I kind of want a netbook, but I'm wary of buying one now when dual core models with touchscreens are around the corner.

I want to use it mostly for browsing and reading ebooks, but having a good keyboard is really important. That pretty much excludes the Eee PC, from the models I've tried.

Any opinions on this stuff?

I have an Eee 901 and while the keyboard was awkward at first you get used to it surprisingly fast...however, there's a newer model where the keyboard is apparently full (or close to full?) sized, I suggest you look into that.

I've been looking at them as well. The Acer Aspire One looks to be pretty good, especially if you get the 6 cell battery, 160GB, XP model. It looks like you can get a pretty good deal on ebay if you look around.

I can't really speak for that product, but my mom has a regular Acer laptop and it is absolutely garbage.

It's not a netbook but the Macbook is nice

diaf sir

i have an Eee 900, its a nice little computer; and yes the keyboard is strange but i don't do any strenuous typing on my netbook. i got rid of the lame OS that was on it for Ubuntu eee and everything works great.

Samsung NC10 is the best one on the market right now. Hands down. Amazing keyboard, really long battery life. The only bad point is that the price is not going down and is actually increasing slightly (was $470 shipped from Newegg around BF; now it's around $480 or $490 everywhere).

Acer Aspire One is like the NC10 but smaller (and way better than Acer's non-netbooks) and no bluetooth I think. It's also about $100 cheaper (that is, the 6-cell XP Home 120/160GB model), so that'd be good for you if you don't mind the smaller screen/resolution or would prefer something lighter.

Both the NC10 and the Aspire One have the same keyboard (which is pretty much full-sized -- just a wee bit smaller).

The HP Mini series DO have full-size keyboards and they rock to type on, but they lack 6-cell batteries and some other features that the NC10 and the Aspire One have.


UMPCPortal has a list of the most popular/discussed/anticipated netbooks as well as a wealth of other info -- give it a look.

Also check out laptopmag's reviews of various netbooks and Liliputing (google for these two sites)


Yes I am obsessed w/ netbooks <_<

Wow, thanks Pommy, that's exactly the kind of post I was looking for.

Grr, that's almost as good as my desktop PC, I really need to upgrade.

Being able to modify the netbook is a huge plus - I know that it's very easy to swap the memory, hdd, and wireless card on the MSI Wind which earns it a significant amount of bonus points.

When the dual-cores do eventually roll around, you'll probably take a significant battery life hit. IMO these little netbooks still aren't at the resolution/processing power levels that I'd really want to buy one at. SSD needs to be cheaper too!

I read "Learn me about meathooks."

All this netbook talk has convinced me to sell my IBM T42 and get a netbook. I don't game on my laptop and at all, and I would love to have something this small and that kind of battery life....

Anyone looking for a T42?

Ahh crap. Now I want a netbook.

I've got a Dell Mini 9, from what i've read about it so far, it's pretty easy to modify but I haven't had the funds to do that yet.

I agree, the SSD's are too expensive which is the downfall of the mini 9. They have recently added larger drives since I got mine though, so SSD isn't the only option for it.

I've enjoyed it so far, but I'm still trying to get the hang of the keyboard.

I have the EEE 1000H and have been very happy with it.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220443

Keyboard is much larger than the 701 line and was comfortable enough that I was able to write a whole novel on it during November without any complaints.

If you are interested at all in Linux, there is a thriving community for various EEE-specific or customized distros as well.

I use Ubuntu-EEE with the netbook remix ui and love it.
http://www.ubuntu-eee.com/

My MacBook quelled my netbook desire, I've been pretty obsessed with them for the past year. Just always kept waiting for the next best thing to pull the trigger.

When there's a good convertible tablet version out (I know one exists but it has its share of problems) for around $500 I'll probably buy one.

acer aspire one is going to be $99 with a 2 yr at&t contract soon. built in 3g modem and such. good if you were going to want 3g service anyway.