[MegalosSkylaki]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RayH

It's not just about weight. It's about size. Those few inches make it a lot easier to haul around. The Atom N270 is a worthy processor against the Celeron M. The Atom has hyperthreading. The Celeron is a power hog. The Atom isn't as much so.

These netbooks are more of a big PDA than a little computer. I mean, they are not replacement anythings or designed to be a primary computer. Get a 6 cell battery.

Well size is a two=way issue. A 12" screen is easier to read than a 10" screen.
Both the IBM X41 and the DELL Lat. 300 have a 12" screen and come in at less than 3 lbs. Battery life, though, is about 1 1/2 hrs , which is not as bad as it sounds for limited saunter-to coffeeshop use.

A 6-cell Netbook can do about 4 -5 hrs. Also, they are smaller when it comes to schlepability. If you are throwing it in the seat of a car and driving to coffeeshop like in CA, that doesn't matter so much --but a NYC City-type DooG walks places.

Ironically, after I posted this, I saw a netbook on sale with a bundled by Reseller nice case and "free" shipping and no tax for $260. I bit.

It is an Averatec Buddy, which is a clone of the MSI Wind and comes with a 10.2 " screen. YipeZ1, I bit a 3-cell battery, which is probably why it was sold off at a low price.. Still, 2hrs. aint bad for limited I-net and E-mail use. As you noted, it's really more of a PDA than a full-function computer.

I have a 6 lb.16" laptop for full mobilecomputer use, which I prefer to just keep home, except for long trips.

Recently some Notebooks have come out with an Intel Ultra Low Voltage (ULV) or C[for "Consumer"]ULV procs. I suspect this is a rebadged SU-xx Proc.

However, they can get 6 - 8 hrs of usage on one charge. The 3.8 lb.12" HP comes with an external optical drive and the 4.2 lb. 14" Acer comes with an internal optical. Price about $600 which is low for that weight computer but still too high IMO for a limited power machine.

The Averatec Buddy/MSI Wind is quite light (about 2.6 lbs.) and small and I put it in a 10" netbook case I had. The case that was bundled with it, now houses the 12" old lappies I had. If I learn to like it a lot, I can get an Xtra 6-cell MSI Wind battery, if I find I need it. Maybe in CA, but not in NYC.

Netbooks as you noted really are not suitable for high-demand use. There is still a major trade-off across the mobile computer fields between battery life and powerful full-function, unless you get a $2000 machine.

I tend to regard mobile computers as "disposable" due to damage and loss issues, so I won't put in big bucks into one, Except for the 16" blu-ray machine, I never paid more than $300 for one.

MegalosSkylaki

MegalosSkylaki