Picking a second hand laptop with Ubuntu over a netbook

[Jestersage]

With the decreasing price of netbooks – with some telecomm cmpanies offering free netbook with a mobile boardband contract – what incentives does people have for going after a $150 second hand laptop with Ubuntu, instead of a netbook with XP?

[kyuubi777]

you don't get tied in to a year / 2 yr contract with a broadband provider for what your cell phone will most likely enable you to do anyways... and it will feel like the computer hasn't been touched inappropriately by that evil MS os... xp?? that is 8 yrs old!! plus, the motherboard layouts of those netbooks are really good for keeping the size small, not so good at heat dissipation.. and tweaking ehh, laptop wins for that +1 optical drive..

only point i will give to the netbook is that is it is new, and will have a longer life expectancy, and you can rid urself of xp and boot linux anyway!! :D

all in all, if ur looking for more charisma and most likely slightly better performance for a shorter period of time go w/ the laptop.. otherwise, netbook it up and boot karmic!

[mivo]

Getting rid off XP is only an option if a netbook is fully supported by Linux, which is not always the case. Usually "something" doesn't work, like suspend/hibernate, LEDs, the mic, wireless, or power consumption increases. On my netbook (HP 2140) suspend/hibernate don't work without XP, and that is a key feature for a netbook.

As for netbook vs laptop: Depends on what you want and how portable you want the device to be. Affordable laptops are still heavier and larger than netbooks, but they do have bigger screens and more usable keyboards.

Stay away from those "free" offers, though, because they usually tie you to a contract for 24 months. If you do the math, you end up spending a lot more. Might as well get a loan somewhere and pay back installments, which is cheaper, if you don't have the money to buy something right now.

[K.Mandla]

With the decreasing price of netbooks * with some telecomm cmpanies offering free netbook with a mobile boardband contract * what incentives does people have for going after a $150 second hand laptop with Ubuntu, instead of a netbook with XP?
Some people would just rather have an old laptop than a netbook. I'm one of those people.

[The Funkbomb]

I wish I had a nice lightweight laptop instead of the netbook. Laptops have a little beefier specs. My single core laptop AMD 3900+ was pretty fast. It blows away the dualcore atom z520 in my netbook.

[coldReactive]

I wish I had a nice lightweight laptop instead of the netbook. Laptops have a little beefier specs. My single core laptop AMD 3900+ was pretty fast. It blows away the dualcore atom z520 in my netbook.

What about this guy: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5276625&CatId=3444

[MelDJ]

Some people would just rather have an old laptop than a netbook. I'm one of those people.

me too. i like the challenge of getting old things working

[snowpine]

Laptops and netbooks are different in many ways. It's like asking "SUV vs. pickup truck?" If you don't know which one you need, you haven't done the research... take a few for a test drive, then it should be obvious which fits your needs.

[mivo]

What about this guy: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5276625&CatId=3444

5.2 lbs is still fairly heavy compared to a netbook. Nice laptop though, and at a good price.

[The Funkbomb]

5.2 lbs is still fairly heavy compared to a netbook. Nice laptop though, and at a good price.

I'd rather carry 5.2lbs of something I can use than 2lbs of something I can't.

[mivo]

I'd rather carry 5.2lbs of something I can use than 2lbs of something I can't.

I use my netbook just fine, for the tasks that I bought it for. 5.2 lbs and the format of a regular laptop would be too bulky for me, at least for what I'd use it for. (I have a regular laptop, but it is older and lately serves as entertainment system running with Arch.)

The choice between a netbook or a laptop really depends on what it is going to be used for, and one's individual needs.

[Jestersage]

The reason I ask is that I work for a certain organization dedicated to selling Ubuntu systems, and in our city, it's very, very hard to sell second hand items, due to very high competitions all over, what with 3 MS-licensed refurbishers, a lot of big boxes, and even more computer store., with two of them extremely reputable. Need prep myself so that in case someone post such question, I can answer them.

The only thing we go for is we sell with tax include (yes, $150 including tax) and environmental fee. Many netbooks that goes for $300 seems to include webcam. Then again, if we do sell one that is $300, it's likely a Core 2 Duo machine.

[kyuubi777]

environmental fee ....god, useless ... what % of that money do you think ends up helping the environment?.. maybe .05% if at all.. it's a scam

[Jestersage]

environmental fee ....god, useless ... what % of that money do you think ends up helping the environment?.. maybe .05% if at all.. it's a scam

I know. And the environmental fee is on top of carbon taxes. And our government gave themselves a big fat raise (it's Canada here)

[cammin]

I wish I had a nice lightweight laptop instead of the netbook. Laptops have a little beefier specs. My single core laptop AMD 3900+ was pretty fast. It blows away the dualcore atom z520 in my netbook.

An atom z520 isn't a dual core processor.

[The Funkbomb]

You're absolutely right. I guess the second "core" I see is hyperthreading?

[mivo]

You're absolutely right. I guess the second "core" I see is hyperthreading?

Correct, yes.