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Mini Laptop
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wacky
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O.P. Mini Laptop
So I'm thinking of getting one of those tiny laptops. They are quite convenient to bring to school. My question is, which one would you recommend? I don't want anything expensive because I'm low on money. I might even only try to buy one on boxing day. So ya.. a while from now. But I want to start having ideas as to what I want to buy.

So any help would be greatly appreciated. And if you think a mini laptop isn't a good idea, please let me know why :happy: I won't be playing any games on it what so ever, if that's what would make you say not to get one
09-30-2009 09:52 PM
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Sunshine
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RE: Mini Laptop
I just got me an Acer Aspire 1810T, 11.6" Timeline laptop. In the United States this system is called 1410.

Some reviews:
http://acer1810treview.blogspot.com/
http://acer1810t.awardspace.com/

Lightweigth, small but not too small, full size keyboard, 8 hours battery life. And you get a free upgrade to Windows 7!

Acer 1810T in English
Acer 1410 United States

I love it!

This post was edited on 09-30-2009 at 10:06 PM by Sunshine.
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09-30-2009 10:00 PM
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wacky
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O.P. RE: Mini Laptop
quote:
Originally posted by Sunshine
I just got me an Acer Aspire 1810T, 11.6" Timeline laptop. In the United States this system is called 1410.

Some reviews:
http://acer1810treview.blogspot.com/
http://acer1810t.awardspace.com/

Lightweigth, small but not too small, full size keyboard, 8 hours battery life. And you get a free upgrade to Windows 7!

Acer 1810T in English
Acer 1410 United States

I love it!
I'll definitely keep that one in mind :happy: thanks a lot Sunshine! :gfdrin:
09-30-2009 10:19 PM
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lizard.boy
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RE: Mini Laptop
One of my friends picked up one of the Acer Netbooks running XP recently for a great price, I think it was $249 or so. She loves it.

If I were to buy one now, I'd probably go for a Dell Mini 10v. They run XP or Ubuntu, and can be upgraded to Windows 7 or even Hackintoshed. $329 is a decent price and I really like the aesthetics.
10-01-2009 01:58 AM
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prashker
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RE: Mini Laptop
My dad bought me an HP Mini 110-1036CA from NCIX for 279$, works great, it's pretty epic :p....runs Windows 7 perfectly.
10-01-2009 02:23 AM
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CookieRevised
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RE: Mini Laptop
Since 1.5 year, I own a Packard Bell DOT.BE/010, which is even smaller and cheaper (you can get it for €250) than the Acer:

8.9" screen (1024x600)
Intel Atom N270 1.6GHz
160GB HDD
1GB Memory
6-cell battery (5200mAh)

review:
http://www.madshrimps.be/?action=getarticle&articID=905
link might sometimes be down due to heavy traffic

I'm very pleased with it, eventhough it is often seen as a "secondary" brand. It is not extremely powerfull, but still more powerfull than many other netbooks in its prize range and screen size class.

Few notes on netbooks:

Although processing power in PCs is usually very important, it is not so much with netbooks.
Since netbooks have very small screens you wont be able to do any heavy photoshopping/movie editing/whatever anyways as it isn't very practical.
So, although an Intel Core2 may sound tempting, it has some disadvantages too. They use a lot of power, produce more heat and thus need more cooling, thus relative bulkier, etc.

And because they need that power, your battery wont last that long either (unless you attach an oversized big brick).
IMHO, it is better to choose for a bit less processing power over longer battery life because the main purpose of a netbook is mobility.
So my choice would still be an Intel Atom CPU. Of course, if you have the money and you don't want a too small netbook... the choice is personal of course...

On average a fully charged battery of a netbook gives you like 4 hours power. This because a lot of netbooks don't have big batteries and/or have a normal laptop processors which use relative a lot of power.

Something to watch for too: Some netbooks are advertised as eg: 10", although they only have a usuable screensize of 8" for example.

Another thing is the keyboard. Although most netbooks claim to have full sized keyboards, many realy don't.
Many keys have double functions and this is sometimes very clumsy. For example, a lot of netbooks have the PgDn/PgUp keys as secondary keys on the arrow keys. The smaller the netbook, the more double functions on the keys you'll find. This can be very troublesome in some cases. But again, personal choice...

So the things looked at when I bought one:
- Processor: Intel Atom
- Keyboard: does it have all the keys I need as seperate keys and are they easy to use? (I hate it when I don't have PgDn/PgUp, insert, etc as seperate keys). And what kind of keys are they; For example, the Acer 1810T has flat keys, it is like typing on a piece of paper, very cool and maybe you like that.

