I want to get a small (<15"), light(<1.5kg?) and not too dear (<400?) laptop and was wondering if anyone had their finger on the netbook pulse or had one that they'd recommend/warn-against :rolleyes: ...probably looking at 10" netbooks unless theres a nice 12/13" leptop that's very light and not horribly expensive ;)
I assume they will all be fine for web/email, have wifi, and would want it to run XP or Vista.
It must have about a 1280x800 screen res and be able to run Office (Word definitely, Excel a bit and powerpoint occasionally)
It should be able to play 1280x800 videos if possible: mpeg4 files, dvd-drive (...or usb-dvd drive I suppose?)
I would like it to be capable of occasional photo-editing
I think the dell mini 10's can be uprated to hit these specs but I'm sure there's more by now? :)
I recommend the Samsung NC10 awesome netbook and they are around Ã,£250 :)
Not sure if it's suitable for your needs but today's Boffer is a netbook for a shade over Ã,£100. I know it's not quite there on resolution but worth a mention.
http://www.boffer.co.uk/
Asus Eee Pc Netbook 8.9in M353 900 1GB SDRAM 16GB SDD
Ã,£109.99
Product Features
* ASUS Eee PC netbook mobile computer
* Built-in Solid State Disk (SSD) technology for quiet operation,energy saving and shock proof mobility
* New perspectives with 8.9 inch display
* Different environments for different needs
* 1.3 Megapixel webcam built in
Main Specifications
* Product Description: ASUS Eee PC 900 - Celeron M 353 900 MHz - 8.9" TFT
* Dimensions (WxDxH): 22.5 cm x 17 cm x 3.4 cm
* Weight: 0.99 kg
* System Type: Netbook
* Built-in Devices: Stereo speakers, wireless LAN aerial
* Processor: Intel Celeron M 353 / 900 MHz ULV
* Cache Memory: 512 KB - L2 Cache
* RAM: 1 GB DDR2 SDRAM
* Card Reader: Yes
* Hard Drive: 16 GB Solid State Drive
* Display: 8.9" TFT 1024 x 600 ( WSVGA )
* Audio Output: Sound card
* Networking: Network adapter - Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g
* Notebook Camera: Integrated - 1.3 Megapixel
* Input Device: Keyboard, touchpad
* Power: AC 120/230 V ( 50/60 Hz )
* Operating System: Linux
Extended Specifications
* Built-in Devices: Stereo speakers, wireless LAN aerial
* Colour: Black
* Depth: 17 cm
* Height: 3.4 cm
* System Type: Netbook
* Weight: 0.99 kg
* Width: 22.5 cm
Audio
* Audio Output: Sound card
* Compliant Standards: High Definition Audio
Cache Memory
* Installed Size: 512 KB
* Type: L2 Cache
Card Reader
* Supported Flash Memory Cards: SD Memory Card, MultiMediaCard, SDHC Memory Card
Display
* Display Type: 8.9" TFT
* Max Resolution: 1024 x 600 ( WSVGA )
Just a suggestion, stay clear of any of the SSD based netbooks, as the SSD's are often cheap, and get impacted by the fragmentation (SSD fragmentation discussed in another thread)
and if you really want low power reliable netbooks go for a Atom based NB, some use low power celeron CPU's which really doesnt have the same power / performance ratio
My two cents
Buy an Atom based Netbook. I have the Acer Aspire one, a friend has the N10, and before that the MSI Wind (He broke Wind :roflmao:) so I'd avoid that, another has an Eee Pc with the 8.9" screen. I've had a play with the all machines side by side and there's not much to it. Hardware wise it's close between the N10 and the Aspire one, both feel nice, both are nice looking, I slightly prefer my one but it's so close it's personal preference, and the thing people mention is the mouse buttons are at the side of the multitouch trackpad not below.
This is done because it has a large keyboard (for it's size) and there's less room below than there would otherwise be, for some it could be a deal breaker but I adjusted without realising.
