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Netbook advice please.
Mitten Kitten
Posts: 1,185 Forum Member
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I am considering getting a netbook for work. I would prefer one with Windows XP as I have the disc. All I would need it for is word processing, storing some photos, internet browsing and possibly adding autocad onto it. I realise that I would need an external dvd drive to put the discs on with, so advice on which would be good too. I am not looking for an expensive machine or dvd drive. I just want something small and portable. Most of my work would be typing notes and sending emails. I don't download music or videos. I have had a look in Currys/PC world today and the ones they have are:
Packard Bell Dot S2
Samsung N130
Emachines EM350
Compaq CQ10-101.
To me, they all seem to be the same, so I don't know which would suit my needs best. The reviews for all of them seem to be quite good. Any advice would be appreciated on which, or an alternative and external dvd.
Packard Bell Dot S2
Samsung N130
Emachines EM350
Compaq CQ10-101.
To me, they all seem to be the same, so I don't know which would suit my needs best. The reviews for all of them seem to be quite good. Any advice would be appreciated on which, or an alternative and external dvd.
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Personally I have a 2gb HP Mini 210 and more then happy with it.
I think you might be struggling to run autocad on it though.
Thanks for the info on autocad. It isn't absolutely necessary as I can do the drawings on my other laptop and paste them into word documents (They don't need to be accurate). The only reason I don't want Windows 7 is that I already have a disc for XP and one for Vista. I can't see the point in keeping changing. When I get a new main laptop I will get Windows 7, but that won't be for a while yet.
I recently picked up a Dell Latitude X1 off ebay for £125.
It's a tiny laptop with an 11" screen and was bundled with an external DVD RW and a couple of spare batteries. Not bad for £125!
Anyway, failing that, a mate recently bought a Samsung N130 and I was really, really impressed with it. It seemed to be streets ahead of the Asus EEE jobbies in terms of construction quality and ergonomics.
A bunch of guys I work with all bought EEEPCs and I found them to be fiddly, clumsy and, basically, a total PITA to work with.
Any new laptop you buy is going to come with an operating system and very few come with Linux so the CD you have already is unlikely to save you any money. Also if your CD is OEM then you can't use it on another machine anyway.
Are netbooks ok for storing music? and can you install word on them?
I don't understand. If the netbook comes with Xp and I have an XP disc, what is the problem? Plus what does the phrase in bold mean?
TBH, pretty much the only netbooks coming with XP are old stock.
I don't understand why you are insisting on getting one with XP just because you have a XP CD. Do you realise that virtually all netbooks with come with a operating system pre-installed. In fact it will be harder to find one without a O/S then one with some type of O/S installed. In which case you are paying for the O/S and might as well get one with Windows 7. There is a already software such as IE9 which no longer works in XP.
And if you do buy one with XP then you will only end up with another XP license.
At the end of the day, its your choice.
As for the bold part, look at your XP CD, does it say OEM on it anywhere ? If so then the CD should only be used with the computer it was supplied with.
1. A netbook is, basically, a fully functional (single core processor) PC, except no built-in optical drive. It will come with some pre-installed version of Windows, maybe XP - since, easier on resources - or possibly Win7.
2. Make sure you have the recovery media, in case of problems! If no such disc included, then, backup the on-board recovery partition. Possibly using Ping.
http://ping.windowsdream.com/
(this will allow you to save the operatiog system backup files onto the Netbook's hard disk, you can then copy them to a memory stick or external hard or optical drive. Should the recovery partition be compromised - or the hard disk beocme faulty - then you can always recover the operating system!).
3. Since the "computing power" is basically that of a laptop of maybe 4 years back, it will do "most things". Including play DVDs, if you use an external drive! It's up to you what you put on it. Loadsa freeware online ............
4. Avoid a Linux based netbook, that's non-standard and will give you limited software choice. Avoid a solid state "hard disk", go for a proper one (the difference in power consumption is small!). Be careful about the battery. Most cheap netbooks are 3 cell, go for 6 cell if you want to use it on batteries for extended periods.
5. If using on Internet, take the usual anti-malware precautions! Either use the included (bundled) anti-malware, or buy a commercial package, or use one of the well-known freeware versions.
6. The Acer One is probably best known. It's fine, but, be aware the hard disk is 1.9 inch, should this need replacing. The MSI wind netbooks use a 2.5 inch disk, same as laptops.
(added) Packard Bell laptops have the so-called "TATTOO", which is an absolute pain if u ever need to replace the hard drive. I'm not sure about their netbooks .........
http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?showtopic=20460
Yes and yes, office 2010 runs perfectly fine on my HP mini 210 though if you are using Windows 7 then I would recommend 2 GB of RAM.
if you want to store lots of media then obviously get one with a large hard drive.
Most models are a single core processor. That will do most things just fine, including play video.
Plays back 720p video (mks) no problems, struggles with 1080p rips though.
No, but you can with an external display.
I have installed a upgraded hard drive on mine and store all the kids media on there. Its great in the car, upto 9 hours baterry life, I bought a little tray that fits onto the back of the seat (like on a airplane) and they put it on there and can watch their stuff on there. Better then portable DVD player and I don't have to mess about converting formats, just copy media straight off my server and HTPC. Need k-lite code to play back media centre recorded files as it only has W7 starter so no media centre.
If I am visiting my parents then i hook it up to their TV via VGA (and seperate audio) and they can watch ther stuff, youtube, iplayer, play games, anything else.
The display will do 1920x1080 but 1080p playback of blu-ray rips is sadly just slightly beyond the N450 integrated intel graphics.
The netbooks I listed all come with XP OS. My disk isn't exactly a bought one - someone made it for me a few years ago. I have never had any problems with using it. It has an access code. It just gives me the word processing and xp documents.
OK, I assume this is some of priate CD with MS office etc ?
How you plan on using it, It would mean wiping the netbook and reinstalling with your hacked version and then reinstalling all the drivers, which to me seems like an awful lot of work.