Netbooks - how do you feel?

[crlang13]

Hey there,

I thought I'd start a discussion on netbooks.

I use an MSI netbook as my primary computer. I like the mobility of if. It is small, but I can always plug it into a monitor and keyboard when I'm at home if I want (I haven't tried it yet, but that's because I don't mind the smallness).

I think my netbook can be a fully functional computer if I want it to. The marketing behind netbooks, however, seems to forget that they are fully functional. I've seen people lug a full sized laptop into an office, just to plug it into a monitor, and do the same at home! They may as well use a portable harddrive...

What does everyone think on the usability of netbooks?

[HappyFeet]

Try to do video transcoding on a netbook and let me know how it goes. I like my desktop, plus, I have no need to take a computer with me when I go out.

[Icehuck]

Netbooks are great for when your traveling. I use mine while I'm on a plane for movies and music. They are small and lightweight so it doesn't feel like extra baggage.

Are you going to be trouble shooting some network configs at a remote location? Netbooks are great for that. I can easily do a site survey or use a terminal and log into the router and switches. The battery life makes them ideal for moving around without being tethered to a power cord.

Use it for encoding video? No, that's not what they were designed for.

[Gone fishing]

I bought my daughter a Compaq mini (10 inch screen, atom processor, 160 gig hard drive). Very cool not awesome power but perfectly good enough for day to day net stuff, word processing, watching movies listening to music etc. I wish I'd got one instead of the "real laptop" I got for me. Mine is just too big and heavy, the compaq mini is a good size to carry and use.

However, got one with a real hard drive I can't see that a small flash hard drive is a good idea. I really wanted an ARM powered one but couldn't find one (it was never going to run XP or Vista:frown: anyway). The battery life with the atom is good with an ARM it would be great.

[crlang13]

Use it for encoding video? No, that's not what they were designed for.

Of course.

I'm at uni every day, and the portability is great.

The funny thing I get from people is they say "yeah, but there's no CD drive." I have an external one that I use occasionally. I'm glad to have it, but I'm glad I don't have to carry around a piece of hardware that I only use every so often.

[Dj Melik]

I love my netbook :D

http://omploader.org/vM2pkeg
Cold Boot > Full Working Enviornment in under 10 seconds

http://omploader.org/vM2plMA
Customized interface for maximum efficiency :)

[M] [23:29:44] [~] : df -h
Filesystem Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/sda1 3.7G 1.7G 1.9G 47% /


Entire OS + all my programs in under 1.8 GB :)

[crlang13]

I love my netbook :D

http://omploader.org/vM2plMA
Customized interface for maximum efficiency :)



Wow, real toned down, that's cool :D fast as well

I was running the netbook remix on my MSI, and that was up in no time. I've since upgrade to Ubuntu 9.10 and, of course, it's a little bit slower to boot, but much faster than Windows.

I think many people, excluding alot of people on this forum tend to spend their hard earn $$ on a completely over powered machine because it's what's on offer.

[murderslastcrow]

I've been doing 3d modelling work, game design, and all of my multimedia stuff on my Dell Mini 10v with Ubuntu. I bought it in an emergency, but it takes care of everything I'd ever need, and still with compiz running fullspeed- beautiful machine.

I would agree that they are fully capable. Unless you plan on playing the latest games or doing a lot of video transcoding, they should suit your needs just fine.

I actually sold it recently though, since I love 64-bit Linux on the computers I've installed it on and I didn't know about it when I installed 32-bit Ubuntu on my old dual core machine that died about a year and a half ago.

Also, this way I can play some PS2 and Wii games I own. >,>

If Linux improves continually as it is and becomes faster and requires less memory over time, then I think we can see netbooks doing some pretty amazing stuff.

[Ginsu543]

Netbooks? Love 'em! As you can see in my siggy, I have two: a Dell Mini 9 as my day-to-day portable and a Dell Vostro A90 as a file server on my home network. I have fully functioning Karmic installs on both of them and they do very well. I love the ultra portability of my Mini 9. It's small enough that I carry it around with me everywhere I go and treat it more like a large PDA than a small computer. Yet, it has the horsepower to do what PDAs only dream of doing! Here's what my screen looks like:

[HermanAB]

I have also heard people complain about the lack of a CD drive on a netbook and my comment that I use USB memory sticks instead of CDs, still leave them befuddled.

It seems that many people simply don't know that one can save a CD as an ISO file and loop mount it - it may be a Windows thing, but I have heard the same from a Mac owner - they just never learned how to use ISO images.