The Eee PC is considerably worse built IMO especially the keyboard. However if you want the longer batterylife it's the obvious choice. The others have 3-Cell batteries and the Eee generally comes with 6-Cell which is much stronger. Although you can get upgrades for the others it's a hefty chunk of the original price.
Given a choice buy the HDD version with Linux to save money and then install windows either from a pen drive or external cd drive. It saves some cash.
(Aspire one is Ã,£220 with 8.9" Screen from comet Link (http://www.comet.co.uk/shopcomet/product/551635/ACER-ACER-AOA150-BW/tab/specification) or Ã,£250 with a 10.1" screen bigger screen (http://www.comet.co.uk/shopcomet/product/544574/ACER-AOD150-1BK/tab/specification)
These come with XP, I didn't see linux versions on there anymore.
I have been thinking about getting a netbook, but cant really afford it or warrent it.
But most of my research points to the NC10 mate :)
I was waiting for one of these:
http://www.tomshardware.com/news/eee-pc-asus-t91-tablet,7158.html
as I liked the idea of having a tablet to swivel around and write on.
I got an Acer Aspire 1, with 120gb hdd and just the standard 512mb onboard memory, running Linux for Ã,£129.
It's a factory refurb from Dixons and feels really well built and high quality. The price went up a day later to Ã,£149, but was still over Ã,£70 off the normal price for a full warranty refurb. It's definately worth keeping an eye on the Dixons netbook and laptop refurb section.
The default Linpus distro is rubbish for anyone wanting the higher functions of Linux and at the time I bought it the new Win7 RC1 had just come out, so I decided to install it to test. It runs perfectly and very fast. There are lots of other netbook Linux distros now available and even OSX.
I had a spare 1gb stick of memory and upgraded it to it's maximum 1.5gb (512mb on the mobo and a single empty slot). This is not a simple opening of a slot, you have to take the entire thing to pieces, removing the mobo to get to the hidden slot underneath.
Basic battery times are 2-2.5 hours under browser usage, games obviously eat the power more, but you can get over 1.5 hours from it (Playing the Sam&Max seasons).
The 8.9" display is amazingly clear, bright and very functional at 1024x600.
When i go back to school in September my school is giving out these to year 12 students (my year :yahoo:) for studies. I dont know if what they are giving out is any good as i dont know too much about these things. But this is what they are giving us. Clickie (http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/uk/en/ho/WF06a/321957-321957-3832385-3832386-3832386-3911112.html)
Quote from: Jewelz^;283469When i go back to school in September my school is giving out these to year 12 students (my year :yahoo:) for studies. I dont know if what they are giving out is any good as i dont know too much about these things. But this is what they are giving us. Clickie (http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/uk/en/ho/WF06a/321957-321957-3832385-3832386-3832386-3911112.html)
Similar spec to a standard netbook with a smallish hard drive. Great to have for free. You can't really go "too" wrong with a netbook.
I have a Samsung NC10 (http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B001GZC8K8/300002446-21/?m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE) or NC20 (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-12-1-inch-Mini-notebook-Bluetooth-Windows/dp/B0025KV5ZW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1248359409&sr=8-1) i picked my NC10 up for Ã,£200 and find it great when needing to surf, watch films etc i do admit the screen only being 10.2 inch is a little small but they brought out the NC20 which has a 12.1 inch screen.
Although i prefer my NC10 as it has a Atom processor and i can get over 5 hours using the battery!
thanks for all the info :) Sounds like the nc10 is still the one to beat in the 10" netbook range. The 12" netbooks intrigue me but for their size, price=400+, batterylife<3hr it's starts to make sense to look at "proper" 11/12/13/14" notebooks?
It'll primarily be used as the second pc when 2 of us need to work, and when travelling (I spend about an hour on trains every day...) mainly for web browsing, remote work email and document management, and general word doc editing.
Am I being silly in thinking a vertical res of 768/800 is /that much/ better than 600?
