Netbook on sale today, is it a good one?!

sassandgroove · Nov 27, 2009

Is this a good Netbook?! It is going to be on sale later today at Amazon and if it is a good enough deal my husband said I can get it. (Only because I ask if I can spend $5. He always says, "Honey you make money too.")

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Dell Inspiron Mini 10 10.1-Inch Obsidian Black Netbook - Up to 6 Hours 20 Minutes of Battery Life (Windows 7 Starter)

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002PY7OHQ/?tag=absolutewritedm-20

Fenika · Nov 27, 2009

When I did my research months ago, I never found Dell to be a contender. Not sure how new this baby is.

Google things like 'netbook review' and so forth and look for 'companies' that are doing the looking themselves (not just repeating what others say). PCmag, cnet, and I think laptop reviews are goods starts. Spend the next four hours comparing like crazy. You prolly won't find the perfect laptop for you in that time, but you will know if this is a good one.

Of course, it took me at least two weeks to pick the Acer, and then I jumped ship to the new Toshiba...

sassandgroove · Nov 27, 2009

THanks. I am trying to finish my NaNo. I called my husband and if he has time he's going to look up some stuff for me. I don't want to get it just because it is on sale. You know?

sassandgroove · Nov 27, 2009

I'm leaning towards no.

http://www.wired.com/reviews/product/dell_mini10

Fenika, why'd you go with Toshiba?

Fenika · Nov 27, 2009

Short answer: Best on the market, the day it was released. No joke. This baby blew the others out of the water. And was the only one readily available in the US with a 8-9 hour battery standard. They have come down a little in price too I think. Energy efficient, light, large keyboard, and sensibly built. I think PCmag has the best review of it?
Some of them are touchy about ram out of the box. You may have to remove some of the crap programs. I multitask alot so I upgraded to 2gig. My biggest gripe is the touchpad locks up a little, or gets confused when my left palm sweats on it. I've mostly fixed both issues (a piece of tape for the later, to shrink the touchpad size.) And the monitor Could have been 11inches, but I deal. Any netbook will have monitor coping issues

scarletpeaches · Nov 27, 2009

ACER ASPIRE FTW!

Nadia · Nov 27, 2009

I have Samsung NC10.

I like everything about it, even though the monitor had a problem. But Samsung fixed it at no charge to me, and the warranty service was seamless. They offered international warranty, if things like that matter to you. Samsung will pay for shipping as well.

P.S. I like Toshiba products too. I've bought a Toshiba laptop which broke within 1 year after I moved to Japan from the States. Toshiba JP fixed it for free (it also paid for shipping).

stephenf · Nov 27, 2009

I have bought Dell machines in the past and they have all done the job.I recently bought a Acer and I think Acer are better than Dell.

sassandgroove · Nov 27, 2009

thanks all.

Stew21 · Nov 27, 2009

Dell has the same computer listed at $249 right now. Whatever deal you get at Amazon, check back at Dell.com to see what price they have for what you want if you decide to go with a Dell.

veinglory · Nov 27, 2009

I also lean to Toshiba, they have a higher spec for the price and in my experience have been nigh on indestructable. Their down side over the three I have owned is that they run a bit heavy and my bettery life has never been good.

I am hoping to replace my currentl old Satelitte with a small format that is easier to carry around--but the variety available is baffling.

Deleted member 42 · Nov 27, 2009

I gotta say, I've noticed for years that Toshibas tend to have downright amazing screens.

ChristineR · Nov 27, 2009

I also vote for Toshiba. The Protege is a touch screen with a tablet. Qosmio and Tecra are bigger and heavier, but also more powerful. They're more for people who will use them like a desktop, maybe moving it around in the building occasionally. Qosmio has movie/sound features, Tecra has more emphasis on CPU. The Satellite is the one that most people would want for a notebook that they carry around a lot. The Mini is the smallest, but much more expensive for what you get. It really is only for people who have to spend hundreds of hours on an airplane and want to pay extra for minimal size.

sassandgroove · Nov 27, 2009

thanks everyone.

Stew21 · Nov 28, 2009

regarding the mention of Acer. I have a friend who has one. We talked about it last night and she loves it. But another friend of ours who works on computers for a living said they have horrible to non-existent tech support. Something to keep in mind.