[gn2]

Netbooks are like the 2 seat Smart cars.

Small and cute but no substitute for the real thing.

[rottentree]

I prefer Netbooks to Laptops simply for the fact that Laptops don't seem to be too mobile with their low battery time (as far as I've seen) if I need more power and screen size and don't mind getting chained to a chair I would rather sit in front of a PC.

[gn2]

Laptops don't seem to be too mobile with their low battery time (as far as I've seen)

You've not seen the Acer Timeline (http://www.acer.com/timeline/) range then?
Similar laptops are available from other manufacturers.

[Berk]

I loved my eeepc 701SD. It was everything a netbook should be bar the battery life, but even then the battery was enough for my needs, letting me take notes for a 4 hour lecture.
I somehow broke the screen on that though, and now have an eee 1005HA, which gives me almost double the battery life, but I don't love it in the same way. It's too big, it is too heavy and it whirs when the HDD kicks in. The 701 was small, silent and light, give me an SSD any time.
I plan to keep an eye out on ebay next time I have some spare £'s and look for a 90X series, basically the same as my old 701 but with that extra bit of screen real estate.

As for a desktop replacement? Nah, at the moment I am having to use my old laptop as my desktop, which isn't ideal though it isn't horrendous, the main advantage is being able to use the laptop screen as a second monitor, making reading PDF's while writing an assignment much easier. I'm not sure the netbook would really run as smoothly with a million documents open for cross referencing, it gives little blips occasionally as it is.

[rudihawk]

I have an Aspire One and I looove it.

I have a core i7 rig as well, but more often than not I just power up my netbook and use that quickly than going to my desk and booting the desktop pc...

[squilookle]

I know some people will find netbooks useful, but I like the combination of most powerful computer I can get my hands on for home, with smartphone for out and about.

[YBYNTU]

Love my desktop for doing real work on and if I'm out and about iPhone does everything I need.

Also noticed a few of you have the Dell Mini. How annoying are the glidepad buttons on them, bit of a dell ****-up on that one me thinks. I loved the look and feel but those buttons are just pathetic.

[rottentree]

You've not seen the Acer Timeline (http://www.acer.com/timeline/) range then?
Similar laptops are available from other manufacturers.

Yes you are right I haven't seen them.
Okay I'm going to say it in another way:
The laptops which are both powerful and offer good battery time are so expensive that I can get a better PC and a standard netbook for the same or less money and while the extra speed can be handy when I have to work(well not really work I'm a student :) ) I can do it on my netbook or use the uni PCs or go home and use my own.




It's too big, it is too heavy and it whirs when the HDD kicks in. The 701 was small, silent and light, give me an SSD any time.


I have an 1005HA too I agree that the whirring is annoying but if you find it too heavy I advise you to use it for weightlifting :P

[Berk]

I have an 1005HA too I agree that the whirring is annoying but if you find it too heavy I advise you to use it for weightlifting :P

Hahahaha, oh your wit, it doth slay me. Hahahahaha.

I mean heavy in the sense that when my 701SD was in my bag I barely noticed it, with the 1005HA, it is noticeably there. Having just hefted the 2 together there is a considerable difference between them, to the point that I put the 701Sd on top of the 1005HA and barely felt the extra weight.

[snowpine]

A $200 computer I can take anywhere? I love it! It doesn't need to be high performance, just fast enough for email and Ubuntu Forums. :)

[crlang13]

A $200 computer I can take anywhere? I love it! It doesn't need to be high performance, just fast enough for email and Ubuntu Forums. :)


YES! That's how I've been beginning my day at uni lately. I get my caffeine fix at a cafe on campus with really small tables (but good coffee). I usually only have about 10 minutes to check my email, etc., but it's a good way to start the day.

I'm in the minority here, I know, but I really don't mind the small keyboard and would gladly type long documents on my netbook.

[schauerlich]

My main machine (a laptop) is small enough that it's not a big deal to carry around. I don't really have a need for a netbook.

[dustrho]

I'm thinking about buying my first netbook, and am torn between the following brands:

Acer
Asus
Lenovo
Samsung

I bought my wife a Samsung NC10 about a year ago, and she loves it. I'm so jealous of how she is all over the house with, and how she doesn't have to have it plugged into an outlet all the time.

Suggestions? I'd love to keep it under $400 if possible, and would prefer to get something fairly new and be able to run Ubuntu well on it.

Thanks!

[NCLI]

The Asus EeePC 1101HA is a safe choice :)

[crlang13]

I'm thinking about buying my first netbook, and am torn between the following brands:

Acer
Asus
Lenovo
Samsung

I bought my wife a Samsung NC10 about a year ago, and she loves it.


