Earlier today I kinda nerd ragged a bit excessively at my laptop for being a piece of shit (thing locked up all the time due to hardware problems regardless of OS). Anyway, I was really pissed because I hadn't slept and had a bunch of work to do, and for some reason punching my laptop to get back at it seemed like a good idea.

Anyway, after having done so, I realized I literally killed the GPU (I punched the area directly over it). Like when I start the computer, the screen is all static, including the VGA output to an external monitor. I disassembled the whole thing hoping I only knocked a ribbon cable out of place, but the motherboard had no ribbon cables for the video :(. And yes, I know that was a really retarded idea. I blame HP though for making such a frustratingly crappy computer .

Anyway, I have a desktop computer, so I don't really care for buying a laptop again. I'm thinking instead I'm going to get a cheap netbook.

Does anyone know about netbooks (i.e. which ones are good, which aren't)? I just need something that has a readable screen, enough power to run visual studio (I'd imagine this isn't much), long battery life and a hard drive (running out of space on a small SSD is just too much of a pain in the ass).

Thanks!

go with asus,
http://www.bestbuy.ca/catalog/prodde...&catid= 20354

I believe many netbooks now run on fairly large hard drives (at least 160 GB), so I think space isn't really an issue anymore...

You didn't list any specific specs so here are two things I was interested in when I debated getting a netbook a few weeks ago.

This Gateway is $299.99 and has the new netbook processor Intel just rolled out the Intel Atom N450.

http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/pro...0137393&catid=

I don't really know much about Gateway though.

Asus is obviously well known in the arena of netbooks.

For $319.99 on Amazon this new Asus EEE PC also has the Intel Atom N450.

There's a lot of information about it on the page, I was leaning towards this one, but it won't be available until Feb 8th, its on pre-order now.

http://www.amazon.ca/ASUS-Seashell-1... 14459&sr=8-1

It really depends on your price range I guess which way you go. Those I believe are some cheaper deals on the brand new Intel Atom Processor, most of the netbooks still have the N270s and N280s but some of them are more expensive than these two netbooks.

They both have 160 GB hard drives which should be enough since you already have a desktop.

Also that's all if you want Intel, you could get something with AMD instead. Depends on your preference.

I'd recommend you get one with the Nvidia Ion chipset so you can play HD videos flawlessly. Since netbooks have such weak processors, the Ion will help greatly with video playback.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98iYnuT7y-c

Originally Posted by Carefree

I'd recommend you get one with the Nvidia Ion chipset so you can play HD videos flawlessly. Since netbooks have such weak processors, the Ion will help greatly with video playback.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98iYnuT7y-c

Why get a netbook though if you're looking to use it for HD video?

Originally Posted by Carefree

I'd recommend you get one with the Nvidia Ion chipset so you can play HD videos flawlessly. Since netbooks have such weak processors, the Ion will help greatly with video playback.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98iYnuT7y-c

I would consider it if were only like 30-50 dollars more than the standard Intel integrated crap. Right now though it looks like almost nothing available uses it.

Originally Posted by sew12

Why get a netbook though if you're looking to use it for HD video?

Especially when it looks like it's going to make a cheap secondary computer needlessly more expensive just so it can do something your real computer can likely do perfectly fine already...

if u are thinking of a cheap and efficient netbook then I would definitely suggest you to go for an Asus Eee pc. It has been editor's choice on cnet for months now. Also it is one of the netbooks other than Samsung and Lenovo which gived battery life of upto 8 hours. Plus Samsung and Lenovo are too expensive. Asus 1005HA EeePC is what I am talking about.

Really cheap stuff is the Accer ones...if you can get someone to ship it to the states, you can get a refurb Dell for about $169.

I don't really like getting refurbished electronics. I've been screwed over way too many times by some dumbass trying to resell a defective returned electronic as "refurbished".

Good tip on the eeePC 1005HA Kanishka. That's some pretty ridiculous battery life it has, lol.

Also, just so I know, has anyone purchased an Acer netbook? I've noticed they have similar stats to all the others, but are around $100 cheaper. :p

Originally Posted by Ownaginatios

Also, just so I know, has anyone purchased an Acer netbook? I've noticed they have similar stats to all the others, but are around $100 cheaper. :p

I would never buy an Acer product... srsly they're the bargain bin of computers. Since I've been at Mac, I've known plenty of people who initially had Acers and now have a different computer,while most people who started off with a decent computer (ie Dell, Mac, HP, etc) have kept it the whole time.

Originally Posted by Taunton

I would never buy an Acer product... srsly they're the bargain bin of computers. Since I've been at Mac, I've known plenty of people who initially had Acers and now have a different computer,while most people who started off with a decent computer (ie Dell, Mac, HP, etc) have kept it the whole time.

Ya, that's what I was afraid of. Damn them and their attractive looking price tags :p

I've heard Asus is definitely the way to go.

Acers suck. Don't buy one.

The Acer Aspire One netbook is seriously a cheap piece of crap.