NC10 for 231.99 delivered. (http://www.hotukdeals.com/item/447412/samsung-np-nc10-ka06uk-netbook-just/)
Check the notes before ordering as this is the 'smaller' battery version i.e. 3-4 hours of usage.
I've ordered :D
Quote from: OldBloke;283847NC10 for 231.99 delivered. (http://www.hotukdeals.com/item/447412/samsung-np-nc10-ka06uk-netbook-just/)
Check the notes before ordering as this is the 'smaller' battery version i.e. 3-4 hours of usage.
I've ordered :D
What a awesome price!!!!!!
Aww I want one now :crying:
The newer N110 looks even nicer but I'm not sure if it's worth the extra Ã,£50 ?
Quote from: smilodon;283894The newer N110 looks even nicer but I'm not sure if it's worth the extra Ã,£50 ?
I've not seen that one yet and I won't look incase I kick my self for ordering the NC10. :D
I believe the N110 has a bigger battery life instead of 5-6 hours its 9 hours, although i have 2 batterys for my N10 which costs me Ã,£30 and the N110 is Ã,£50 more expensive at least.
You can always DSR it and you'll know you'll be tempted to peek at the new one at some stage :flirty:
I'd rather have two small batteries than one large one if I'm paying the same money. On a netbook the batteries are tiny and light, very easy to carry. So for day to day use take your main battery. For a long journey take two. In 8-12 months when one battery is like new and one is on 80% you'll be grateful that you can just switch your main one round.
Quote from: T-Bag;283905I'd rather have two small batteries than one large one if I'm paying the same money. On a netbook the batteries are tiny and light, very easy to carry. So for day to day use take your main battery. For a long journey take two. In 8-12 months when one battery is like new and one is on 80% you'll be grateful that you can just switch your main one round.
Good plan. I like it.:)
They have done a full netbook review in this months PC Pro. It might be worth having a look at that as all the Samsung's and Asus's are reviewed, but in a nutshell
The NC10 fails to the N110 in that it has a slightly duller monitor being matte finish while the N110 is gloss, so whites are whiter and blacks blacker on the N110. The N110 has better speakers so it will be OK for music while the NC10's are a bit tinny. It also has a longer battery life. The keyboard is identical as are the internals with the exception that the N110 has 1Gb 800Mhz DDR2 ram and the Nc10 has 1GB 667Mhz DDR2 RAM. The N110 is slimmer and about 50g lighter. That's about it.
1st N110 is the top banana and looks more sexy than the NC10
2nd & 3rd The Asus 1005 and 1008 are close runners up
4th The NC10 is still a worthy buy.
Utter shite - Advent 4214, Sony P19, don't think about them. Or Ã,£4.99 and read it yourself :D
Oldie's not listening
(http://s67.photobucket.com/albums/h284/mpppen/Smilies/th_ignore.gif) (http://s67.photobucket.com/albums/h284/mpppen/Smilies/?action=view¤t=ignore.gif)
There's a powerful argument that the N110 is not worth the additional cost and that the NC10 hits the price v features sweet spot. I think I'd go for a Ã,£250 mini but would think twice about spending Ã,£300+ on one?
spent an hour in the shops on tottenham court road and mainly based on the screen size, battery-life comparison and crucially the keyboards, we ended up selecting the ACER 715 ...or 715h ...not certain of the difference (11.6" 1366x768, z520 1.33GHz) as our netbook of choice. Unfortunately the shop didn't have any in stock(!) so am now searching for deals
I found an amazing number of different 751h's at http://www.acerdirect.co.uk ranging from a Ã,£320 (4-hour battery) to Ã,£360 (7-hour battery) to Ã,£420 (9 hour battery) although there may be some other things that are different. Am thinking one of the 7-hour versions :)
p.s. the N110 had a designer look but seemed otherwise identical to the NC10 instore. Perhaps a little extra battery life
Ive had so many issues with Acer laptop's over the years so i try to stay clear of them. I find the best laptops manufacturer's are Samsung, Asus and Hp, but thats just me.
