Netbooks?

[Meatfish]

I'm looking to get a netbook, mainly just for word processing and browsing the web. Possibly watching movies online (if thats possible).

I was wondering if anyone could recommend me a good one, I'm thinking about getting one on a pay-monthly contract where the computer itself is free. That's if there are good ones on this kind of offer.

Yeah basically any advice I can get is welcome

 

[WrongSprite]

I bought a Dell one, one of the lil' colourful ones they do, its not bad.

As the first poster says, there's not a load of variation really, find something you like the look of.

 

[Monshroud]

If you are not looking to game on it, then I would look for one with the latest processor and the most RAM. I think the Intel Atom 455 is the newest, don't remember what is the latest for AMD. While many have 1GB of RAM, I have seen ones with 2GB which helps.

Facebook / Flash gaming will be fine, but if you are thinking you will queue up CoD or HL2 on it, you might be able to do it will most of the settings turned all the way down.

 

[Julianking93]

I had a Toshiba Mini Netbook for a while, so if you're looking for one, I'd recommend that...

but I'd say avoid netbooks altogether. They break down very easily and don't last more than maybe a year or two.

 

[Julianking93]

Oops. Sorry, double post.

 

[aseelt]

I'd recommend a 12" netbook with the better resolution of 1366x768. It's much nicer with the extra space. Otherwise things get cramped.

 

[viranimus]

While there isnt alot of variation there is some. If its basics like web browsing, movies, mp3, word processing, any will do, so go as cheap as you can with a company you trust.

As for the notion of size... I say get as small as you can. Now I say that being over 6`5 and sporting huge ham hocks for hands. The reason being is because its a net book. I recently purchased a netbook and it was fairly high end with a 12 inch screen. I hated it. My problem for it was it was too big to be as mobile as i wanted. It might as well have been a lap top, which for as much as i paid for it (450) I could have gotten a low end laptop that would have done so much more (I was able to use it to run oblivion which was my top end gaming exp)

The whole point of a netbook is small, versatile, mobile, with just enough basics and a very low price tag. If you get something sporting a 12 inch screen or so your just as well to get a laptop with a 15 inch screen or better.

 

[Sampler]

Some good netbook recommendations in this article:
http://www.reghardware.com/2010/12/06/years_test_laptops/
If you're UK based a look at Morgans might save you a few beans if you're ok with factory rec. stuff:
http://www.morgancomputers.co.uk/

 

[ramboondiea]

i highly recommend the "acer aspire one D250" iv had mine for almost a year and its one of the best purchases i have ever made, i do all my university work on it, surf the web, i have quite a bit of music on it, and it streams films just fine. you can get a few different operating systems for it when buying, and its easy (and pretty cheap) to upgrade it.
id also recommend getting the larger battery, it stands out a bit, but its worth it for upto 7 hours battery (depends what your doing with it)

 

[blankedboy]

Get this:

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Computers/Laptops/Laptops/Other/auction-338679123.htm

Yay.

 

[Slycne]

Like any other computer purchase, what you want to buy is ultimately going to come down to exactly you want to do with it.

Everything is going to work for word processor and limited web surfing, but like you mentioned if you are interested in being able to watch web video well, then you need to steer towards machines that run with some kind of a GPU, like the Nvidia Ion.

 

[Arachon]

If you're in the US, I'd get a System76 Starling [http://www.system76.com/product_info.php?cPath=28&products_id=105], wish I could get one myself, but they don't ship outside North America.