Netbook for college.

Ok, I am highly considering in forgoing the rest of my highschool year and going straight to a community college. With that said I will no doubt need a laptop. The laptop this is being written on, as I found out today is...


OUTDATED, OBSOLETE, AND pomegranateTY.
The battery is exhausted (lasts 15 min, charges for 2 hours), 1 fan isnt working, and both the ram and cpu have been exposed to hundreds of overheatings (due to fan which broke early and or me actually using the laptop on lap so the fan would have no source of air) and 3 1/2 years of use, key board missing the cover for M key, sound not working (I can only listen through headphones) and the light for the CD reader no longer works. Oh and it crashes and rather often. Not to mention that for the price (1000) of which this laptop was originally bought I can get something with nearly twice the specs.



With that said I am looking for either a netbook or ultra portable (12 inch screen or LESS, 10 inch preffered) that will... LAST LONG (six hours minimum).

My specs are not supposed to be high however I would like to confirm if 1.6 ghz and 1 gb ram would do the following (since this pomegranatety laptop CAN and is 1.8ghz and 800mb ram):

Basic Programs:
At most I would probably be using fire fox with several tabs open along with maybe 2-3 instances of MS word and maybe an instances of other microsoft office programs. However thats at most usually I have maybe firefox with two tabs open and maybe one other basic program.

Internet:
I demand that the wireless card run b/g/n .

Gaming:
At worst I would run Warcraft three dota with minimum settings (but then again Im pretty sure that a netbook would run GBA emulator games (advance wars) rune scape and other minimalist games (minesweeper solitaire chess).... Then again college is not a place for games, and I have a powerhouse at home to play games (though other people do share it )



With that said, is a netbook good for those or should I be looking for an ultra portable? And would regular classes ask for anything more than the specs of a notebook?
Oh, and if you can, share what you use/used for a college laptop and if it did the things it required you to do.

After doing my own research, netbooks like Toshiba NB205
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6834114666

and MSI wind
http://www.msimobile.com/level3_productp...d=7&id=123

Appear to match what I am looking for (Portability and Long-ass battery life)

Coming up 2nd half of 2010 (when you get into college):
Google Chrome OS!!!!
get it because anything made by google will be good

First of all google sucks,
Id rather bing and decide. Not to mention Id rather prefer that google does not try to monopolize every area of computing, and will therefore probably use XP/Ubuntu/Hackintosh

Second, I said Im looking into dual enrollment and starting college asap, which I intend doing the next term. Sorry if my post was too long for you to read

Third, after doing more research I realized I can skip the wifi card and get a 70 dollar a/b/g/n adapter that uses a usb.

Levi's the one that told me about my netbook. It's a 1008HA Eee PC from Asus. It has a max battery life of six hours. However, the 1005HA goes up to 10 hours.

Also, my high school allows me to take pretty much all community college classes and I'm really enjoying it. Hope it goes well for you.

Oh yeah. I don't play many games but Maple Story works well on it.

First of all google sucks,
Id rather bing and decide. Not to mention Id rather prefer that google does not try to monopolize every area of computing, and will therefore probably use XP/Ubuntu/Hackintosh

Second, I said Im looking into dual enrollment and starting college asap, which I intend doing the next term. Sorry if my post was too long for you to read

Third, after doing more research I realized I can skip the wifi card and get a 70 dollar a/b/g/n adapter that uses a usb.

That's a bold statement, seeing as Google is the most visited website in the world, as well as the most powerful brand in the world, and #1 best company to work for.

BUT THAT'S SO OFF-TOPIC. XD
Yeah, I suggested the Eee PC 1008HA to the above poster and she went ahead and bought herself one, too, and AFAIK she loves it.

Specs:
1. 10.1" Glossy Display Monitor
2. Sleekest netbook on the market. No joke. (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6834220530)
3. Intel Atom N280 - Most recent Atom processor so far. 1.66 GHz standard, but the FSB runs at like ~1.8 anyway. Can be easily OC'd to 2.0 GHz.
4. 1GB RAM with 1 RAM slot. Max is 2GB RAM.
5. 160 GB HD with Eee 10 (or 20?) GB of Eee Online Storage.
6. A good 5 to 6 hour battery life.
7. Wireless B/G/N capability.
8. Built-in VGA adapter hidden under the laptop. Pretty handy.