And why spend silly money on something your most likely just going to use for typing up, surfing and a portable dvd player. Yes battery life is great but you can always buy another spare one for cheap. A lot of companys seem to be sacrificing other spec's just to inprove battery life.
Quote from: OldBloke;283847NC10 for 231.99 delivered. (http://www.hotukdeals.com/item/447412/samsung-np-nc10-ka06uk-netbook-just/)
Check the notes before ordering as this is the 'smaller' battery version i.e. 3-4 hours of usage.
I've ordered :D
Came this afternoon and so far I'm very impressed. It's light, a doddle to setup and plays Crysis with everything maxed out.
I lied about that last bit.
How is the battery life with that one btw? Seems its only a 3cell battery that comes with that one not the standard 6 cell. Although you can buy a 9cell for Ã,£35!
Quote from: DarkAngel;284382How is the battery life with that one btw? Seems its only a 3cell battery that comes with that one not the standard 6 cell. Although you can buy a 9cell for Ã,£35!
I've only had it 5 mins but the battery is still going strong :D
I'll know better when I've used it in anger.
Im sure you will love it, i really recommend you upgrade it to 2gb costs all of Ã,£20 and well worth it.
Quote from: OldBloke;284386I've only had it 5 mins but the battery is still going strong :D
I'll know better when I've used it in anger.
So Oldie, what's it like a month into it? Pleased with it? Decent battery life etc?
I'm sorely tempted I have to say :D
I got the Lenovo IdeaPad S12 for the gf. Only downside is the Atom N270, but in a netbook it is more than fine. A well made piece of equipment and I recommend it. Over here, in the 2GB variant, it costs 3550 DKK which is ~ 400 quid.
(http://eeepc.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/lenovo-ideapad-s12-6.jpg)
Quote from: Penfold;288003So Oldie, what's it like a month into it? Pleased with it? Decent battery life etc?
I'm sorely tempted I have to say :D
Excellent. The battery is good for 4 hours which is fine for me and there's always the option to purchase the 'bigger' battery if I need to.
I've got it dual booting the supplied XP Home and Windows 7 RC (which boots as quick as XP and runs like a dream).
Highly recommended.
Coolio.
Ordered a blue one today with the 6-cell battery. It's a few squidly more than your cracking Ã,£231.99 (like Ã,£288) but battery life is the main consideration for me when travelling to clients.
I hate dragging around a power lead and transformer that's as big as my pc :rolleyes:.
May have to ask you about the dual booting thingy. I have windows 7 and would much rather have it than XP.
Cheers
Quote from: Penfold;288207I hate dragging around a power lead and transformer that's as big as my pc :rolleyes:.
I'm not sure if all netbooks do it, but the Aspire One comes with a tiny power adapter. It's smaller but deeper than a mobile phone. With cables included it's still not pocket size, but it's lightweight and easy to put in a bag. You might end up taking your charger with you more often than you might think.
Quote from: OldBloke;288010Excellent. The battery is good for 4 hours which is fine for me and there's always the option to purchase the 'bigger' battery if I need to.
I've got it dual booting the supplied XP Home and Windows 7 RC (which boots as quick as XP and runs like a dream).
Highly recommended.
can you please explain this to me.
Currently is has XP installed and that has all the things like the battery manager yada yada. If I install Windows 7 I lose those programs?
I'm not sure what the benefit of having both on the system. Preusmably then you have to install things like MS Office twice - or are you only installing it on, say Windows 7. Then, if so, what do you use the XP for????
Thanks
Quote from: Penfold;289046can you please explain this to me.
Currently is has XP installed and that has all the things like the battery manager yada yada. If I install Windows 7 I lose those programs?
I'm not sure what the benefit of having both on the system. Preusmably then you have to install things like MS Office twice - or are you only installing it on, say Windows 7. Then, if so, what do you use the XP for????
Thanks
I have some experience with this and if the battery manager is just somewhat as good as the Lenovo/IBM one (which you can also use btw) it is worth keeping. What you have to do is check the support site for the laptop and see if you can download appropriate versions.
