laptop or netbook?

[dougdeep]

And if you only use it for the odd bit of surfing and a few photos, go the Linux route and save even more.

 

[beorhthelm]

I just would not buy anything Sony purely because they are overpriced.

so you'd buy one if it were discounted over £100?

netbooks, as the name suggests, are great for going on the net. if you do any real work though, get a proper laptop.

 

[clapham_gull]

my eyes are on these two:
Samsung NC10 10.2-inch Netbook
Sony VAIO 15.4-inch NS30E/W Laptop

The netbook looks like a great travel companion. The laptop costs more, but my friend highly recommended me this one.

So, any suggestion?

I was looking for something light and small, but with a usable keyboard. I didn't want to have to plug in a external CD/DVD drive.

I eventually bought a Toshiba Satellite Pro U400. Weighs less than 2kg.

As always the problem with laptops is the added weight of the power supply, but I bought a cheap non Toshiba one (from a supplier I trust) and leave that at work.

 

[Superphil]

although you can get much better netbooks than that

Interesting comment, the research I did before buying mine led me to believe that the NC10 was by far the best available at that time, and now the replacement model NC110, if you look in PC mags is rated very highly, not quite sure what would make another model "much better"

 

[Fungus]

Samsung win the PC Pro laptop awards - Awards 2009 | PC Pro

I have a Samsung NC20 netbook, which I love. Screen is great, but I wouldn't want the smaller NC10. Keyboard is also great, although you have you use combinations for some of the control functions. Battery life is around 5 hours, and it's light and portable.

I don't miss having an optical drive - everything I want is downloaded open-source software. And that includes running Apache web server with PHP, and MySQL database server - so don't let anyone tell you they're only good for a bit of surfing!

True, netbooks have their limitations (I've not bothered trying to edit photos), but the only thing that's really hit the processor is an HP printer driver!

Oh, and my wife has the larger R610 Sumsung laptop, with BluRay drive and HD screen, and she's really happy with that.

Depends what you want to do with it.

 

[Evil Edna]

The Samsung ! Believe me Sony PCs are very overpriced and have questionable reliability.

QFT

Plus I've used the samsung one and I'd say it's one of the best net-books out there.

 

[Another Berkshire Seagull]

I've got a EeePC 1000HE.

Keyboard is very usable and bettery life is awesome.

 

[Evil Edna]

I got an eee-pc too 7" screen though, with Ubuntu as my OS. Keyboard is a bit clunky but does the job.

 

[bhaexpress]

Dell are shit. Look at some Toshibas, they are quality.

Must be crap as Dell sell more laptops than anybody else. Toshes are okay but tend to be slow. I prefer HP personally or even Acer who are pretty good. Most are about the same I'd say but Sony used to have (and may still) have a bad reputation and are certainly not worth the extra cost. IBMs are good but a lot of people don't like them as they use a Toggle Switch instead of a Touchpad.

 

[bhaexpress]

I've got a EeePC 1000HE.

Keyboard is very usable and bettery life is awesome.

Agreed, that is a very good value machine.

 

[ridda]

My sister inlaw has a NC10 and it's a nice bit of kit, the best notebook i have seen.

 

[clapham_gull]

Dell may sell many units, but so do McDonalds. They seem very cheaply put together and scratch very easily.

I am very impressed by the quality of Toshiba having never had one before.

Havent seen one recently, but IBM always seems to make laptops built to last. I presume you pay through the nose for them.

 

[bhaexpress]

so you'd buy one if it were discounted over £100?

netbooks, as the name suggests, are great for going on the net. if you do any real work though, get a proper laptop.

Nope, I would never own a Sony unless they were 20% less than a Dell and that will never happen. I've just had too many bad experiences with them. No company will buy them and that's not just based on price.

 

[bhaexpress]

Dell may sell many units, but so do McDonalds. They seem very cheaply put together and scratch very easily.

I am very impressed by the quality of Toshiba having never had one before.

Havent seen one recently, but IBM always seems to make laptops built to last. I presume you pay through the nose for them.

I don't know, all the Dells that go through my hands have bags so they don't seem to damage. I agree the IBM is durable and yes, lives a long time. It is expensive but not that much more than HP (which is another solid piece of kit).

 

[clapham_gull]

Nope, I would never own a Sony unless they were 20% less than a Dell and that will never happen. I've just had too many bad experiences with them. No company will buy them and that's not just based on price.

I know a company who buys tons of them....

.. and the users hate them.

Talking of bags, something gave me a tip about UDG, who are a DJ supply company who also happen to produce hardened zipped sleeves for laptops.

I rather buy a sleeve and put it in whatever bag I want.

They are the business. Light, but very very hard.

( and come recommended by our Norman )

http://www.udmdjstore.co.uk/category.asp?CategoryID=2553

 

[bhaexpress]

I know a company who buys tons of them....

.. and the users hate them.

I've never heard that at all and I do see thousands. To the users I meet a Laptop is a Laptop and as long as it does it's job they are perfectly happy.

 

[Fungus]

Talking of bags, something gave me a tip about UDG, who are a DJ supply company who also happen to produce hardened zipped sleeves for laptops.

I rather buy a sleeve and put it in whatever bag I want.

They are the business. Light, but very very hard.

( and come recommended by our Norman )

http://www.udmdjstore.co.uk/category.asp?CategoryID=2553

Brilliant. I've been looking for something to put my 12" in, but all the decent ones are for 15" or bigger. These have the right size, and look good.

 

[clapham_gull]

I was talking about Sonys BHA, small flash looking things the users hate. As for the hard laptop sleeves, brilliant things.

 

[auschr]

I have a PC at home and I carry around a netbook, it works out good. Can do proper work on a proper PC, but carry netbook on the fly for less intensive needs. If you don't have a PC, a netbook is pretty underpowered and they don't have cdrom trays and a few other things.

 

[Fungus]

I have a PC at home and I carry around a netbook, it works out good. Can do proper work on a proper PC, but carry netbook on the fly for less intensive needs. If you don't have a PC, a netbook is pretty underpowered and they don't have cdrom trays and a few other things.

Yeah, much as I love my netbook, it wouldn't do as a desktop replacement. I have a horrible Dell PC, which will be replaced ASAP.