Not gonna lie, there IS cons:
1. Only 2 USB ports.
2. No RAM door. Must be "opened" to replace RAM. (Not hard, I've done it).

If you look at the 1005HA, it's basically the same thing (except it's uglier) and a longer battery life (they claim up to 10) and a RAM door.

As far as netbook vs. ultra-portable...it just depends on how much you're willing to pay, really. Smaller with lower specs for cheaper, or bigger with higher specs for more money, but keeping good portability.

That's a bold statement, seeing as Google is the most visited website in the world, as well as the most powerful brand in the world, and #1 best company to work for.

That doesn't mean Google's OS are comparable with Mac/*nix/Windows. They are excel in Web technologies and searches, but OS is another thing altogether.

I have a habit of not using anything that hasn't being out for a year, and Vista still burn me. I dont expect much from Google's OS either. Getting a decent OS the first time round is going to be difficult, whether you're Google or not.

Topic: the laptops the TS posted doesnt support N wireless protocol.

I recommend this Hp Pavilion dv2z series

You might be able to find them in best buy, but you could customize it and get it with more RAM.

That doesn't mean Google's OS are comparable with Mac/*nix/Windows. They are excel in Web technologies and searches, but OS is another thing altogether.

I have a habit of not using anything that hasn't being out for a year, and Vista still burn me. I dont expect much from Google's OS either. Getting a decent OS the first time round is going to be difficult, whether you're Google or not.

Topic: the laptops the TS posted doesnt support N wireless protocol.

Ehh I decided to skimp on the wifi card and get a USB adapter.

@sniper:
Im looking for at least 6 hours of battery life, and the ability to run only basic applications. 4gb ram is overkill and is a bit more pricey than I would like it to be.

Ehh I decided to skimp on the wifi card and get a USB adapter.

@sniper:
Im looking for at least 6 hours of battery life, and the ability to run only basic applications. 4gb ram is overkill and is a bit more pricey than I would like it to be.

Well, most other netbooks that you want to run WoW with, even on low setting will be bogged down due to the fact that they all pretty much run on Intel Graphics chips. My Asus EeePC uses one, and it plays maple well, but everytime some new graphic effect or something like that needs to be loaded (ie using a skill the first time, or an item drops) there is a small moment of lag, nothing to much to kill you, just a slight skip in fluidity.

If you want price with the ability to play WoW, youll be waiting for some of the new nVidia ION or Tegra chips to be put into a netbook, and theres already a few planned.

Also, you could try this one, Hp Mini 311 series. Its using an nVidia ION platform, so it may be able to do WoW decently, but youll have to buy a new RAM card on your own, which may cost a bit, since it uses DDR3, but itll work fine.. But battery life is iffy with all of these. My EeePC is supposed to have around 6 hours of battery life as well, But the one thing they dont tell you is "6 hours of battery life doing what?" Usually, its 6 hours of battery life just sitting there. This one has it listed at 6.25 hours.

If you want price with the ability to play WoW, youll be waiting for some of the new nVidia ION or Tegra chips to be put into a netbook, and theres already a few planned.
.

Ehh I want to play something a little less demanding which is WC3 which needs (recommended settings)
- 600 MHz processor
- 256 MB of RAM
- 32 MB 3D video card
- DirectX® 8.1 compatible sound card

So not much.

Ehh I want to play something a little less demanding which is WC3 which needs (recommended settings)
- 600 MHz processor
- 256 MB of RAM
- 32 MB 3D video card
- DirectX® 8.1 compatible sound card
[B]
So not much.[/B]

Not much?
Good luck spending less than like....I'm guessing over $600 and actually getting the other things you're looking for. Around there most likely. SPECULATION THOUGH. Almost all netbooks are just slipped an Intel GMA 500 - 945GSE - 950 (One of those, typically). Integrated. No real 3D acceleration. A real piece of crap. Some of the more expensive or larger netbooks might come with something better.

I dunno, mine can probably handle WoW pretty nicely. Want me to download and try it for you? XD

@John: Eee's all the way. :]

Not much?
Good luck spending less than like....I'm guessing over $600 and actually getting the other things you're looking for. Around there most likely. SPECULATION THOUGH. Almost all netbooks are just slipped an Intel GMA 500 - 945GSE - 950 (One of those, typically). Integrated. No real 3D acceleration. A real piece of crap. Some of the more expensive or larger netbooks might come with something better.

]

Aww really? On the other hand, my primary usage of this netbook will be taking notes and organizing/searching for information. I will stick to the basic Visual Boy Advance roms I guess...

(which were playable on a completely shitty win 98 cpu)

Aww really? On the other hand, my primary usage of this netbook will be taking notes and organizing/searching for information. I will stick to the basic Visual Boy Advance roms I guess...

(which were playable on a completely pomegranatety win 98 cpu)

Yeah.
But the other guy made a good point...they're coming out with alternative graphics chipsets but they're few and far between.

Emulators work well. Except for Dolphin and PS2 ones (require better 3D acceleration).

You could always go to a computer liquidation place and find a an older refurbished laptop.

So I tried a netbook... I realized that with my huge hands (bottom of palm to tip of middle finger measures to 8 inches) and realized that the keyboard is in no way shape or form comfortable enough to type even for a short amount of time. With that said I tried my teachers macbook (13 inch) last yesterday (which has programs that fully use the book to the maximum capability ) and loved it. Sure it may have a 1K price tag but I can apparently run EVERYTHING I want smoothly. (Including photoshop, star craft, microsoft office, GBA roms). Best of all 7 hour battery life(1K charges)/weight is very good considering I do want an ultraportable.



With that said would a macbook be a good choice for me?

As much as I hate Macs the 13" Macbook looks pretty nice.

The HP Mini's keyboard is 92% of a full keyboard's size. Alternatively, you could wait a few months for more ION-enabled netbooks to come out and weigh your options after that.

Budget option: Dell Vostro 1320; which will get you a 13" 2.2GHz C2D, 4GB DDR2 RAM, 8-hour battery, NVidia 9300 for a base price of around $700... although the extra huge battery will probably make it weigh more than 4 lbs.

I have two computers up at college with me, one my 3 year old Toshiba Satellite that I use solely for MS, and the other a brand-new, 3 month old Macbook purchase solely for...well, everything else.

In all honesty the Macbook does everything I need and more. It's the perfect college laptop in that it's ultra-portable, has the best battery life on the market (as far as I could find; this was the biggest issue for me in going between classes since most classrooms don't have individual outlets. The Macbook has a maximum 6 hour battery life, but compared to the HP, Toshiba, and Sony computers I looked at and read reviews of, has the longest lasting battery over the course of the computer life - in other words, the battery retains its 6 hour max capacity years down the line, while others may have that to begin with, and steadily lose that ability within months - so be careful), and runs everything I need with beauty and fast performance. Oh, and the Macbook (as I recently found out) comes with a built-in dual OS mode, so if you want to play MS/WoW, etc., just get a CD with Windows, install it, and then enjoy the ability to choose which OS you work on when you start up the computer.

Pretty cool, huh? XD. Sorry that I sound like an Apple salesperson, but their products wouldn't sell so readily if they weren't great. Now I will be the first to admit that the best commercial computers in the world aren't Apple, by FAR, but at the same time the worst commercial computers available aren't Apple. If you want a good college notebook for taking notes, easy portability, durability, and battery life, go for the Mac.

EDIT: Seeing as you tried your teacher's, yea, I'd say go for it. I know literally DOZENS of Mac users and PC users, and any and all computer complaints I've ever heard all come from the PC side - all I hear is praise for Macbooks.

Oh, and try and see what you can get when you buy the computer. While they have the $1k price tag (and the machine you want with the memory and processor would be closer to 1.4-1.6), college students recently enjoyed receiving a free 8G iPod Touch with the purchase of a new Macbook. There's literally a day that doesn't go by I don't use that iPod; the iPhone and iPod Touches are honestly PDAs and music players, and are worth so much more for what they can do than the price tag they have. On top of all that, when I bought my computer Apple was having a super rebate sale on printers, up to the point where you could get one for free, which I received as well.

So in total I spent ~$1.4k (bought the $200ish Apple Protection Plan as well), and received an amazing computer, a phenomenal PDA/music player, and a $100 3-in-1 printer/copier/scanner. It's probably the best blue-ticket purchase I've ever made.