Quote from: Penfold;289046can you please explain this to me.
Currently is has XP installed and that has all the things like the battery manager yada yada. If I install Windows 7 I lose those programs?
Thanks
You'll have different battery saving setting in both if you dual boot. For instance if in XP you have it set to never shut of monitor or hard drives it'll eat through your battery, but when you load Win 7 with different settings, to save power it won't, neither will know what the other is doing. Nor will you be able to load a program installed on the other OS.
As far as dual booting two versions of windows I can't think of a reason to. If you have Win 7 it has supposedly very good support for XP programs (with a built in virtual machine in some versions). I don't see a need to dual boot with vista and I use some non-standard programs and hardware. It might mean using a later version of your software, but there's a way to run almost every program by now.
If you're installing Win 7 on top it's a clean install I believe (you can only upgrade from vista to win 7 and keep the programs you had). So you'll need to reinstall everything just like a format. This is the best option if you're putting win 7 on in my opinion.
I'm dual booting because I can :D
Seriously , I just wanted to:
a. Play with Win7
b. See if the little fella could cope with it :)
They're great for this type of experimentation.
OK thanks.
I would like to use W7 but it wipes out many of the little function bits unique with the Samsung install.
If I can find those for W7 then I'll do it, otherwise I'll leave it vanilla.
Cheers
PEN.
Quote from: Penfold;289070OK thanks.
I would like to use W7 but it wipes out many of the little function bits unique with the Samsung install.
So dual-boot :doh:
No idea how to do dat.
Perhaps I'll just wait for the LAN and ask someone nicely how to explain it to me:)
Quote from: Penfold;289080No idea how to do dat.
Perhaps I'll just wait for the LAN and ask someone nicely how to explain it to me:)
What sort of extras? If you list the ones important to you we might be able to help.
dual booting aint that hard :)
http://www.techspot.com/guides/143-dual-boot-windows7/
Quote from: kregoron;289125dual booting aint that hard :)
Or even necessary...
http://www.virtualbox.org/
Thanks guys.
One thing I do need help with is the touchpad. I've never used one before and am not very good at it.
One the right hand side of the touchpad is an up and down arrow and some horizontal bars. What do they do? I can't seem to find any information about them or a touchpad setting in control panel?? also someone talks about the corners of the touchpad but I can't see that they do anything special?
Thanks
Slide your finger on the right vertical edge/ bottom to scroll the window (assuming it has scroll bars).
It's your mouse wheel. A bit hit and miss I find on most computers, but find something that scrolls and get cracking.
ok got it - thanks.
What about the corners - is anything special meant to happen when to touch them etc?
On mine now (Aspire One) as I'm back home for the week. dragging the corners on a website zooms in. It's a multitouch iPod like thing. Though I don't think it's a typical thing on all touchpads, but I think it's catching on.
This article (http://www.ademiller.com/blogs/tech/2009/05/windows-7-rc-on-the-samsung-nc10-netbook/) is fairly dated but the comments are helpful if you're having issues with the Samsung applications running under W7.
Thought I'd bring this thread back to life as I've just bought a Samsung N110, which as far as I can tell is a Samsung Nc10 with a 250g hard drive and a slightly different case.
The one I have came with Windows 7 Starter. Any OS that won't even let you change your wallpaper has no place on any netbook I own. W7 looks great on a full sized PC but on this netbook it was a bit of a mess. So I downloaded Linux Ubuntu Netbook Remix and dropped the ISO onto a USB disk. Ubuntu installed straight off the USB without a problem. Everything worked without a hitch, sound, video, hibernation, the onboard web cam. I can even change the wall paper! I'm really impressed at how everything just works. And unlike the Windows install there's no bloatware and endless pointless apps that just clog up an already small computer.
