Do I get a small laptop or a netbook?

[wersdaluv]

I want a portable pc that's easy to bring to school everyday. What I intend to do with it is to use office suites, use calendars, take notes in the classroom, IM, and go online most of the time. Sometimes, I run virtual machines and play warcraft III but I do not do that every day.

I want a small and light one because I want to bring it with me in school everyday and I don't want it to take so much space on my bag. On the other hand, I want to have a portable pc that is powerful enough to be my main and only computer.

I am torn between netbooks and small laptops. I was thinking of getting an MSI Wind or Eee PC 1000 because they fit my budget, are very portable, and they have enough RAM and HD space for my needs. All I need to buy when I get a netbook is an optical drive. Maybe, I would spend about $800 for all that.

On the other hand, netbooks keep on improving and improving. Better Eees are coming out on September ( http://www.engadget.com/2008/07/31/asus-prepping-high-end-eee-pc-s-series-for-september/ ) and I'm sure that it's also the case for other brands since dual core atom is coming out on the 4th quarter. I don't want to buy a netbook now and to regret when dual core atoms are out. I am considering 12" notebooks like MSI S262, MSI PR200 or Acer Aspire 2920z. They cost around $800 too and they have Core 2 Duos. It's just that, they might be too heavy for me if I want to bring my laptop around with me everywhere.

I'm torn. What do you think is my best choice if i am willing to spend only up to about $800? I need one soon so I want something that's available now.

[nick09]

Grab a small laptop as they will be more able to handle Warcraft III. How much is P35K in US money?

[wersdaluv]

Grab a small laptop as they will be more able to handle Warcraft III. How much is P35K in US money?
Oops. Sorry. I failed to mention. I copied and pasted it from my post on a local forum. hehe. P35k is worth about $800.

[helliewm]

Get a small laptop. I bought a refurbished 12 inch Dell M1220 XPS instead of a netbook. It was about the same price £300. I put Ubuntu on it. Its light enough to carry around no problems. Core 2 Duo 2.00, 2 gig ram, 160 gig hard drive DVD rewriter. Intel GMA 945 Graphics. It leaves the net books standing.

[Mateo]

From hearing your needs, sounds like you want a "netbook", "subnotebook" or whatever new buzzword those things now have. I'd get the Aspire One personally. I have the original Eee. A small laptop is no comparison to a netbook in terms of portability. None. Just don't think it's going to be your primary computer.

[daleus]

I bought an ADVENT 4211 (That's an MSI Wind to people outside of the UK) and it works perfectly with ubuntu, out of the box even the webcam work, all is required is a small script to run to let the wireless work.

[nick09]

I don't know if you will be able to order this but its a suggestion:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8897615&type=product&id=1212192350099

If you are a Intel kinda guy:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?id=pcat17080&type=page&qp=crootcategoryid%23%23-1%23%23-1~~q70726f63657373696e6774696d653a3e313930302d3031 2d3031~~cabcat0500000%23%230%23%2311a~~cabcat05020 00%23%230%23%23o~~cabcat0502004%23%230%23%23k~~f55 1||496e74656cc2ae~~f534||31342671756f743b20616e642 0556e646572~~nf518||24373030202d2024383939&list=y&nrp=15&sc=abComputerSP&ks=960&usc=abcat0500000&sp=%2Bbrand+skuid&list=y&iht=n&st=processingtime%3A%3E1900-01-01

The AMD has a smaller screen, 3GB of ram, and a 1200x800 resolution(720P HD videos). Personally I'd grab the AMD computer in your shoes.

[linuxisfree]

I want a portable pc that's easy to bring to school everyday. What I intend to do with it is to use office suites, use calendars, take notes in the classroom, IM, and go online most of the time. Sometimes, I run virtual machines and play warcraft III but I do not do that every day.

I want a small and light one because I want to bring it with me in school everyday and I don't want it to take so much space on my bag. On the other hand, I want to have a portable pc that is powerful enough to be my main and only computer.

I am torn between netbooks and small laptops. I was thinking of getting an MSI Wind or Eee PC 1000 because they fit my budget, are very portable, and they have enough RAM and HD space for my needs. All I need to buy when I get a netbook is an optical drive. Maybe, I would spend about $800 for all that.

On the other hand, netbooks keep on improving and improving. Better Eees are coming out on September ( http://www.engadget.com/2008/07/31/asus-prepping-high-end-eee-pc-s-series-for-september/ ) and I'm sure that it's also the case for other brands since dual core atom is coming out on the 4th quarter. I don't want to buy a netbook now and to regret when dual core atoms are out. I am considering 12" notebooks like MSI S262, MSI PR200 or Acer Aspire 2920z. They cost around $800 too and they have Core 2 Duos. It's just that, they might be too heavy for me if I want to bring my laptop around with me everywhere.

