Netbook for £200-250.

Indigo · 13 Feb 2011 at 18:18

I want to get a netbook quite soon (probably around April/May) but just too confused with all the options at the moment.

Budget is around £200-250, don't really want to spend more than that.

It'll be mainly used for web browsing, email, openoffice and occasional iplayer use if this is possible on them or youtube video. Might also use a Snes Emulator on it as well if this would run ok?

Not really going to be doing anything to heavy as I can do that on my PC.

I've seen the Samsung N150 Plus for £230 and this seems to be ok.

Anyone have any other recommendations or know of something better?

olivier renault · 13 Feb 2011 at 23:16

Samsungs are good. There is a N150 at OcUK for £210, but it's pink

Netbooks are OK, but imo their power is limited. I used to have a NC10, and had no complains. apart from its lack of power and low screen resolution. Oh yeah, the speakers were dreadful, but that's pretty much a given with netbooks. headphones are just fine.

It's all right if you don't tend to do heavy work with them, they play youtube videos, but will struggle with anything 720p or above.

A good upgrade is a 2GB RAM. AMD is introducing Fusion laptops (they should be available in a matter of weeks), which are better suited for all round work, but they will be over your budget. In any case, I would recommend a CULV or Fusion laptop over a netbook, but if that is your budget, and you accept netbook's limitations, the Samsung will do fine.

Indigo · 13 Feb 2011 at 23:32

How much and what models of netbook would be capable of playing media thats 720p?

Are these new AMD Fusion netbooks really that much better then? If they're out in a few weeks and not too expensive I could push the budget up. It just have to be worth it really. I wouldn't spend more than £300 on one though.

olivier renault · 14 Feb 2011 at 00:24

If you want to play HD content comfortably, you'll have to look for the Ion platforms, like the HP 311c, which can be found pretty cheap (around £250, sub £300). These are 12'' HD (1366 x 768) netbooks, with a ion graphics chipset to do the video decoding (and some 3D). The main problem with these are battery life, which is basically halved.

My brother has the Compaq equivalent of the 311c (same machine, re-badged), it is OK, the build quality didn't match my NC10, but it was more practical as an everyday micro-computer. The trackpad wasn't that great but usable. I still vastly prefer my UL30A (a replacement for the NC10), better than the Compaq in every department but more costly (£350).

On another note, the Asus 1215N has a dual core atom, as well as Ion graphics and switchable graphics, thus having the best of both worlds, but they are really way too expensive to be considered 'netbooks' (£450).

I don't know much about Intel's new processors, and if they plan on upgrading the Atoms to something more up to date and multimedia-oriented like AMD, but the new AMD E350 fusion processors are basically equivalent to a dual-core Atom with a Ion integrated graphics. Thus better thermals and power consumption (allegedly, although looking at a review of the x120e and being pretty toasty).

They are marketing the Fusion notebooks against posh netbooks and CULV mobile laptops, but maybe we'll see some fusion netbooks competing with the regular netbooks (probably with the cheaper version of the processors).

I'm still very interested in seeing what those new AMD platforms can do, it's a bit early to tell. But in my book, nothing beats a 13'' dual core CULV in terms of balance of mobility, practicality and power. Shame machines like the UL30vt (SU7300 + GT 310M switchable graphics) never really caught on. The best in that category would be the Acer Timeline 3810TG and Acer Travelmate 8371 (both with added HD4330).

EDIT : If you want more info on the 311c, there are plenty of folks here that have one. There is a massive thread dedicated to them, but it's been pretty much ousted by the 3810 / 8371 discussion

Indigo · 16 Feb 2011 at 19:05

Yeah, I've seen those two Acer Laptops and the HP one before as well.

Was thinking of saving more and getting those but not sure if I'd actually use the netbook for anything other than web browsing, office applications, emails and the odd video or two possibly.

Would the HP really be that much better than over the N150 Plus I take it then?

olivier renault · 16 Feb 2011 at 19:50

Better in some way, worse in others. Better screen resolution, better at video playback, worse battery life, better at (very) light gaming, worse build quality. A standard netbook will play normal video content ok (YouTube / IPlayer), not HD, or with some difficulty (even had some trouble with 720p). At least my NC10 did.

A 2 gig upgrade is recommended, but not essential. If you can find a 311c for cheap, I'd recommend that, if you don't need extreme battery life (some netbooks can go up to 10 hours, but the 311c, more like half, less with constant video playback).

http://www.anandtech.com/show/2878/10

Still very decent. Also the Ion chipset can help with transcoding videos, about x5 an Atom, so another plus point.

I think the next generation of netbooks will be a lot more competent at doing what regular laptops do, while still maintaining good battery life. It's just not quite there and kind of half-arsed at the moment.

EDIT : My brother's a Compaq, same machine but re-badged. Maybe worth keeping in mind if you do find one of those. Dunno the model number.