The best feature by far was how easy it is to tether the HTC Hero. Plug the Hero into a USB cable, plug the USB Cable into the Samsung, go into the Hero settings, into the wireless settings and check the Network Sharing box. That's it! No tethering app, no need for a Ã,£15+ a month data tariff. Just plug in and off I go.
Two Linux based pieces of hardware that come together wonderfully and work without any drama or expense. Genius :D
Quote from: smilodon;295575Thought I'd bring this thread back to life as I've just bought a Samsung N110, which as far as I can tell is a Samsung Nc10 with a 250g hard drive and a slightly different case.
The one I have came with Windows 7 Starter. Any OS that won't even let you change your wallpaper has no place on any netbook I own. W7 looks great on a full sized PC but on this netbook it was a bit of a mess. So I downloaded Linux Ubuntu Netbook Remix and dropped the ISO onto a USB disk. Ubuntu installed straight off the USB without a problem. Everything worked without a hitch, sound, video, hibernation, the onboard web cam. I can even change the wall paper! I'm really impressed at how everything just works. And unlike the Windows install there's no bloatware and endless pointless apps that just clog up an already small computer.
The best feature by far was how easy it is to tether the HTC Hero. Plug the Hero into a USB cable, plug the USB Cable into the Samsung, go into the Hero settings, into the wireless settings and check the Network Sharing box. That's it! No tethering app, no need for a Ã,£15+ a month data tariff. Just plug in and off I go.
Two Linux based pieces of hardware that come together wonderfully and work without any drama or expense. Genius :D
Jabbs clicked the 'Like' button :)
fwiw: We chose the Acer 751 and it's ticking over very nicely. It's cpu may not have the oomph of some others (n.b. the Samsung 510 (http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2009/11/17/review_netbook_samsung_n510/) may have won if we were buying today) but that extra 1.6" in the diagonal and those extra pixels up and across and the keyboard really made a massive difference. I spent an hour or two with my better half testing out the available netbooks. NC10 was just too tiny and the 751 keyboard won out over the NC20 (in our opinion anyway). Plus it looked better. It doesn't do seamless BBC iPlayer (under XP with the provided drivers - I believe there may be ways to get better performance with flash videos) but that's really been the only slight downside for our usage. The keyboard is still nice (imo) and the battery life is excellent (got the middle battery option, probably get not far off 6 hours real usage with it)
In the short of it I highly recommend a 12" screen with a 1366x768 resolution. In my testing the 768 pixels was definitely noticeable compared to 600!
Right, resurrecting this old one again - looking at a netbook to run my final year project (software based radio) stuff. Needs to be able to handle a far amount of work and data processing from fairly high B/W radio links (as in higher data rates than WiFi etc)
Ideally would like to be able to stick a load of films etc on the HD to watch while travelling. Plus connectivity with cameras and TV screens etc is a must
Not bothered about webcams or anything like that.
Most probably will run Ubuntu on it, although might stick with windows if I can get Matlab to run my software radio instead. So chipset compatability with both OS is a must.
Is the Samsung 510 still the way to go? Oh and defo under Ã,£400...
Thats rather scary that question came up in my office to day.
The Register like this one.
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2009/07/02/review_netbook_toshiba_nb200/ (http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2009/07/02/review_netbook_toshiba_nb200/)
Hope it helps
Hmm, only difference between that and the 510 seems the better graphics, with ensuing decreased battery life for the samsung, or better battery life but worse graphics for the toshiba. decisions decisions...
if you need cpu (...or gpu) grunt (software radio implies you will?) perhaps consider something chunkier than a "netbook"? Core2 stuff under Ã,£400 is doable I think, and probably still reasonably small. Netbooks are all about portability in my mind (the acer is slow but just right in size :))
I'm hoping that as the bands that are being scanned are fixed, as in transmitting and recieving only on two bands, one high freq and one low freq, that the main drain on system resources (the scanning and application of appropriate protocls, de-mod schemes etc) will be avoided. I basically just want to be able to run a side by side radio system, both transmitting the same data, but one at a higher level of accuracy, hence the low and high freq link.