Are you running Ubuntu on the Samsung? If you like it, go with it.

I'm running on an MSI U123 without any problems at all. It's slightly bigger than alot of netbooks (an 11 inch screen). I opted for a bigger battery (9 cell I think) which gives me about 2 hours more life than most other netbooks.

[HappyFeet]

A $200 computer I can take anywhere? I love it! It doesn't need to be high performance, just fast enough for email and Ubuntu Forums. :)

Like my IBM Thinkpad I got for $20 in mint condition. OK, so you can't use a hard drive in it, (bad IDE connection) but thumbdrive installs work great. It's got 1.2ghz/512 ram/ 12" screen and very light. More than enough to do email and ubuntuforums. Puppy linux runs very fast on it. I guess you could consider it an old school netbook. Thing is, I rarely use it.

[Woolio1]

I've got a Dell Mini 10 with Ubuntu 9.10. Excellent little machine. Takes notes, browses the web, hacks into Wireless uplinks and collects BLU inte- I mean, plays flash games.

I would like to know how to do that CD -> ISO -> flash drive, though...

-Ericson

[HappyFeet]

I would like to know how to do that CD -> ISO -> flash drive, though...



dd if=/dev/hdc of=~/file.iso
then

sudo mkdir /media/name_of_file
sudo mount /media/name_of_file.iso /media/name_of_file -o loop

[Woolio1]

dd if=/dev/hdc of=~/file.iso
then

sudo mkdir /media/name_of_file
sudo mount /media/name_of_file.iso /media/name_of_file -o loop

Okay, so, how would I do that first bit in Windows? Yes, laugh all you want, the only box I've got with a CD drive is a windows box.

[cariboo]

Have a look here (http:////www.pendrivelinux.com/), it works well for Windows systems.

You're going to have to make the Windows system dual boot. :)

[Woolio1]

Have a look here (http:////www.pendrivelinux.com/), it works well for Windows systems.

You're going to have to make the Windows system dual boot. :)

Again, no... The only thing I use this box for is for gaming. But last time I used Ubuntu and Windows here in dual-boot, I removed ubuntu and Grub killed my system... Had to do a complete windows reinstall.

And I've only used upgrade disks since XP... So, I had to reinstall XP, then upgrade to Vista, then Vista Home Premium, and then Windows 7 Ultimate.

Took three days.

I do have a full-Linux netbook, though...

[toupeiro]

I am cautiously optimistic about Netbooks. I want to take the dive so bad I can taste it but am afraid of it not meeting my needs. I'm trying to convince my wife that she needs one so at least if it can't do what I hope it can, it will still get used.

[ElSlunko]

I often hop on my cousins' laptop when I wander into the living room. They don't seem very cool until you actually carry one around. So very light and useful for browsing & some media.

[Woolio1]

A list of things a netbook can and can't do.

It can surf the web, edit or create OpenOffice Documents with ease, watch 480p YouTube Videos, schedule events, play flash games, hack into RED Wireless Uplinks and steal their Intelligence, and fit nicely in a briefcase.

It cannot reencode thousands of gigabytes of video, can't handle as much strain on the system, can't do hardcore gaming, etc.

However, if you just want something easy to carry for work or something, then you'd be good to get a netbook. If you want to access facebook, or any number of blogs and things, get a netbook. If you want to sell your soul to Steve Jobs and pay just a little less, get a netbook.

If you want to play COD:MW2, then get a desktop.

-Ericson

[Psumi]

I hate netbooks, wish they never had been born to be honest. if you want a mobile computer, use a device that was meant for mobile, a smart phone.

Netbooks will only hurt sales to be honest. I will never buy a laptop without a built-in optical drive. Anything that has no optical drive and with a built in screen, I consider a netbook, no exceptions.

[ElSlunko]

I hate netbooks, wish they never had been born to be honest. if you want a mobile computer, use a device that was meant for mobile, a smart phone.

Netbooks will only hurt sales to be honest. I will never buy a laptop without a built-in optical drive. Anything that has no optical drive and with a built in screen, I consider a netbook, no exceptions.

The thing that has kept netbooks reasonable is price, though.

I remember at a certain point computers became "good enough" for most tasks. Very basic tasks weren't possible within a reasonable amount of time and we're well beyond that. The more & more powerful PCs have employed eye candy and pro-sumer based electronics to justify upgrading and making PCs faster. IMO anyways, ;P.

[Psumi]

The thing that has kept netbooks reasonable is price, though.