- Battery: How many cells does it have and what is its power output (mAh) (for both goes: the more the better).
PS: a 6-cell battery is not so common and is relative big compared to most netbooks btw. A 3-cell is much more common actually (at least here).
3-cell battery gives you like 2-3hours normal usage
6-cell battery gives you like 4-6hours normal usage
(depending on the type of CPU and what you exactly do of course)
- Screen: _always_ check your screen for dead pixels or subpixels. If possible even in the store itself. Some brands (like Packard Bell) have more chance in having dead pixels than others and you need a lot of dead pixels in order to claim another. (I was lucky, not one subpixel dead)
- Touchpad: some have strange mouse buttons (eg: like the Packerd Bell DOT) which you need to get used to. (The only thing I hate about the Packard Bell DOT)
- Memory: wasn't so much of a problem for me. But 1Gb at least of course, I'd say...

Things to watch out for (especially in ads):
- Weight: is almost always _without_ the battery. The battery can add a lot of extra weight.
- Screen size: is it the usable screen size or the panel size?
- HDD capacity: Not always mentionned, though it is a big factor (also in price). On average you have 100-120GB HDDs.
- Battery-life: be very carefull with this!! The battery-life is very often seriously exaggerated! I still need to see the first netbook with a battery life of 8 hours using the normal standard battery.
(sorry Sunshine, but I don't realy believe that you will have 8 hours with that Acer with normal usage).
- Battery-size: Very often the battery goes a bit outside of the casing. The more powerful the battery, the more chance there is it will stick out a bit. (I love it that the Acer 1810T has the 6-cell battery fully inside. cool)

PS: about Windows 7: that will run on almost all netbooks. And almost all offer a free (or almost free) upgrade to Win 7. So that's not realy something extraordinary.

This post was edited on 10-01-2009 at 02:19 PM by CookieRevised.
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10-01-2009 03:22 AM
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Menthix
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RE: Mini Laptop
quote:
Originally posted by CookieRevised
8.9" screen (1024x600)
I have a 9 inch netbook too (Eee PC), but at that size I find the keyboard keys too small to type comfortable on. If you want to use it for school, where you probably spend quite come time writing documents, keep that in mind. Try one out in the store, or better borrow one from a friend, if you have the chance.
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10-01-2009 09:55 AM
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andrey
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RE: Mini Laptop
The keyboard is definitely an important factor when buying a Netbook, be sure to try it out and see if it responds well, doesn't wobble too much etc.
And I wouldn't go below 10'' screens (or 1024x600 px), working with smaller screens can be annoying.
Consider upgrading the RAM to 2GB if possible, it's only $30 more and everything will be a lot snappier than with the default 1GB RAM.

This post was edited on 03-23-2011 at 08:03 AM by andrey.
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10-01-2009 10:20 AM
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CookieRevised
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RE: RE: Mini Laptop
quote:
Originally posted by Menthix
quote:
Originally posted by CookieRevised
8.9" screen (1024x600)
I have a 9 inch netbook too (Eee PC), but at that size I find the keyboard keys too small to type comfortable on. If you want to use it for school, where you probably spend quite come time writing documents, keep that in mind.
very true... although it depends from brand to brand also.

eg: Although the Packard Bell DOT.BE has a 8.9" screen, the casing itself it bigger (more like 10" I think). This makes that the keys aren't so small as some other 8.9" netbooks which don't have the 'extra' blank spaces on the sides of the screen and thus don't have that tiny extra width for slightly bigger keys...

quote:
Originally posted by Menthix
Try one out in the store, or better borrow one from a friend, if you have the chance.
Absolutely! Indeed! It is extremely essential that you see the netbook with your own eyes and that you have the chance to handle it before you buy it. This is even more important than with laptops.

quote:
Originally posted by andrey
Consider upgrading the RAM to 2GB if possible,
Speaking of which. Not all netbooks are easy to upgrade by yourself (something else I found out after I bought the PB DOT)

Some are so tiny and so 'packed', and components (eg: HDD, memory) are so tightly integrated that it is impossible to upgrade/replace them by yourself. They aren't always accessable by individual panels. So consider putting some more money on the bank now instead of upgrading later. It could safe you a lot of trouble (and void of warrenty if you attempt to do it yourself)...

This post was edited on 10-01-2009 at 11:03 AM by CookieRevised.
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10-01-2009 10:59 AM
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user35870
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RE: Mini Laptop
I have the Dell Mini 10, would recommend it. I just don't use it though :P.
10-01-2009 02:20 PM
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