP keyboard is better, but 15% premium over lenovo...hmmm.

cheers

20.5 k + goodies for Lenovo 10-2 seems to be good deal indeed.

One of my friend recommended a Toshiba Mini, I will look at it and take a final call.

deep_bang · 8th September 2009, 12:21

I am not an expert at using these NetBooks, but from my limited use, i found all of them to be good for very nominal usage - may be an hour a day of checking email.

But if you plan to work say 4 to 5 hours a day, and that too with a lot of analysis, then i suggest to have more real estate (read: 14 inch screens).

A low end laptop would cost around 25 to 30k - and even with a basic processor still is better than a netbook in the screen size department.

However, if your requirement is mainly portability, battery life and you are willing to compromise the screen size and keyboard size, then netbook is certainly a good investment.

Another option is to connect the netbook to the big monitor + desktop keyboard+mouse you may already have, so you get portability when you need, and ergonomics when you dont need portability. If this is the case, check if any models can be used with a docking station.

tj123 · 11th September 2009, 16:37

Was about purchase the Samsung N120,luckly heard that last week Samsung has released a new series of net-book called the N140.
Here are some details of Samsung N140 which I gathered from the net.

Some highlights of N140 are
- 11 hours of battery power
- integrated 3 Watt stereo speakers and SRS effects
- high speed 802.11bg/n compliant wireless card
- Anti-bacterial keyboard
- Bluetooth 2.1+EDR

The Samsung N140 is available in five different glossy finishes: black, white, dark red, dark violet, and sea blue and weighs in at 1.27 kg. Samsung maintains that one 6 cell battery can deliver up to 11 hours of battery power.

The N140 has a 10.1" non-gloss LED display, integrated 3 Watt stereo speakers and SRS effects. It also features a high speed 802.11bg/n compliant wireless card. There’s also an internal microphone and headphone-out connection. It features three USB 2.0 ports, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, a 3-in-1 memory card reader and a chargeable USB port to charge portable devices, such as mobile phones or MP3 players, even when the netbook is turned off.

The N140 also features an anti-bacterial keyboard. It is coated with a special finish that eliminates virtually all bacteria.

Prices are not know as of now for Indian market.

jkdas · 11th September 2009, 16:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by tj123

The Samsung N140 is available in five different glossy finishes: black, white, dark red, dark violet, and sea blue and weighs in at 1.27 kg. Samsung maintains that one 6 cell battery can deliver up to 11 hours of battery power.

The N140 has a 10.1" non-gloss LED display, integrated 3 Watt stereo speakers and SRS effects. It also features a high speed 802.11bg/n compliant wireless card. There’s also an internal microphone and headphone-out connection. It features three USB 2.0 ports, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, a 3-in-1 memory card reader and a chargeable USB port to charge portable devices, such as mobile phones or MP3 players, even when the netbook is turned off.

The N140 also features an anti-bacterial keyboard. It is coated with a special finish that eliminates virtually all bacteria.

Prices are not know as of now for Indian market.

The bacteria part is

And the non-glossy is a big plus point.

watashi75 · 11th September 2009, 17:01

Nokia is planning to release its own netbook.

Nokia - ShowPressRelease

It will have 12 hr battery, 3G and GPS.

tj123 · 15th September 2009, 16:50

Got a new Samsung N120 Netbook this weekend. The two most important considerations for me when buying a netbook are the keyboard and battery life. I had a look at the Lenovo S10-2 , HP Mini 110 & Dell Mini.

Lenovo S10-2was the cheapest but the design was quite awkward especially the protruding battery and the key board was too difficult for comfortable typing.

Next was the HP Mini 110 -1018TU , I liked its looks and the key board was fantastic. But the only turn down was that it did not had a blue tooth & battery life was just average.

Dell Mini did not impress me either.

Finally I saw the Samsung N120 , it was not a very impressive to look at it . But it addressed both of my critical requirements (Key pad & Battery life) which Lenovo & HP failed.

N120 has a wonderful full-sized keyboard offers good tactile feedback and keys that are located in the right places. A full-sized Enter key and two large Shift keys should also keep touch-typists happy overall the keyboard provided a very solid Accommodating this keyboard leads to a big (ugly) bezel around the screen, but Samsung has made the most of this by placing speakers on either side of the screen. The sound quality was best amongst all seen.

Samsung N120 felt very solidly put together and I really liked the satin exterior.. It keeps the device looking great all the time and you don’t have to worry about fingerprint smudges.

N120 delivers me a 7 -8 hours web browsing / Office usage.

One thing else one should remember that Samsung is the only Netbook/laptop manufacturer who builds the memory, HDD, keyboards, battery etc. Almost all manufactures just pick parts form other vendors or just brand a product.

Finally to sweeten the deal Samsung had an offer to provide an external USB powered DVD drive for Rs 500 extra which I felt was a useful accessory to have. The drive do not require a messy power adapter it is USB powered hence quite compact.

Finally I paid Rs 23000/- (Card purchase) + Rs 500 for the USB powered Samsung DVD drive. The dealer offered some goodies like mouse, Headphone & defender antivirus as free.

Positives:
- Full-width keyboard is a first for 10-inch netbooks
- Very good battery life that should last 7-8 hours of typical netbook use
- Good Sound enhances music & movie playback
- Subwoofer provides mid-range sound boost
- Matte exterior
- Easy access to RAM
- Reasonably lightweight at 1.28kg, 6-cell battery, 5200mAh

Negatives:
- Glossy display,
- Touchpad is not the biggest
- No draft N wireless
- Large screen bezel may annoy some, l
- Looks not that great

Samsung N120 Technical Specifications:

• Operating System: Windows XP Home SP3
• CPU: Intel Atom Processor N280 (1.66 GHz)
Chipset: Intel 945GSE + ICH7M
• Graphics: Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950
128 MB shared memory
• System Memory: 1 GB DDR2 800MHz (2GB Maximum)
• Display: 10.1-inch WSVGA 1024 x 600 LED Backlit
• Storage Hard Drive: 160 GB, 2.5-inch 5400 RPM
• Connectivity: Ethernet LAN 10 / 100 BaseTX
Wireless LAN 802.11 b/g
Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR
• Ports: VGA
Mic-in Yes
3 x USB 2.0 (2 chargeable USB ports)
Multi Card Slot 3 in 1 (SD, SDHC, MMC)
RJ45 (LAN) Yes
• Other Features:
Multimedia Speakers 3W (1.5W x 2)
Integrated Camera: 1.3 megapixel
Input Keyboard Type: 82 keys
Touch Pad
Security Kensington Key Lock Capable
• Power: AC Adapter 40 W
Battery: 6 cell lithium ion (5200mAh)
• Dimensions & Weight:
Width 272 mm (10.71-inches)
Depth 188.5 mm (7.4-inches)
Height 29.8mm (1.17-inches)
Weight: 1.28kg (2.8lbs)

inder_s1 · 15th September 2009, 19:56

Hi,

I got a Asus EePC with Ditto config as Samsung mentioned in the above Post.

Bought it for 24K 2 weeks back with Carry Case.

Using with wireless keyboard & mouse @home .. good enough for net, movies, pics etc..

It starts super quick and has battery life for 9.5 hrs

Regards,
Indy

sammyboy · 15th September 2009, 20:08

Congrats tj123 and Inder. How about some pics of the notebooks?
Also, how is the performance while working with MS office? Does it work okay with 5-6 documents open? Is the RAM expandable for Asus as well? As per tj, Samsung is 2GB max.

Thanks guys.

inder_s1 · 15th September 2009, 20:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by sammyboy

Congrats tj123 and Inder. How about some pics of the notebooks?
Also, how is the performance while working with MS office? Does it work okay with 5-6 documents open? Is the RAM expandable for Asus as well? As per tj, Samsung is 2GB max.

Thanks guys.

Hi Sammyboy,

Thanks.

It's fast enough while using multiple applications. Frankly, I have'nt checked on the option if the RAM is expandable to 2 GB

At 1.24 Kgs , it's good enough to carry around with wireless connection and still able to work on ur mail, MS Office , watch movies , Watch & Edit pictures, Download pics or video.

Touchpad is a bit of a letdown. Need to experiment to increase sensitivity and check.

Indy

abhi1309 · 15th September 2009, 21:11

Keep in mind the resolution of the display, newer netbooks have a good resolution and the Dell 12z has 1366 x 768 pixels which will give good screen real estate. The regular resolution of notebooks is 1024 x 576 which in my opinion is ridiculous. It can be impossible to work on this setting specially if one is used to a desktop at home. Spend a bit more but get the resolution right.