I remember at a certain point computers became "good enough" for most tasks. Very basic tasks weren't possible within a reasonable amount of time and we're well beyond that. The more & more powerful PCs have employed eye candy and pro-sumer based electronics to justify upgrading and making PCs faster. IMO anyways, ;P.

More cores doesn't mean a faster computer. I will never buy a computer that has less than 2.1 GHz dual core. Most i7 or multi-core laptops at best buy are under that speed for some strange reason.

[Woolio1]

I will never buy a laptop without a built-in optical drive.

Well, then I don't expect you to be buying many PCs or Laptops or whatever in ten years. Optical drives are going the way of the floppy, my friend. You'll be forced to either cope, or keep an optical on hand... But in twenty years, who's to say it'll be compatible?

Content Downloads and USB flash drives is what's coming.

[Woolio1]

More cores doesn't mean a faster computer. I will never buy a computer that has less than 2.1 GHz dual core. Most i7 or multi-core laptops at best buy are under that speed for some strange reason.

Oh! That's another reason ENTIRELY! Let me link you an article, shall we?

Here you go!

http://gizmodo.com/5439590/best-buys-optimization-is-officially-a-huge-evil-scam

Pleased to oblige.

-Ericson

[mamamia88]

the only complaint i have about mine is the lack of optical drive but it is perfect of what i use it for and that is surfing the web while watching tv. and don't say get a smartphone because i don't want to pay a fortune on monthly fees

[TheOnlyMrK]

I hate netbooks, wish they never had been born to be honest. if you want a mobile computer, use a device that was meant for mobile, a smart phone.

Netbooks will only hurt sales to be honest. I will never buy a laptop without a built-in optical drive. Anything that has no optical drive and with a built in screen, I consider a netbook, no exceptions.
Who uses optical drives anymore?.. o.0

[Woolio1]

Who uses optical drives anymore?.. o.0

Exactly! I've used mine once in the past two weeks... And that was to watch a *DVD* my friend sent me... Because they're still using Dial-Up. I pity them.

-Ericson

[TheOnlyMrK]

Exactly! I've used mine once in the past two weeks... And that was to watch a *DVD* my friend sent me... Because they're still using Dial-Up. I pity them.

-Ericson
Only time I use mine is with Ubuntu install CDs (I'm still at that stage of I try learning Linux and break the computer. But I'm finally getting to the point where I'm able to understand and fix what I do wrong.)

[Woolio1]

Only time I use mine is with Ubuntu install CDs (I'm still at that stage of I try learning Linux and break the computer. But I'm finally getting to the point where I'm able to understand and fix what I do wrong.)

Did you know if you have a USB to IDE Hard drive enclosure, you can rip the USB-IDE part out of it and plug it into the back of your DVD drive? Makes an excellent portable DVD drive for netbooks and things...

[TheOnlyMrK]

Now as far as how I feel on netbooks. I love them and wish I had one.
People have tried to make laptops as strong as desktops since they first invented them. This makes them not as small as people would like, shorter battery times, heat issues, etc etc and just a lot more then what some people need.
The netbook is made for people who don't need all that power with them 24/7, they have a desktop they can do their heavy duty stuff on there, they know they don't need to be playing video games, converting video files, listening to music, and having 10tabs of porn open on Firefox while in a business meeting. They just need OpenOffice open (lol that was kinda fun to say) to write down some notes and show a presentation without having to worry about carrying a charger around. Heck if you wear pants like mine, cargo pants or whatever they're called, some netbooks will actually fit in your pants pocket.

[Psumi]

Who uses optical drives anymore?.. o.0

I do, whenever something goes very wrong with ubuntu, I pop in my install CD and reinstall, I hate having to google or post on these forums to find an answer that no one will tell me how to solve.

I use my USB Flash drives as storage, NOT an installation media.

8 GB Flash Drive = Where all my documents go. (including music, videos, stories, pictures, drawings, PDFs, etc.)
2 GB Flash Drive = Transfer between PC <> PS3.

I will NEVER buy a smartphone, mp3 player, CD Player, etc. My music is meant to be played on my computer, and only my computer, thus the music stays on my flash drive.

That also said, about the installation media portion, I find it much harder to boot from USB than CD/DVD (often times, uNetBootin or the USB Startup creator fail.)

[ElSlunko]

It is easier (or more reliable) to boot from CD but a USB stick can be very cheap. I have one with ubuntu ready to install in my backpack. I had to learn how to install via usb because of a shuttle I bought a while back. I lose CDs pretty often but that's a personal issue.

