5:00pm, Wed 13 Jan 2010 : Look no further, your netbook has arrived.
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A frequent question asked of me is what computer to buy. For a number of years the trusty 2nd hand Toshiba's were my recommendation, but today, the power contained in the lightweight low priced "Netbooks" are my suggestion.
Asus were first to market when when they released their eeePC. These amazing machines opened a new notebook market segment. Their tiny screens inside tiny bodies weighed in at less than a 1 kilogram! Onboard was Windows XP running happily on Atom processors in 1 GB of ram, with basic screen resolution of 800 pix displays. These mightly little machines also did away with optical drives, but made up with USB ports, B/G WIFI and fast Ethernet.
How things have evolved.
The market segment is now massive, with all the major players now offering a product in the Netbook range.
After some evalutioan I name the Asus eee PC 1005HA my top pick. Here's why.
Irrespective of ASUS being first to meet the price point with a suitable product the features shine.
Price point
I picked up one of these pre-christmas from Harvey Normans for $580. Since there has been a slight down shift in price point due to new models on the market. Included amongst even the ASUS range is a netbook tablet / touch screen computer. Snazzy.
Operating system
Good old Windows XP, now with service pack 3. This operating system was put together about 5 years ago and was suited to the computing power of the day. That means that it runs just fine in 256mb of ram and on computer processors much slower than today's Intel range. Inside the 1005 HA is a Intel Atom processor, a little less powerful than today's fastest processor, its made for low power and but runs XP just fine.. BE SURE TO AVOID WINDOWS 7 MODELS FOR NOW.
Configuration
The inclusion of an Intel processor gives confidence. The 1005HA comes with 160Gb hard drive, which is plenty for the average users's photos, music and pirated videos. There is 1Gb of RAM. Once again this is plenty for the average user. You should note that I suggest people use Sun Microsystems OpenOffice in place of Word / Excel / MS office these days. This will perform just fine.
Looking at the other software for the typical user, there will be Picasa, Google Earth, a lot of little Internet applications and a web browser. The fact is that these common apps don't that much grunt, hard disk space of memory! They wil be
fine on the eee PC 1005HA.
The screen max's out at 1024 pixels across. This is probably the weakest part of these netbooks. I suggest people use the money they saved on a good screen, wireless keyboard and mouse. Pity is the screen width, even on an external monitor will be limited to 1024 pixels. Shame.
Amongst the config and as a result of low power bend, ASUS quote a battery life of up to 8 hours. This would be very low usage and a very dim screen for that result, but expect to get 4 hours from the battery in moderate use.
There is also three usb ports, so you can plug in camera, memory stick and wireless keyboard dongle.
I should mention the built in web cam – but interestingly no one ever seems to use them!
Mat screen
The mat screen is a worthy consideration here. As people work more dynamically in cars, hotspots, in McDonalds, etc, outdoor situations are more common and a mat screen is a must here. The majority of notebooks on the market have gloss screens and readily make themselves obvious to you in the computer store. You can check your hair in the reflection off the screen.
Layout and design
These are small notebooks, so the screen and keyboard are squashed into the available space. On the go, you will have to use the in built keyboard, but get yourself the full sized keyboard and mouse for home, ok? My father has bucked this advice and is using the built in keyboard couple with an external mouse. He insists that it is fine – so there.
Happiness
Can argue this one. After checking out the range and sending of a 1005 HA to the father, we are now 6 months down track and he insists that it is “the best computer that he has ever had”. Its also the smallest and the cheapest.... so there!
Post:
I have just checked ebay and found plenty of 1005HA's available for purchase there for less than $500 brand new. If you can't get the 1005HA look for one with the mat screen and me recommendation is to stick with Windows XP. Good luck
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