Laptop....netbook? I need some advice...

Pookie Bear · 18 Jan 2009 at 22:24

Hi all,

Looking for some advice. I hope you can help me...

I have £300 spare - that's it, nothing more. I'm going away for a while and want to take something portable with me - for long stopovers and accessing the 'net while I'm away - you know, updating the blog, contacting family, etc. Having somewhere to store the days photos would also be handy - so I can browse through, clear out the junk, etc. So I would like something small, portable and have good battery life. At least 5 or 6 hours is essential (I'm spending a few days in a village in the middle of nowhere with no power - I'd still like to get some blogging done - or at least typed up!). I also have an extensive DVD collection - a selection is coming with.

Ok, to sum up, here's the criteria:

Portable - very, I'll be carrying it around a lot -almost everywhere I go.
Good battery life.
Less than £300.
Ok-ish speakers... or a jack for headphones.
The ability to play DVDs... (and properly - not in a tiny window

)

So, while netbooks look fabulous (especially the Samsung NC10), it removes my ability to watch DVDs. Or is there some kind of workaround I don't know of? I figured my music collection would just go on my external USB drive and then copy it across, but the thought of being without my DVDs for the trip is just horrible (multiple 8hr stopovers)...

I hope someone can help me out here....

Luw

will_expert · 18 Jan 2009 at 23:29

there arent any netbooks with dvd drives, (none that fit our budget anyway) so i guess you could get an external usb dvd drive, or you could rip all your dvds and keep them on the hard drive

DIABLO · 18 Jan 2009 at 23:29

Well a netbook would be perfect for you appart from the lack of dvd drive. What i would do is get a netbook and rip the dvd's i wanted to the internal or even the external drive you have.

Tomsk · 18 Jan 2009 at 23:50

DIABLO said:
Well a netbook would be perfect for you appart from the lack of dvd drive. What i would do is get a netbook and rip the dvd's i wanted to the internal or even the external drive you have.

Ditto this.
Check out the new Gigabyte Netbook - it has a touch screen that can be rotated to be used tablet-style and IMO tablet-style is more comfortable for watching movies etc.

Pilky01 · 18 Jan 2009 at 23:51

NC10 and a portable dvd drive.

Pookie Bear · 18 Jan 2009 at 23:58

Thanks for the replies

The Gigabyte Netbook doesn't seem to be available yet? I leave in two weeks

Unfortunately, while the NC10 and an external drive would be perfect, it would also be way beyond my budget of £300.

How easy is it to rip a DVD to a hard drive? And how much space would the average DVD take up? Is it even legal?

DIABLO · 19 Jan 2009 at 00:06

It's perfectly legal rip a dvd you own, a 2 hour movie can be ripped to under a gig easy.

Gilbretto · 19 Jan 2009 at 00:21

Dont rip them using the NC10 tho! Each film will take about 5 days

james.miller · 19 Jan 2009 at 00:24

DIABLO said:
It's perfectly legal rip a dvd you own, a 2 hour movie can be ripped to under a gig easy.

it isnt legal if its copy protected

ShaolinDreams · 19 Jan 2009 at 06:57

acer one about £210 thats with a 120gb harddrive (get ripping) with the spare cash buy yourself a spare battery and youll still be under budget.

Tomsk tablet mode more comfy for watching movies? lol wtf mate

Pookie Bear · 25 Jan 2009 at 10:22

Just wanted to thank everyone for their advice. I went down the NC10 route - got a blue one and I've spent ages configuring it.

What a lovely piece of kit! Some of my friends are more envious of my new netbook than they are of the fact I'm going to Thailand for three weeks......

bitboy · 25 Jan 2009 at 18:03

Nice one, I do like the NC10, although it's the only netbook I've had a chance to play with (well that and the NC20). Battery life is decent, and the lack of optical drive shouldn't be too much of an issue considering the large(ish) HDD.

Enjoy Thailand!

MouseMat2004 · 25 Jan 2009 at 19:20

Acer One because its half the price of the NC10

Spend £50 of that saving on a bigger battery and you'll have 6-7hrs battery life too (Plus the original with 2-3hrs

)

Pookie Bear · 26 Jan 2009 at 23:47

bitboy said:
Nice one, I do like the NC10, although it's the only netbook I've had a chance to play with (well that and the NC20). Battery life is decent, and the lack of optical drive shouldn't be too much of an issue considering the large(ish) HDD.

Enjoy Thailand!

I'll try my best! Five sleeps to go!

MouseMat2004 said:
Acer One because its half the price of the NC10 Spend £50 of that saving on a bigger battery and you'll have 6-7hrs battery life too (Plus the original with 2-3hrs )

Thanks for the suggestion, but I already splashed out

Pookie Bear · 27 Jan 2009 at 23:35

In fact, my only real issue with my NC10 so far is all this McAfee crap all over the place. It's pure evil!

Oh, and I wish the right shift key was bigger!