[TheOnlyMrK]

It is easier (or more reliable) to boot from CD but a USB stick can be very cheap. I have one with ubuntu ready to install in my backpack. I had to learn how to install via usb because of a shuttle I bought a while back. I lose CDs pretty often but that's a personal issue.
If it's one thing I'd want to rant about it's CDs... *goes to work on this for a new thread*
Wait. How are they reliable? All mine get scratched or my drive doesn't like them. Lol. The easier thing I'm kinda half way on... Both are pretty easy.

[Psumi]

It is easier (or more reliable) to boot from CD but a USB stick can be very cheap. I have one with ubuntu ready to install in my backpack. I had to learn how to install via usb because of a shuttle I bought a while back. I lose CDs pretty often but that's a personal issue.

*cough*

I only need to burn 1 CD per 6 months (Not with the upcoming LTS) and each pack of CDs costs about... well, whatever walmart or other stores sell them for (sometimes upwards of 30 USD or more per 100 pack.) I have like 5 CD-RWs, and only one is used so far, which cost me ten USD for the pack, I'm sure I won't be needing to use all of them.

Thus, CD-RWs will be cheaper than a USB Drive to be honest. (As I would need at least an 8 GB USB Drive, costing about 20 USD in retail stores.)

I never buy online either, never will again.


Wait. How are they reliable? All mine get scratched or my drive doesn't like them. Lol. The easier thing I'm kinda half way on... Both are pretty easy.

I have one CD-RW that I've used for several months now, it's very well scratched up, and my IBM T41 can still read it, and burn to it for the full 700 or so MB.

[TheOnlyMrK]

*cough*

I only need to burn 1 CD per 6 months (Not with the upcoming LTS) and each pack of CDs costs about... well, whatever walmart or other stores sell them for (sometimes upwards of 30 USD or more per 100 pack.) I have like 5 CD-RWs, and only one is used so far, which cost me ten USD for the pack, I'm sure I won't be needing to use all of them.

Thus, CD-RWs will be cheaper than a USB Drive to be honest. (As I would need at least an 8 GB USB Drive, costing about 20 USD in retail stores.)

I never buy online either, never will again.



I have one CD-RW that I've used for several months now, it's very well scratched up, and my IBM T41 can still read it, and burn to it for the full 700 or so MB.
You do know the reliability of RW media goes down every time you burn to it right? Anything over ten writes is pushing it... Depending what brand media you use. With flash drives you have thousands of writes. All you need is a 1GiB flash drive for a LiveUSB which can be picked up for $5 at BigLots.

[Psumi]

You do know the reliability of RW media goes down every time you burn to it right? Anything over ten writes is pushing it... Depending what brand media you use. With flash drives you have thousands of writes. All you need is a 1GiB flash drive for a LiveUSB which can be picked up for $5 at BigLots.

All of our biglots are gone here, sadly.

Everything else that has 1 GB has it for 10 USD or so. Regardless, since I need to go into the BIOS to set the USB to boot, then when I'm done, put the CD Drive back up top, I will not do it, ever again.

(Yes, I have to put the USB back down below the harddrive because if I try to boot with it first, my computer hangs, waiting for the USB drive to be there.)

Plus, I couldn't get it to boot on my tower computer when I had it, no matter how I formatted, no matter what USB setting in the BIOS I had to boot... it never booted from the USB. There were three USB boot options:

USB HDD, USB, USB FDD on the tower. None of them worked.

[TheOnlyMrK]

All of our biglots are gone here, sadly.

Everything else that has 1 GB has it for 10 USD or so. Regardless, since I need to go into the BIOS to set the USB to boot, then when I'm done, put the CD Drive back up top, I will not do it, ever again.

(Yes, I have to put the USB back down below the harddrive because if I try to boot with it first, my computer hangs, waiting for the USB drive to be there.)

Plus, I couldn't get it to boot on my tower computer when I had it, no matter how I formatted, no matter what USB setting in the BIOS I had to boot... it never booted from the USB. There were three USB boot options:

USB HDD, USB, USB FDD on the tower. None of them worked.
Well either way I'm not really on either side of this. xD I use CDs (actually DVDs) for installing Ubuntu simply because I haven't bothered looking into how to do it with a flash drive, I know it's easy, just doesn't interest me since I have a pile of CDs and DVDs sitting on my desk with no other use so why not use them.
Also I use DVDs because they are so much faster then CDs (6X DVD = 54X CD ( http://www.osta.org/technology/dvdqa/dvdqa4.htm )) it really shortens install times.

