The Netbook Debate

[pinkmonkey]

I've got something like five hours use out of my Eee 901 netbook with wi-fi and fairly heavy usage, and this test got a massive eight hours: http://www.mobilecomputermag.co.uk/20080620604/final-eee-pc-901-battery-life-result-8-hours.html.

With such a lengthy battery life, it's a great laptop to take out for the whole day - you never have to be worrying over the battery meter like on normal laptops. Pick up a cheap second battery and you'll be covered for miles of canal!

I reckon I could probably run one off my Sunlinq roll-up solar panel - on a sunny day we can run an mp3 player and small speakers from it.

 

[editor]

I reckon I could probably run one off my Sunlinq roll-up solar panel - on a sunny day we can run an mp3 player and small speakers from it.

Sounds like a plan!

Not all netbooks have such a good battery life though, so choose carefully.

I got the Asus Eee 901 because of its fab battery performance, and the Samsung NC10 is a good performer too.

You can get a s/hand Eee901 for £200 here, btw.
http://www.pixmania.co.uk/uk/uk/rf/asus-901/19342__2179?srcid=198&mctag=uk_16067

 

[Kid_Eternity]

If there were external keyboards for the iPhone I'd pretty much never use a netbook again tbh.

Yeah one of those cool fold out keyboards would be excellent for the iPhone.

 

[UnderOpenSky]

Yeah one of those cool fold out keyboards would be excellent for the iPhone.

I thought virtual keyboards were so good you didn't need one.

 

[Crispy]

Fold-out keyboard is better than touchscreen or palm/blackberry hard keys, for extended use.

 

[fractionMan]

I'm tempted to get one for the boat. We use two laptops onboard but they are a real drain on the batteries, meaning four hours of genny or engine running every day when we are off grid. Netbooks draw very little power compared to a full size laptop and would make a big difference to our energy use.

I suspect I'll be using lil fractions netbook a lot for the same reasons. I'm saving up for about 200w of solar next spring which should help a lot. It's getting cheaper all the time.

 

[EastEnder]

I like my netbook cos it makes me feel like a giant.

 

[derf]

I use a Nokia 5130. it's a music phone but I use that function for listening to podcasts I've downloaded on my netbook.
It has a reasonable little camera that I use to take pictures of whatever that I upload t the internet on my netbook.
I do listen to music that I upload to my phone from my netbook.
I use the phone to book visits to various places where I do a phototalk using my netbook.
I did work as a DJ where I used my netbook to play the music.
I use various forums accessed from my netbook as it has an almost full sized keyboard that makes it so much easier than using a BB or whatever smartphone.

That's not to say a smartphone is a waste of cash, it's not but a netbook does a different job and has many functions that a smartphone would be fucking useless at.

I looked at smartphones but at this moment in time they would be useless for the things I need to do while the netbook is perfect.

 

[Kid_Eternity]

I thought virtual keyboards were so good you didn't need one.

LOL! For a smart phone yes, but a full keyboard beats any smartphone keyboard whether virtual or hardware.

 

[lunatrick]

I just use my nc10 for browsing in bed whilst watching tv late at night....and when i go away. I've yet to use a smartphone for being online unless I really have to. I reckon a netbook is about as small as you can go before it just gets too annoying.

 

[UnderOpenSky]

I just use my nc10 for browsing in bed whilst watching tv late at night....and when i go away. I've yet to use a smartphone for being online unless I really have to. I reckon a netbook is about as small as you can go before it just gets too annoying.

For me its about choosing sites. If I've got time to kill and browsing on my phone, I'll tend to choose ones with lots of text on a page, with a simple layout.

 

[Macabre]

If there were external keyboards for the iPhone I'd pretty much never use a netbook again tbh.

My girl friend takes her smart phone and HP iPAQ folding keyboard to the library to write up her phd instead of her laptop now. She just sticks them in her pocket and goes, particularly handy also when she's there and has to go to the loo, she can keep working!