Once I can get hold of the proper hardware I'll get some simulations done and get an idea of the requirements...
QuoteTwo Linux based pieces of hardware that come together wonderfully and work without any drama or expense. Genius
Surely a sign of the 'End Times'...
Right, having just nuked a lab desktop PC running my matlab model of my radio which had 2Gig of RAM and 2.4Ghz processor I may have to go up the scale a touch. Or improve my "coding" skills....
Quote from: A Twig;304191Right, having just nuked a lab desktop PC running my matlab model of my radio which had 2Gig of RAM and 2.4Ghz processor I may have to go up the scale a touch. Or improve my "coding" skills....
Matlab eh ... Definitely need lots of ram and cpu in my experience. C on the other hand...
Quote from: A Twig;304191Right, having just nuked a lab desktop PC running my matlab model of my radio which had 2Gig of RAM and 2.4Ghz processor I may have to go up the scale a touch. Or improve my "coding" skills....
Matlab, clearly an engineer. Mathematica is far superior.
Mathematica Shmathematica - mathematica is for people who don't build things...
Matlab/Simulink is for people that get things done ;)
Back on topic - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/172295 is the horrific looking Ferrari majobby. But it's fairly good spec for udner Ã,£400, and is small and lightweight. So I want something like this, 64 bit, as much processing power RAM and gfx possible for under 400...
And a screen no bigger that 13" - any suggestions or do I need to find some more money...
Quote from: A Twig;304229Mathematica Shmathematica - mathematica is for people who don't build things...
Matlab/Simulink is for people that get things done ;)
Back on topic - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/172295 is the horrific looking Ferrari majobby. But it's fairly good spec for udner Ã,£400, and is small and lightweight. So I want something like this, 64 bit, as much processing power RAM and gfx possible for under 400...
And a screen no bigger that 13" - any suggestions or do I need to find some more money...
Inventor to design
Simion to simulate
Mathematica to process
Labview to turn a computer into a whole new animal
As for that Laptop it's seriously lacking CPU power. Dual core and 64bit on a 1.2GHz is still more equivalent to the Atom than the Core 2 Duo.
Link (http://www.ebuyer.com/product/189888) This is something with a stronger core to it to handle more intensive programs. I know the screen is too big but you have to jump from the netbook to shrunk laptop to get a decent CPU with a small screen and the price jumps a couple of hundred pounds. Whereas larger laptops bridge the gap but are a lot to lug about.
Second hand you could probably pick up a Viao or something small and fast fairly cheap as they likely go out of fashion fast with the people who own them. Or you could change one of the two parameters, I'm not sure where you'll find a small screen and decent CPU at that budget.
If you wanted to pick something up cheap and a little scratched Dell outlet have tons of Mini 10s atm.
Easy as Dell (http://outlet.euro.dell.com/topics/global.aspx/arb/online/en/InventorySearch?c=uk&cs=ukdfh1&l=en&s=dfh)
Inspiron Mini 1010
(System Identifier: E6TX3VJ3)
* Inspiron Mini 1010 Atom Z520 (1.33GHz, 533MHz)
* Genuine WindowsÃ,® XP Home Edition
System Price : Ã,£173.00
Operating System
Genuine WindowsÃ,® XP Home EditionMemory
Memory 1024MB (1x1024) 800MHz DDR2 Dual ChannelHard Disk Drive
160gb 5400 rpm HDCertified Refurbished
Certified RefurbishedNoteBook Screen
10.1in Widescreen WSVGA with TruelifeSystem Color
LCD Back Cover Ice BlueMISC
Keyboard Internal UK/Irish Qwerty Keyboard
Dell Wireless 1397 (802.11 b/g) Mini Card European
Wireless Europe Dell Bluetooth Card
Battery 3-cell 28W/HRBase
Guy at work was extolling the virtues of his lenovo thinkpad edge 13", 4gb, dual core low v amd, 4hr battery, approx Ã,£480
Could be a good option, if a bit over budget...