[pmlxuser]

i use my acer aspire one h750 11.6' one use it as my main computer at my new work place. Office plan to buy me a desktop but i still like the netbook, i can work the whole day without power at the office 8 hour in windows or a whooping 5 and half hours on ubuntu based mint 8

[TheOnlyMrK]

i use my acer aspire one h750 11.6' one use it as my main computer at my new work place. Office plan to buy me a desktop but i still like the netbook, i can work the whole day without power at the office 8 hour in windows or a whooping 5 and half hours on ubuntu based mint 8
I didn't know battery times could be so different between the two. Though Ubuntu really does lack power saving features...

[Psumi]

I didn't know battery times could be so different between the two. Though Ubuntu really does lack power saving features...

Also see this: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/110784

See comments about the Toshiba NB series.

[TheOnlyMrK]

Also see this: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/110784

See comments about the Toshiba NB series.
Wow. I didn't know that the OS had to shut things down one by one. I just thought it saved what it needed to save then told the computer to turn off, almost suicide like. Lol. Electronics that don't understand off means off... I deeply hate.

[clanky]

Like anything in computing whether it is a computer, an OS or an application, if it does everything that you need it to do and you are happy with it then it is OK.

For me a netbook would be no use at all, I work on a ship and need my PC to do stuff while I am away that I couldn't do on a netbook. As I only have to transport it to and from the ship then portability is not really a issue for me either, so my big *** 17" HP pavillion will be getting replaced with another one when it dies.

For a lot of people I would guess that there computing needs when on the move could be met by a netbook so that if they had a desktop PC at home to handle the heavy duty stuff they could use a netbook while on the move.

I would however imagine that for most people they will at some point want to do something beyond the capabilities of a netbook, so using one as their only PC would not be a good idea, although I guess that there are a few people who only make limited use of their computer who would be wasting their time with anything more powerful than a netbook.

As always, use what works for you.

[crlang13]

For a lot of people I would guess that there computing needs when on the move could be met by a netbook so that if they had a desktop PC at home to handle the heavy duty stuff they could use a netbook while on the move.

As always, use what works for you.

I agree. I love my netbook because I'm always on the move. My girlfriend has a big laptop because most of the time she uses it at home, but occasionally she has to take it to her parents' house, my house, work, etc. But it's not very often.

[Yvan300]

I've come to realise that my netbook can do almost everything that my laptop can with the exception of playing games. Darn you HP.

[Jesus_Valdez]

I was thinking about buying a netbook until I looked myself at the mirror and realized that I'm big enough to carry around a 15" laptop without problems and my fingers will probably battle with a smaller keyboard.

So I will probably buy a laptop with a bigger screen and an extra battery in order to carry this (15" screen) one around.

[dustrho]

Are you running Ubuntu on the Samsung? If you like it, go with it.

I'm running on an MSI U123 without any problems at all. It's slightly bigger than alot of netbooks (an 11 inch screen). I opted for a bigger battery (9 cell I think) which gives me about 2 hours more life than most other netbooks.

Yes, I have Ubuntu 9.04 installed on my wife's Samsung NC10, and it works wonderfully. I had to do quite a bit of tweaking to get it working, something to do with the wireless card. But, the netbook itself is a great one, and I've considered getting either the N150 or the NB30 (not released yet).

I'm also thinking about the following as well:

- Acer Aspire 1410
- Acer Aspire 1810
- Acer Aspire AO532H
- Asus 1005PE

I'm also starting to think maybe going to the 13" laptops (big netbooks if you will) such as:

- Asus UL30A-X5

I'm really torn here, and just want to pick the right computer and know Ubuntu works well on them. The most important thing about it is that it needs to be able to play H.264/MP4 files without any lag.

[BrokenKingpin]

I have no need for one. I like a full powered computer. I have a 15.4 inch laptop that is portable enough for me.

[Warpnow]

Its not a desktop replacement, but mine is a laptop replacement. If I want to do anything heavy, I use my desktop.

[Kixtosh]

I started using ultra-portable laptops in 1998. They are very like netbooks in that:

- they weigh less than 3lbs (1.5Kg),
- they have no optical drive,
- they have a very small power brick.

They are not like netbooks in that:

- they are expensive (usually around $2,000),
- they do not have good battery life (only about 2.5h),
- they are less limited in upgrades, perhaps.

My first one was a Toshiba Portégé (300, I think), with a 10" screen. I used it all day, every day (almost) for about two years, and loved it. Never docked it or even used an external keyboard.

