Ultra-portables/netbooks - Buy now or wait?

Relative · 25 Jun 2008 at 21:22

I'm thinking about buying an ultra-portable such as the MSI Wind or the ASUS 1000 series when they come out. I can wait until then and buy, or I can wait longer for something better. I know there is a danger to waiting for "the next best thing", and thus never buying anything. However, I am willing to wait until late August and maybe into September. Is there anything on the horizon between then and now that should make me put a hold to these plans?

smyth · 26 Jun 2008 at 17:27

Rumors of an ARM based ultra portable being made which should have a much longer battery life and similiar performance.

These may be out towards the end of the year but there hasn't been any official announcement so I guess wait if you can.

Relative · 26 Jun 2008 at 19:24

I'd probably want to keep to x86 architectures for compatibility's sake.

chimaera · 27 Jun 2008 at 15:19

I'm in the same situation, i'd like one but i've decided to wait for them to come down in price.

With the Wind, Acer One, Dell, Sony, EEE all coming out within the next few months i think competition will drive the price down by Q3/Q4. At the moment machines like the 901 are still selling at slightly inflated price tags because they're the tech of the moment, if you're patient enough to wait i think the 701 will be £150 by christmas, with the Acer One about £175 and 901 about £250.

Thats my educated opinion of course

Relative · 27 Jun 2008 at 16:38

Yeah, after looking more closely at what's available and what's coming I think its best to wait a bit like you said.

deshepherd · 30 Jun 2008 at 09:08

chimaera said:
I'm in the same situation, i'd like one but i've decided to wait for them to come down in price.

With the Wind, Acer One, Dell, Sony, EEE all coming out within the next few months i think competition will drive the price down by Q3/Q4. At the moment machines like the 901 are still selling at slightly inflated price tags because they're the tech of the moment, if you're patient enough to wait i think the 701 will be £150 by christmas, with the Acer One about £175 and 901 about £250.

Thats my educated opinion of course

Also just read rumours that Asus are already considering a 904/905 (same screen as 901 but bigger keyboard) and as a result may reduce prices of 901 to shift inventory.

I think waiting a little longer may be the best option if that's possible ... this is clearly a very new market segment and looks like manufacturers are still working out exactly what people want. So waiting gives the option of either waiting till the optimal weight/screen-size/keyboard-size/price/capacity ratio is determined ... or grab something thats being dumped cheap because it turned out to be not quite optimal but is probably still 90% ok!