That's funny, I just finished ordering a netbook and this thread is at the top of the forum. If only I had just eaten some pie.

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product... E16834220698

This is what I settled on after a lot of searching, reviews, and forum browsing. It's definitely more on the laptop side of things, as it's a wee bit bigger and the battery life won't be great. I was close to getting a laptop anyways, so it's a nice medium because it will still be very portable. It doesn't come with an operating system installed (major $$$ saved) and it's on sale, so I consider it a pretty good deal for what I'm getting.

I'm going to put Windows XP Black on it (http://thepiratebay.org/torrent/5697111rnrnPOST ) following the advice of an IT buddy of mine. It's a trimmed down version of XP that is apparently great for netbooks. Note, I have 2 Windows XP licenses to my name from older computers so I'm not being a pirate... Not that there's anything wrong with that

I hadn't particularly looked at where to *get* the Acer 721, but a quick google dropped me on Amazon for $430. $350 for the 521's the same price I was finding.



I *know* the ASUS 1005 isn't gonna handle 720p, that's its major downside. On the other hand, it's cheaper, and has *much* better battery life, which is why I'm not sure. This is especially noticeable when you consider the resolution on the 521, which iirc isn't actually good enough to take any real advantage of that 720p graphics, and would leave it making more sense to look at the 721. *ick*


As for the 1201T, it does look kinda pretty. I'm perfectly comfortable dealing with XP, and the lack of pre-installed OS lowers the price some. $400 puts it between the Acer 521/721, it's HD-capable and has a slightly larger display than any of the netbooks I've looked at so far....seems sorta halfway in between netbook and laptop. Only battery life quote I've seen puts it at about 2.5hrs though, which is pretty short. Unless literally every lecture hall on campus has plugins, I'd really tend to worry about my it dying on me, seeing as one of the biggest reasons I want it is for notes, so long as I can stay away from the intrinsic distractions it provides.

*ack* I fail decisions. And this is why I'm doing this now instead of the week before class starts.

To be honest I think it's the pie that did it, really....random thread title, come for the pie, stay for the netbooks.....

Originally Posted by LazyNinja

I hadn't particularly looked at where to *get* the Acer 721, but a quick google dropped me on Amazon for $430. $350 for the 521's the same price I was finding.



I *know* the ASUS 1005 isn't gonna handle 720p, that's its major downside. On the other hand, it's cheaper, and has *much* better battery life, which is why I'm not sure. This is especially noticeable when you consider the resolution on the 521, which iirc isn't actually good enough to take any real advantage of that 720p graphics, and would leave it making more sense to look at the 721. *ick*


As for the 1201T, it does look kinda pretty. I'm perfectly comfortable dealing with XP, and the lack of pre-installed OS lowers the price some. $400 puts it between the Acer 521/721, it's HD-capable and has a slightly larger display than any of the netbooks I've looked at so far....seems sorta halfway in between netbook and laptop. Only battery life quote I've seen puts it at about 2.5hrs though, which is pretty short. Unless literally every lecture hall on campus has plugins, I'd really tend to worry about my it dying on me, seeing as one of the biggest reasons I want it is for notes, so long as I can stay away from the intrinsic distractions it provides.

*ack* I fail decisions. And this is why I'm doing this now instead of the week before class starts.

To be honest I think it's the pie that did it, really....random thread title, come for the pie, stay for the netbooks.....

HD on netbooks is a bit of a non-starter (it's nice but it's almost completely superfluous), you can get a 24"+ 1080p screen for your desktop for $150-$200, that's where you should be focusing on getting the best res possible. The ability to watch 720p videos on Youtube at full quality isn't worth having less than half the battery life and a 50% premium on the price, go for the Asus.

Originally Posted by Tailsnake

HD on netbooks is a bit of a non-starter (it's nice but it's almost completely superfluous), you can get a 24"+ 1080p screen for your desktop for $150-$200, that's where you should be focusing on getting the best res possible. The ability to watch 720p videos on Youtube at full quality isn't worth having less than half the battery life and a 50% premium on the price, go for the Asus.

I agree with Tailsnake. If you're going to be typing your notes, you should go for max battery life because it'll make for a lot less hassle during a long day with lots of lectures.

The 1201T might be coming with me to a few specific classes if it's particularly useful, but mostly I just wanted something that I could easily take home on weekends. It'll be plugged in 90% of the time I'll be using it.

To be honest, you're saying exactly what I've been thinking. In the end, reliability is going to be the most important thing, and that means battery life, not 720p Youtube. Plus, it being a little bit on the slow side means I'll be less inclined to end up gaming when a lecture's getting boring, probably a good thing.

I've actually already got a 24'' HD screen for my desktop, got a good deal on it (yay) but tbh given my multitasking nature I might just spend that $160 I'd save on the netbook by getting a second one. I'd never had a screen that large before, and was working off a crappy laptop before that so it was a *really* noticeable difference. Oddly, one of the most useful new features on windows 7 I've found was actually the ability to just run a window to the edge of the screen and have it auto-resize to fit half the screen. Annoying as @#$# the first few times until I figured out how it worked, then started to love it. 24'' is just big enough to comfortably run two normally fullscreen windows, particularly firefox so you can have two separate tabs open at once. (As I sit here typing on MacInsiders, watching old X-files episodes and using MSN without having to move anything 'cause it all fits.) Not sure if I second screen would make that better, or start to become a hassle. Anybody got any experience working with multiple screens?

I think unless something else gets thrown at my head the best option for what I'm trying to do will be the 1005. Just a matter of shopping around and seeing where I can get the best price on it.

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