I'm torn. What do you think is my best choice if i am willing to spend only up to about $800? I need one soon so I want something that's available now.


Hey Wers,

I'd be leaning towards the small laptop, as they may give you "more bang for your buck", as they say. 12" Laptops aren't all that heavy, or big, they are quite easy to carry around (for me, anyway...) For the same price, a SLIGHTLY larger laptop, with better specs for what you're planning to use it for, is a much better investment.

[wolfen69]

i have the lowest end eeepc, and love it. storage space is no problem if you get a little usb hard drive or high capacity thumb drive. i installed debian on it, and it can do alot. for $299, it was a good buy. the eeepc1000 will be faster, but i dont think the extra $500 is worth it.

[gn2]

12" laptop wins every time if you can find one within your budget.

[geogur]

i second the eeepc i have a $350.00 version, i put 2gig ram in for $43.00 when i need larger display just find a monitor and plug in kde knows what to do with it . this is very light and duable and fits a packsac nicely

[wersdaluv]

From hearing your needs, sounds like you want a "netbook", "subnotebook" or whatever new buzzword those things now have. I'd get the Aspire One personally. I have the original Eee. A small laptop is no comparison to a netbook in terms of portability. None. Just don't think it's going to be your primary computer.
Yep. That's the issue. Not good enough to be my primary and only computer.

[wersdaluv]

12" laptop wins every time if you can find one within your budget.
I found ones that fit my budget. They are Acer Aspire 2920z and MSI S262.It's just that, those things are as heavy or twice as heavy as the 10" MSI Wind. I'm still looking for where I can buy an MSI PR200 that would fit my budget because it's larger and I heard that I can find one for $800.

[wersdaluv]

Thanks for the opinions, guys. Keep 'em coming. My best option is to buy the best available machine when I can already afford (still waiting for my dad's go signal). When that comes, if the dual core atom netbooks still aren't available, I think I would go for a 12" laptop. I just hope that I find the lightest one that will fit my budget. I don't want to buy online so I just limit my options to what I see in the computer stores in my area.

[tashmooclam]

Engadget said that Dell will soon sell a 12" light Ubuntu laptop "E slim". They also will sell a smaller model. Sounds like a deal.
I picked up an Apple 12" aluminum Powerbook that's awesome and looks great too, but these are common used where I live. I take it when I travel.

[gn2]

I found ones that fit my budget. They are Acer Aspire 2920z and MSI S262.It's just that, those things are as heavy or twice as heavy as the 10" MSI Wind. I'm still looking for where I can buy an MSI PR200 that would fit my budget because it's larger and I heard that I can find one for $800.

Twice as heavy as an MSI Wind is still pretty light.....

My Asus F9E is 2.1kg with a six cell battery, the MSI Wind is 1.2 kg with a six cell battery. 0.9kg isn't that much of a difference given the massive increase in performance and functionality.
A C2D 12" laptop could easily serve as your sole PC, an MSI Wind could not.

[wersdaluv]

Wow! F9E? Sweet. MSI PR200 weigh 1.8kg while my other two cheaper choices (Acer Aspire 2920z and MSI S262) weigh about 2.2kg.

I think, a dual core netbook could really easily serve as my main and only computer. I just don't know if I can afford to wait for them so my best choice is the PR200. I hope, I see a PR200 for $800 or cheaper in a local store. I wanna go to computer stores! hehehe.

I can't afford an F9E though. hehe.

[wersdaluv]

Engadget said that Dell will soon sell a 12" light Ubuntu laptop "E slim". They also will sell a smaller model. Sounds like a deal.
I picked up an Apple 12" aluminum Powerbook that's awesome and looks great too, but these are common used where I live. I take it when I travel.

I won't go for those Dells since when they come out, the higher end Eee's with core duos would come out too. Also, they don't have function keys that are very important to me.

Powerbooks are nice. It's just that, they're not Intel. You'll have to settle with older versions of Ubuntu.

[gn2]

I can't afford an F9E though. hehe.

I couldn't either until the last of the T5450 models were being cleared out for £400 (uk) the newer ones are £540 for the T5750 or £720 for the T8100.

You just have to look around and pick up a bargain.

[wersdaluv]

I couldn't either until the last of the T5450 models were being cleared out for £400 (uk) the newer ones are £540 for the T5750 or £720 for the T8100.

You just have to look around and pick up a bargain.
That's the word. Bargain. You're so lucky, dude. I hope I find one too.