After that I had a Sony Vaio of some description, with a 12" screen, or maybe it was smaller than that. The Sony power brick was too big compared to the much older Toshiba Portégé, and the absence of a VGA output for presentations, unless I brought the port replicator too, was a massive mistake on that model (for convenience and portability) IMO. It was also noisy sometimes.

Next in line was the Toshiba Portégé 3490CT listed in my signature, with an 11.3" screen. Again, I have loved it, and it has been a great little workhorse ... wonderfully quiet fan and hard drive.

I now have a Toshiba Portégé R205 with a 12" screen and a fingerprint reader. This seems to be the sweet spot, in terms of size IMO. They keyboard is just big enough, and so is the screen. As happy an experience as both previous Portégé models I tried. Wonderfully quiet hard drive and fan in true Portégé fashion. Nice tiny little power brick. Decent keyboard so I never feel the itch to get an external one, even when typing long documents. The ability to use a bluetooth mouse (or the touchpad) keeps the two USB ports free for other things.

As far as the optical drive is concerned, I almost never use them, and do not want to have a bigger, fatter machine because of them. An included optical drive for travelling is about as useful as an included floppy drive to me. I want them both on USB only.

As far as screen size and keyboards are concerned, I don't think I'll ever buy one smaller than 11" again.

As far as weight is concerned, for travel, if it weighs more than 3lbs, I wont buy it, and that's all I'll say about that. For using around home or the office, weight is not an issue, so even 6lbs would not deter me, but I'm not carrying any 4-6lb monster with it's clunky power brick anywhere further than the front door.

Now the problem with ultra-portables is that they all boot up Windows so slow, after a few weeks, once security software and everything else is installed. So I usually just leave them on standby, activated as soon as I shut the screen. That way, I have no issues, and the battery serves to keep them going on standby until I reach my next destination and it's nearest A/C power outlet.

Currently, the ancient Portégé 3490CT (discontinued in 2001, I think) boots up Xubuntu 9.10 in about 75 seconds. The newer Portégé R205 (discontinued in 2007, I think) boots up XP in about four minutes (2.5 minutes before the desktop appears, more than four minutes until all the taskbar items have been loaded). I can't get standby to work with the 3490 when using Xubuntu. I always use standby on the R205, so I don't even boot completely as often as once a month. My next project is to get 10.04 Lucid Lynx (LTS) to work on the R205, including the fingerprint reader.

So, I would have considered myself a perfect convert for netbooks, and I've been looking at them again recently, as possible replacements for the Portégé R205, or as an additional machine for around home. In the past, I have avoided paying $2,000 by purchasing models that were about to be replaced (and therefore, were being sold with hugely significant discount), but netbooks make it possible to pay just $500 without such new model release timing gymnastics.

[dragos240]

I have an eeepc 900HD, excellent battery life, very fast, 1280 x 600 display. And it has a pretty big HD, about 128 gb of space, that's great for a netbook!

[xpod]

I dont mind the larger 10" screen & keyboard size that my daughters have but those little 8 & 9 inch things are just a wee bit too small for my liking. Not that i want one myself that is but i do suspect we`ll have a couple more before the years out.:|
I had a damaged EeePC 90? given to me a while back but i ended up just passing it on to a friend who`s own daughter had cracked the screen on her matching model.
I have another EeePC 900 here just now in fact that i re-installed XP on for someone. I could have swore i choose the larger 16G ssd for the installation but it still ended up on the little 4G thing.:-?

I think i might go watch some curling before curling up.

[Post Monkeh]

i have a fairly cheap laptop at the minute. the only thing i'm not happy with is the battery life, but since i mostly use it near a power socket or in my car (i have a car charger) it isn't a massive problem.

i think when i'm replacing this laptop i might go for a netbook (if they haven't been replaced) depending on getting one that can do everything my laptop can just as well as my laptop can (basic spreadsheets, browsing, email, a bit of music)

[the yawner]

I've an eeePC 1005HA dual booting WinXP and Moblin (which I'm hardly using nowadays). It's an okay machine. :)

[Bensachs]

I really like Netbooks.
I even had an ultra portable or subnotebook (think it was a compaq armada) before i bought my first netbook, the asus eee with the 7'' display. It really is useful to have something portable like this and I just want to use a netbook for surfing and writing stuff, so why bother with buying expensive hardware?
I have to admit, the screen of the first asus eee was a nuissance, but I didn't know that they'd release a 10 or 9'' version that soon...

Right now I'm writing this on a Samsung N150 and so far I'm really impressed. A lot has improved since 2008...

[V for Vincent]

I like the concept. I don't have one because I don't move around all that much, but my brother does and his fits his needs just perfectly. Not everyone wants to do heavy number crunching or gaming. Plus, they're inexpensive and use little power. I can see how someone might not belong to their niche, but I seriously don't see how anyone could have anything "against" them.

[JaRRoslav]

I have Toshiba NB100 running dualboot UNR9.10/******* XP prof. I had no problems with installing UNR except setting up PPPoE connection (but I don't think it is netbook issue cause it was problem on my desktop too). Now I use it as my main computer. I use external monitor at home and mouse (playing games on touchpad is a bit freaky :) ) I like the size of it. I use it at school, on the bus (listening to music and playing Wesnoth :) ) or I at home watching movies in bed.

[irbdavid]

Anyone care to recommend me a netbook that works well with ubuntu? I'm looking at a samsung N210 currently, but I gather Samsung's have been a bit flaky under linux. Suspend/hibernate is a big thing for me, and it should be able to handle an external display reasonably well.

I currently have a dell mini 9, but it's a bit too low powered, only 8GB SSD and battery for ~3 hrs. I can't project off it either, it seems. At least, not at any sensible resolution, apparently due to only 8MB graphics memory.

[Berk]

I've personally got the Asus eee 1005HA, 250GB HDD 6 cell Li-ion battery.
It came with Windows 7, that lasted for all of a day before putting 9.10 on there. Everything works, that I've noticed anyway.

Battery life is good, though possibly not as good as under Windows 7 (but as I didn't run that for very long I can't say for sure), I currently get ~5 hours with wifi on, brightness about half and with general browsing. With wifi off and brightness down I get about 7.5 hours.
I did have to tweak it slightly, following the instructions from here: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/HardwareSupport/Machines/Netbooks#Asus%20Eee%20PC%201005HA

All in all I'm very happy with it, I do miss my old 701SD though, the smaller screen and SSD just made it that bit more portable than the 1005HA (in my opinion anyway) meaning I was more likely to use it. Although that could also be attributed to the fact that my lectures this semester aren't as conducive to typing up notes than they were previosuly, thanks to far more diagrams being involved.

[aklo]

Acer a101 seashell white. I've used UNR and now xubuntu on it. Everything work perfectly. I maybe installing UNR as i think xubuntu is not the feel i prefer on netbook.

I don't really like netbooks due to the performance, as they said netbooks are for viewing movies and using browsing the net so i don't expect much and the only reason i got it is because it is a promotion item which came with subcribing to my ISP.

I'm a young man and i certain don't mind the extra weight of a normal laptop as long as i get good performance.

Also on my netbook, viewing high definition movies is a pain. So i usually watch them on my desktop.

[wrappedinmetal]

I am using a samsung net book n310 all of the fn buttons work as well as back light. I love it; 8 hours of battery life, no wires and fast with 9.10. win 7 was off as soon as the stupid os configured it self around 1.5 hours to do. 9.10 was up and running with in .5 hour. ha ha read forums dumb ***, figured blue tooth out

[interglossa]

Berk, I hear you about the eee701. There is a thread on the eee pc board about <a href="http://forum.eeeuser.com/viewtopic.php?id=83398">701's</a>. I still use mine and have been using it through thick and thin for 2 1/2 years. But I would like a bigger screen. They really are light and silent, and seemingly indestructible although your experience proves otherwise. I love my netbook.

[markp1989]

i have a eee900, had a 701 before that, i like them, i use it around the house. in bed etc, and i use my desktop for when i need more power.

i see alot of negative comments about netbooks, because people expect a netbook to be as powerfull as there desktop, and be half the price, which isnt going to happen.

im starting uni in september , so im gona be getting a better netbook (max 10" screen and a bigger hdd so i can multi boot win7, ubuntu, arch, and longer battery live is a must) gona be doing computing, so i want win and linux, right now i have arch on my current netbook.

i havnt decided what netbook im gona get, but it will probably be on of the eee pc series.

[Berk]

It was the screen that died.
I was using it at night, closed it up, put it in its little case, put it on the side. Woke up in the morning opened it up and found the screen had cracked quite badly.
No idea what I did, the only thing I can think is that I must have put it down harder than I thought on something that protruded. :(

My local computer store have offered to fix it for £20 (or £40, I can't quite remember) if I can get them a screen, £100 if they get the screen. So will look into that when I have the money, the 1005HA was an insurance job, hence getting the one I did as my nearest Curry's had a poor range of netbooks. I like it well enough, it just isn't the same as my old baby. :D