6th September 2009, 01:38	#17
tj123 Senior - BHPian Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: BLR Posts: 1,166 Thanked: 704 Times	Today saw the Lenovo S10-2 & HP Mini110-1018TU. I felt that the HP Mini had a better keyboard design & it was quite simple to type on it , which the Lenovo was not. Price wise HP Mini was expensive by approx INR 500 and it did not have a built in blue tooth device which the Lenovo had. Rest almost all the parameters remains same. I am thinking of going for the HP Mini, guys help me to make up my mind.
	() Thanks

7th September 2009, 13:01	#20
lazy BHPian Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Bangalore Posts: 307 Thanked: 1,301 Times Infractions: 0/1 (5)	Got Lenovo S10-2 for the wife on Sat. Couldn't find a Pink coloured one, so took grey. HP Mini was priced at 23.5K, while the lenovo was 20.5K. Plus got an opt. mouse, headset & an anti-virus cd. Yes the HP keyboard is better, but 15% premium over lenovo...hmmm. cheers
	() Thanks

8th September 2009, 12:21	#22
deep_bang BHPian Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Bangalore / Boise Posts: 937 Thanked: 1,520 Times	I am not an expert at using these NetBooks, but from my limited use, i found all of them to be good for very nominal usage - may be an hour a day of checking email. But if you plan to work say 4 to 5 hours a day, and that too with a lot of analysis, then i suggest to have more real estate (read: 14 inch screens). A low end laptop would cost around 25 to 30k - and even with a basic processor still is better than a netbook in the screen size department. However, if your requirement is mainly portability, battery life and you are willing to compromise the screen size and keyboard size, then netbook is certainly a good investment. Another option is to connect the netbook to the big monitor + desktop keyboard+mouse you may already have, so you get portability when you need, and ergonomics when you dont need portability. If this is the case, check if any models can be used with a docking station.
	() Thanks

11th September 2009, 16:37	#23
tj123 Senior - BHPian Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: BLR Posts: 1,166 Thanked: 704 Times	Was about purchase the Samsung N120,luckly heard that last week Samsung has released a new series of net-book called the N140. Here are some details of Samsung N140 which I gathered from the net. Some highlights of N140 are - 11 hours of battery power - integrated 3 Watt stereo speakers and SRS effects - high speed 802.11bg/n compliant wireless card - Anti-bacterial keyboard - Bluetooth 2.1+EDR The Samsung N140 is available in five different glossy finishes: black, white, dark red, dark violet, and sea blue and weighs in at 1.27 kg. Samsung maintains that one 6 cell battery can deliver up to 11 hours of battery power. The N140 has a 10.1" non-gloss LED display, integrated 3 Watt stereo speakers and SRS effects. It also features a high speed 802.11bg/n compliant wireless card. There’s also an internal microphone and headphone-out connection. It features three USB 2.0 ports, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, a 3-in-1 memory card reader and a chargeable USB port to charge portable devices, such as mobile phones or MP3 players, even when the netbook is turned off. The N140 also features an anti-bacterial keyboard. It is coated with a special finish that eliminates virtually all bacteria. Prices are not know as of now for Indian market.
	() Thanks

11th September 2009, 17:01	#25
watashi75 BHPian Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Hyderabad Posts: 518 Thanked: 13 Times	Nokia is planning to release its own netbook. Nokia - ShowPressRelease It will have 12 hr battery, 3G and GPS.
	() Thanks