NewKidOldKid · Nov 28, 2009

Acer Aspire. They're cheap, cute and never had a problem with one.

benbradley · Nov 28, 2009

sassandgroove said:
Is this a good Netbook?! It is going to be
Dell Inspiron Mini 10 10.1-Inch Obsidian Black Netbook - Up to 6 Hours 20 Minutes of Battery Life (Windows 7 Starter)

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002PY7OHQ/?tag=absolutewritedm-20

My Toshiba NB205 I got a month ago has an honest 8 hours (!) battery life doing general writing, surfing and chatting, even with an external keyboard and PS2-to-USB adapter plugged in, for the same price. Some review said something about the 'big' battery in back but it doesn't seem too big to me.
Looks like Amazon's price is $314.95:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002BDUAEK/?tag=absolutewritedm-20
(also available in pink)

Medievalist said:
I gotta say, I've noticed for years that Toshibas tend to have downright amazing screens.

This screen has a very few bad pixels (like I suppose most of these displays), but I usually don't notice and other than that it's just fine. As good as my high-res CRT monitors, only not as big. Of course, this is my first laptop, so I have no real experience to compare.

BenPanced · Nov 28, 2009

I wouldn't buy a netbook online. In my experience, it's something I'd want hands on before I made up my mind; all the netbooks I've tried at Target would be too uncomfortable for me to use properly. YMMV, of course.

bethany · Nov 28, 2009

I have one of the original asus eee's and though it's been useful for travelling, I don't like to write on it.

When I buy a new netbook, I will try it out in the store before purchasing.

ejket · Nov 28, 2009

bethany said:
When I buy a new netbook, I will try it out in the store before purchasing.

I did that today when I was at the office supply store ... and then I bought some spiral notebooks and a pack of gel pens. My hands are just too big for those little keyboards, though they are neat-looking little machines.

AliceAnderson · Dec 2, 2009

I looked at all the options including Toshiba and Acer. I have a Toshiba laptop. Cheap computer. Didn't hold up. And didn't like the screen nearly as much as Dells. My family has had Gateways, Toshibas, HPs, Compaq, and right now, we are ALL on Dell. Seven Dells. Here's a review of my Dell Mini: http://catauniversity.com/?p=666

inkkognito · Dec 2, 2009

Another Acer fan here. I won a Kindle at Demand Studios...sold it and bought an Acer Aspire that caught my eye at Target. I love that little thing, although I think they exaggerate the battery life. I am thrilled that it has XP instead of Vista.

Maryn · Dec 2, 2009

Sassy, I'm pretty sure I saw notebooks rated in the current issue of Consumer Reports. (Or maybe just some that were considered best buys. I forget.) Anyway, stop by a newsstand and at least scan it, if you haven't yet bought a notebook.

Maryn, chained to a desktop and perfectly happy

LaurieD · Dec 2, 2009

Just in my own experience...

I have a Toshiba - haven't had any problems with it - it's about 6 months old.
Hubs has a Toshiba - recently had the fan replaced, no other problems - it's about 2 years old.
Had a Dell around 6 years ago - lots of problems with it.
Friends have new Dells - love them, have had no problems with them - between 1 year to less than 6 months old.

Though these are all laptops, not minis/netbooks...

benbradley · Dec 2, 2009

BenPanced said:
I wouldn't buy a netbook online. In my experience, it's something I'd want hands on before I made up my mind; all the netbooks I've tried at Target would be too uncomfortable for me to use properly. YMMV, of course.

bethany said:
I have one of the original asus eee's and though it's been useful for travelling, I don't like to write on it.

When I buy a new netbook, I will try it out in the store before purchasing.

I tried out my Toshiba netbook and bought it in the store, but I KNEW I was going to use an external "desktop" computer keyboard with it. I glanced at the other larger laptops/notebooks and some have more nearly full-size keyboards, but I still would have a hard time typing on something where the keys only move at most half the distance they do on a desktop keyboard.

inkkognito said:
Another Acer fan here. I won a Kindle at Demand Studios...sold it and bought an Acer Aspire that caught my eye at Target. I love that little thing, although I think they exaggerate the battery life. I am thrilled that it has XP instead of Vista.

I saw an article where Microsoft grudgingly extended the life of XP specifically for the netbooks. If you really want to read about it, it's in the last month's tweefs from here, who tweets a bunch of netbook news articles, probably more than you want to know...:
http://twitter.com/netbooknerd

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