Most people I've met who have purchased netbooks indicate that they
have buyers remorse.  Netbooks seem like a neat solution to the
size/weight problem, but even the high-end models are severely
underpowered compared to even a low end notebook.  The processor bus
is limited purposefully to increase battery time, which means your
transfers are going to be noticably slower than a regular machine,
among other significant tradeoffs.

As long as you are prepared for that, you should be fine.

If you are unsure, take a look at 13" or 12" notebooks - nearly double
in terms of processor capability, memory, HD, etc for similar or lower
cost.  The size difference isn't very large, but weight and battery
time are noticably worse.

-Adam

On Tue, Aug 11, 2009 at 10:03 AM, Russell McMahon<apptechnz@gmail.com> wrot=
e:
> 1. =A0Question- detailed at end: Is there any inobvious reason why a netb=
ook
> seems a bad choice for this task. Is there a better newer brighter soluti=
on
> that IO've missed?
> 2. People may not be aware of this nicely specd recent netbook offering.
> ___________
>
> When travelling I usually lug a standard size laptop - in a daypack on
> occasion. Doable but annoying.
>
> We've decided to "invest" [tm] in a 'netbook' for our coming trip.
> I've done all the standard reading and comparing.
> Reduced size and weight and reasonably OK battery life seem to make this a
> travellers dream, comparatively.
> A light-weight portable solar panel of a few Watts capacity MAY be part of
> trip complement depending on overall final packed weight and volume.
>
> Prices here don't seem too much worse than Asia and buying here allows
> pretrip setup and local extended warranty.
>
> Choices seemed to be variants of HP/Acer/Asus in around the 10" screen si=
ze
> in each case.
>
> I've probably decided on the reasonably new and well specd HP 5101 with A=
tom
> N280 1.66GHz, 1366 x 768 10.1" display, 2GB RAM, 320 GB HDD, WiFi,
> Bluetooth and Win XP Pro with Vista Business downgrade optional. Includin=
g a
> 3 year pickup and return HP warranty the prices is about $US700, which se=
ems
> a bargain for such a well specifiEd machine, when compared with specs and
> cost say a year ago. HP keyboard is generally felt to be as good as any in
> this class, this model has a real DB15 VGA port (unlike some earlier HPs)=
. 4
> cell battery is a shame compared to 6 cell of some competitors. NO intern=
al
> DVD and external USB DVD probably won't be added as premium pricing of sm=
all
> USB powered units seems unjustified. 1.3kg. 23.2 (at front) x 262 x 180 mm
>
> Microsoft have poleaxed the display resolution on all netbooks with XP ho=
me
> by requiring they be no more than 1024 x 600 to gain license rights to the
> low cost XP home variant. XP Pro versions don't have this limitation and =
the
> extra height makes a large difference on some pages.
>
> The major tasks are 1. the assimilation, retention and possible display of
> photos =A0along the way with external HDD as backup) plus 2. WiFi / LAN
> internet access where appropriate. I haven't tested CF card download spee=
ds
> yet but expect they may be slow by laptop speeds but not absolutely
> terrible. I may be wrong.
>
> Post trip use liable to be more of the same.
>
> QUESTIONs: =A0This SEEMS like an excellent version of this class of machi=
ne to
> me. What have I missed? Am I going to regret this? Why should I not inste=
ad
> buy eg an HP 12.1" 'proper' noteboook =A0with substantially more size, mo=
re
> weight more processing speed, more cost and a DVD writer? Any fatal flaws
> (apart from lack of internal DVD)..
>
>
> =A0Russell
> --
> http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive
> View/change your membership options at
> http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist
>

-- =

http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive
View/change your membership options at
http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist