The Best Netbook On The Market!

Hi, i am hoping to buy my first netbook for my birthday in a few weeks, and would like some advice on the best one to get as I am a novice.

When I say best I am looking for one with high RAM (2-4gb), good processor speed (>1.6GHz), good battery life (>4hours), HDMI port, lightweight, basically the most impressive one that is currently out

I am willing to spend anything under £500 and have seen the ASUS Lamborghini VX6 as one that seems to match most of the above criteria but a lot of review sites have said that it is not worth the money (£450)

Any advice would be much appreciated! Thanks for taking time to read this

Darsun

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Darsun,

Maybe the point is that as I understand it a netbook is designed for web browsing, e-mails, maybe some other apps, but a scaled down and smaller laptop, with limited functionality. If you are willing to spend £500, then why not get a laptop instead? Otherwise you will end up with decent spec netbook, but it will never be used to full capacity. There is some convergence with smartphones, too, so if a laptop is too baulky, maybe a tablet or a smartphone. You need to ask what you need it for and does it really need to be high spec.

If your going for a netbook go for the AMD brazos platform. It is much faster than Atom and is similarly priced.
AMD brazos vision includes the C-50 E-350 and E2-1800. In particular they include a descent graphics package.
both Asus and Acer make such laptops.

all I need is a reliable machine for receiving e mail............and I don't want to spend a fortune on something with lots of features I don't need................anybody suggest something? Phil Jones

Well AMD with C60 ... Acer 725 come with 2 colours (black and blue) as well as 500gb and 4gb ram as well as USB3.0 Acer Aspire One 725 11.6-inch Netbook (Black) (AMD C60 1GHz, 4GB RAM, 500GB HDD, LAN, WLAN, Webcam, 4 Cell Battery, Integrated Graphics, Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit)
The only downside might be the processor which is a tiny 1Ghz but then you are not doing anything intensive like gaming ( light gaming will do but dont expect crysis to run on it ), but 1080p playback is fine .
More info on this is
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Acer-Aspire-One-725-Notebook.78724.0.html
but if gaming is your cup well Asus VX6 will be fine ... if you want higher level of netbook ... may I suggest this Alienware MX11 (out of production for the time being ), OriginPC EON115 ,or mac air or asus zenbook .

hi, Raymond.
you seem to know about these things and i don't. i was looking at buying the Acer Aspire One D270 10.1 inch Netbook for my daughter but have been worried that she won't be able to play games. i don't know the difference between intensive gaming and light gaming, i know her favourite site is disney games but are these light games?? i was going for a tablet but those reviews seem even worse for these sites and a few good people have tried it out for me and reported back that disney won't work. i thought a netbook did pretty much everything a laptop could. any advice would be great! thanks.

Dear Caa,
If you are worried about the graphic card performance then I will still recommended the same Acer Aspire One 725, there is a cheaper version with smaller rams than the one I mentioned before -Acer Aspire One 725 11.6-inch Netbook (Black) (AMD C60 1GHz, 2GB RAM, 320GB HDD, LAN, WLAN, Webcam, 4 Cell Battery, Integrated Graphics, Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit) which cost around 249.
As for the differences between light gaming and intensive gaming , it depend on the game . how powerful the computer needed in order to run it . Intensive gaming usually needed more powerful computer ( which usually cost more than 500 pounds ) while light gaming such as the favourite site Disney game that you mentioned does not required such high demanding .
As for the differences between netbook and the laptop is that netbook do not have places for dvd or blue ray disk and usually are a lot smaller than laptop ( ranged between 9" to 14" ). Usually netbook are less powerful than laptop but last longer on battery .
As for the tablet , may I asked which one have you tried ?
And do you have any budget in mind ? as well as when do you needed it ?
Cause if you are willing to wait , there is the up coming of the window 8 laptop hybrid which you might want to have a look at
http://blog.laptopmag.com/top-windows-8-tablet-laptop-hybrids?slide=1

hi Raymond, thanks!
i have looked at that many tablets i can't remember but the latest was this;Ployer Momo11 Bird Tablet PC - 9.7 Inch Android, CloudNine Neuropad HD Android 4.0 ICS Tablet and A1CS FUSION5 XTRA Tablet PC - 10.1" Screen - Android. i tried the samsung galaxy 10" which played but as it's the same price i thought i may as well get a netbook but am wondering if samsung would be better?! my daughter is 9yrs so i was aiming for £200 but it seems to be a £250 price range to get what i need. it's also a christmas present so no rush. the hybrid looks good to me! but probably be too much to spend on my daughter! i thought security may be better than a netbook and i'm a little confused as i can't put my security disk in a netbook. i've seen you can use a usb stick? or can you get good free download ones? my husband says we may as well just buy an i pad due to good security and we know it works but i think that's too much money for a 9yr old. but by the time we've bought all the extras that seems to be adding onto the list with a netbook;security, usb sticks, upgrade to 2gb if needed and what ever else, i'm starting to wonder if he's right!

Hi Raymond
Wondered if you could advise, or if you have an opinion on the following notebooks/netbooks:
Lenovo IdeaPad S205, Acer Aspire One 725?
I'm not very knowledgable and am taking information from web reviews and what I've seen on the market place. I am wanting a small, lightweight device with 11.6" screen, for general browsing, emailing, documents, photo storage, with fairly decent battery life, around the £300 mark. Or if you have any other recommendations would be pleased to hear them. Many thanks. Jane

Dear Caa,
Thanks for the info . It seem like you are given it as a Christmas gift for your daughter. Well then a netbook might not be that suitable for her since computer can be finicky from time to time and not to mentioned the problem of getting a virus and the needed to restore it . For a 9 yrs old , based on your budget range , Samsung Galaxy Tab2 7 inch Tablet - Silver (8GB, WiFi, Android 4.0) . Samsung galaxy tab 2 with 7 inch will be your choice ( of course if you want you can opt for a 10.1' version , but for a child 7' will be sufficient and not too heavy for them to carry around ). Comparatively , if you want to compare an ipad vs samsung well, ipad will win in security and performance , but samsung will be more value worth. Of course you can go for the new ipad for her but seeming that most of the function that she is going to use can be performed by samsung galaxy tab2 . on top of that an ipad which come with screen protector and casing will cost around 500 pounds range . While as samsung , you can get quite a few good free games from the android market (which you needed to have a gmail account for that , and may I suggest not to add in your credit card detail in this account , since you are giving the tablet to your children ).
Well as for the question regarding with security on netbook , it all depend on the software that you are using and I cant say that it is better or worse than the rest.
Here is a bit more info on the samsung tab2 that I have suggested , hoped that it will help:
http://www.samsung.com/us/mobile/galaxy-tab/GT-P3113TSYXAR
Feel free to ask any more questions, I will be there to help .

Dear Jane,
Well based on my experience , the Lenovo usually are more reliable than the acer . With the two models that you chosen to compared with , Lenovo IdeaPad S205 seem to be a much powerful option for you . However, please bare in mind that the more powerful it is , the less the battery life is going to be . I got a 4 hours 44 minutes if you are careful ( min brightness), running on full will give you 2 hours and 21 minutes . while it take 3 hours and 27 minutes to charge it back ( all these data come from here http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Lenovo-IdeaPad-S205-Fusion-Subnotebook.59357.0.html ). Even thou it is less powerful , for Acer 725, I got similar result on similar condition, but the runtime will be higher - 7 hours and on top of that it come with usb 3.0
Both of them should give you the ability of playing 1080p video file as well as satisfy all your needs.
There is of course similar brand as well like Samsung 305U 11.6 inch Laptop - Silver (AMD E450 1.65GHz, 4GB RAM, 500GB HDD, LAN, WLAN, BT, Webcam, Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit) which is very similar ( if not the same as ) Lenovo IdeaPad S205 , but with a better battery life of 10 hours and 44 minutes , but the battery will be slightly bulky See here
http://www.notebookcheck.net/typo3temp/pics/63247826c1.jpg
Hoped that it help .

Hi Raymond
Thanks very much for your help and advice. I had been leaning towards the Lenova from what I had been reading, but I will also take a look at the Samsung.
Thanks again. J

Resistant touch panel ?
Really I would choose a capacitive touch screen myself

Why don't you have a look at the neoCore 9.7" Elite android 4.1 Jellybean tablet, it has a dual core 1.6Mhz processor (almost as fast as the htc one X), quad core high speed 1080p graphics, 1.0 Gb Ram, 16Gb internal flash memory(expandible upto 32Gb by micro sd card, WiFi, and GPS if you have a dongle and less than half the weight of a netbook. priced at £169.99 + 9.99 p & p

If you haven't yet made your purchase, consider the new Chromebook from Samsung. The Wi-Fi only model is £229 and with 3G it's £299.
It's designed for web browsing, you can do document creation and editing via Google Docs, it has 6.5 hours or more battery life and a nice 11.6" HD screen. It also comes with 100GB of free Google Drive storage for 2 years.

If you are happy with the limitations of a netbook, then the specs will dictate your shortlist. Personally, I would rather go for an entry-level laptop or a tablet, depending on how much you need the keyboard.

Netbooks are an exercise in frustration. Neither one thing nor another.

I had a Toshiba NB200 until recently (it got wine spilt all over it and a few weeks later got cooked on a heated oven hob). It still worked for a month or so after...

I really like the look of the Acer 1, but does anyone know how the CPU in that (AMD C60 1GHz) compared to the intel atom 1.6ghz? I ask because I liked to play older games like Fallout 1, Jagged alliance 2, alpha centauri etc on my previous toshiba..

Samsung Chromebook Series 5, I have it in arctic white, the battery is an amazing 10hrs, 8 second start up time, you cant get virus/spyware/hacks etc as it is all on opensource google chrome, check it out, Ive never had any problems with it, its superfast, you can play games on it, or surf the net, its light weight and a decent size and the best thing is never needing to do virus checks, updates, firewall, etc. I almost never use my laptop now as the battery life and speed on it is exceptional. You can probably get them cheaper on ebay now but they sell for £299 in shops. I cant say enough about it, although I love laptops my chromebook is excellent, I only wish I could combine the two.

Hi Raymond,
My son is 11 and wants a netbook for xmas he wants one so he can play mindcraft and other games and i also want it for him to use for secondary school next september. Don't want to pay a fortune what would you recommend please. Thanks Sue

Dear Sue,
Well for minecraft , it seem like the specification needed is quite low, any good computer 3 to 5 years ago (cost around 600 pounds back in 2007) should be able to handle it quite well. The only main thing that you should be concern is the presence of graphic card ( or usually is a dedicated graphic card ) and the other concern is what sort of online game is he planning .
1.It does matter when it come to the amount of money that you are looking to invest?
2.The screen wise , well do he want a bigger one or smaller one for portable ?
3.Of course , considered this an option , does he want touch screen ? for window 8.
Thanks

Dear Raymond,
Having read all the above comments you seem to know what you are on about, could you please advise. My 12 year old son wants a tablet pc and has saved up his birthday money £120, which would you recommend, mainly for game apps, facebook and music.
Many thanks.
Sam

Dear Sam,
yes, for a price tag of £120, it might be slightly challenging . The one I got here is Samsung galaxy Tab 2 7 inch tablet with 8gb , Samsung Galaxy Tab2 7 inch Tablet - Silver (8GB, WiFi, Android 4.0) priced at £ 149,( i know a bit extra) but then it might be better than the rest of the generic brand and give you the option to expand the memory up to 32gb via the micro sd card and just go for wifi version , I doubt that 12 years old needed 3g connection most of the time. At the price tag of £159, you can also chose Amazon Kindle Fire HDKindle Fire HD 7", Dolby Audio, Dual-Band Wi-Fi, 16 GB - With Special Offers ( noted there is HD version and normal version), which offered 8gb of storage space ( kinda limited I know ) and no expansion room . The selection of games from amazon app store will be the more or less the same as the android version ( well at least I see angry bird star war in amazon app store ), there is also a cheaper option of £129 for the amazon kindle fireKindle Fire 7", LCD Display, Wi-Fi, 8 GB - With Special Offers ( non HD version) which is less powerful , but should be more or less the same as the Kindle fire HD version. Last but not least , Google nexus 7 - £195 Google Nexus 7 Tablet PC (Android 4.1 Jellybean) - 16 GB
ipad mini. -£265
The last 2 are most kid's wet dream ( well at least ipad mini is ) and there is reason for their higher price tag. Their build quality are excellent . So to put it in summary
Current bidget of £120- Kindle (weakness less powerful no expansion , may have limited games? )
-£150+/- - Kindle HD ( weakness no expansion , may have limited games? )
-Samsung tab2 7 (weakness -less powerful than the nexus and android system... well not as stable as iOS-apple , good point - can install ( ehm ) Free paid app
£200- Samsung nexus 7 - ( more powerful weakness may be the same as samsung tab 7 in term of the stability)
£ 270+/-(not from amazon buy directly from apple store) -Apple ipad mini ( weakness- very very expensive no option for expansion, but very stable iOS and secure )
Something that you can look into may be microsoft surface RT, thou it also have a high price tag as well.
One last thing , be careful of the password , dont pass it to your children due to the in-app purchase- read here for more details -http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/youandyours/2011/09/avoiding_pitfalls_of_in-app_pu.html

Couldn't agree more! Was very apprehensive before buying, knowing very little about the Chrome O/S but, within an hour I was completely at home with it. Mine is the series three (slightly smaller) Chrome book selling at £229. When my PC gives up the ghost (soon I hope) I'll seriously consider going down the Chrome lane.
It will be interesting to see if Chrome makes serious inroads into the general computer market but, I certainly wouldn't swop mine for a Windows machine.

Raymond, many thanks for your reply and very helpful advice, we will have a good look at all you have highlighted and make an informed choice. Thanks again.
Sam.