15th September 2009, 16:50	#26
tj123 Senior - BHPian Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: BLR Posts: 1,166 Thanked: 704 Times	Got a new Samsung N120 Netbook this weekend. The two most important considerations for me when buying a netbook are the keyboard and battery life. I had a look at the Lenovo S10-2 , HP Mini 110 & Dell Mini. Lenovo S10-2was the cheapest but the design was quite awkward especially the protruding battery and the key board was too difficult for comfortable typing. Next was the HP Mini 110 -1018TU , I liked its looks and the key board was fantastic. But the only turn down was that it did not had a blue tooth & battery life was just average. Dell Mini did not impress me either. Finally I saw the Samsung N120 , it was not a very impressive to look at it . But it addressed both of my critical requirements (Key pad & Battery life) which Lenovo & HP failed. N120 has a wonderful full-sized keyboard offers good tactile feedback and keys that are located in the right places. A full-sized Enter key and two large Shift keys should also keep touch-typists happy overall the keyboard provided a very solid Accommodating this keyboard leads to a big (ugly) bezel around the screen, but Samsung has made the most of this by placing speakers on either side of the screen. The sound quality was best amongst all seen. Samsung N120 felt very solidly put together and I really liked the satin exterior.. It keeps the device looking great all the time and you don’t have to worry about fingerprint smudges. N120 delivers me a 7 -8 hours web browsing / Office usage. One thing else one should remember that Samsung is the only Netbook/laptop manufacturer who builds the memory, HDD, keyboards, battery etc. Almost all manufactures just pick parts form other vendors or just brand a product. Finally to sweeten the deal Samsung had an offer to provide an external USB powered DVD drive for Rs 500 extra which I felt was a useful accessory to have. The drive do not require a messy power adapter it is USB powered hence quite compact. Finally I paid Rs 23000/- (Card purchase) + Rs 500 for the USB powered Samsung DVD drive. The dealer offered some goodies like mouse, Headphone & defender antivirus as free. Positives: - Full-width keyboard is a first for 10-inch netbooks - Very good battery life that should last 7-8 hours of typical netbook use - Good Sound enhances music & movie playback - Subwoofer provides mid-range sound boost - Matte exterior - Easy access to RAM - Reasonably lightweight at 1.28kg, 6-cell battery, 5200mAh Negatives: - Glossy display, - Touchpad is not the biggest - No draft N wireless - Large screen bezel may annoy some, l - Looks not that great Samsung N120 Technical Specifications: • Operating System: Windows XP Home SP3 • CPU: Intel Atom Processor N280 (1.66 GHz) Chipset: Intel 945GSE + ICH7M • Graphics: Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950 128 MB shared memory • System Memory: 1 GB DDR2 800MHz (2GB Maximum) • Display: 10.1-inch WSVGA 1024 x 600 LED Backlit • Storage Hard Drive: 160 GB, 2.5-inch 5400 RPM • Connectivity: Ethernet LAN 10 / 100 BaseTX Wireless LAN 802.11 b/g Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR • Ports: VGA Mic-in Yes 3 x USB 2.0 (2 chargeable USB ports) Multi Card Slot 3 in 1 (SD, SDHC, MMC) RJ45 (LAN) Yes • Other Features: Multimedia Speakers 3W (1.5W x 2) Integrated Camera: 1.3 megapixel Input Keyboard Type: 82 keys Touch Pad Security Kensington Key Lock Capable • Power: AC Adapter 40 W Battery: 6 cell lithium ion (5200mAh) • Dimensions & Weight: Width 272 mm (10.71-inches) Depth 188.5 mm (7.4-inches) Height 29.8mm (1.17-inches) Weight: 1.28kg (2.8lbs)
	() Thanks

15th September 2009, 19:56	#27
inder_s1 BHPian Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Bangalore Posts: 238 Thanked: 38 Times View My Garage	Hi, I got a Asus EePC with Ditto config as Samsung mentioned in the above Post. Bought it for 24K 2 weeks back with Carry Case. Using with wireless keyboard & mouse @home .. good enough for net, movies, pics etc.. It starts super quick and has battery life for 9.5 hrs Regards, Indy
	() Thanks

15th September 2009, 20:08	#28
sammyboy Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Ggn/Dehradun Posts: 1,842 Thanked: 526 Times View My Garage	Congrats tj123 and Inder. How about some pics of the notebooks? Also, how is the performance while working with MS office? Does it work okay with 5-6 documents open? Is the RAM expandable for Asus as well? As per tj, Samsung is 2GB max. Thanks guys.
	() Thanks

15th September 2009, 21:11	#30
abhi1309 BHPian Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Pune Posts: 445 Thanked: 69 Times View My Garage	Keep in mind the resolution of the display, newer netbooks have a good resolution and the Dell 12z has 1366 x 768 pixels which will give good screen real estate. The regular resolution of notebooks is 1024 x 576 which in my opinion is ridiculous. It can be impossible to work on this setting specially if one is used to a desktop at home. Spend a bit more but get the resolution right.
	() Thanks