Linux Format forums

Re: Netbooks with Linux?

wyliecoyoteuk — Thu Jun 03, 2010 10:50 pm

Author: wyliecoyoteuk

Posted: Thu Jun 03, 2010 10:50 pm

Shame really, I find the AA1 almost perfect in terms of size and weight.
The new contenders are far too large and too heavy.
Netbook sales are slowing, apparently, could that be because they are becoming small notebooks instead of Netbooks?
Or is it because of the iPhad?

Edit: apparently, Dell are only supplying Linux pre-installed on business channel products. Interesting.

Re: Netbooks with Linux?

nelz — Thu Jun 03, 2010 9:42 pm

Author: nelz

Posted: Thu Jun 03, 2010 9:42 pm

IBBoard wrote:

Looks interesting, but I was looking in the �200-�250 range. It looks like the guide price for that is more like a proper laptop at ~�350.

The size is more like a "proper laptop" too. It seems the original concept of the netbook has been forgotten and they are turning into slightly smaller laptops

Re: Netbooks with Linux?

IBBoard — Thu Jun 03, 2010 8:22 pm

Author: IBBoard

Posted: Thu Jun 03, 2010 8:22 pm

Looks like a better price than the original article Shame it's still an XP machine and a HDD, though.

Thanks for the help, and sorry for being picky. I know the Netbook/SSD/Linux combo existed, I just want to find it again as a package that my wife will trust

Re: Netbooks with Linux?

Rhakios — Thu Jun 03, 2010 7:33 pm

Author: Rhakios

Posted: Thu Jun 03, 2010 7:33 pm

Such as this?

Re: Netbooks with Linux?

IBBoard — Thu Jun 03, 2010 7:24 pm

Author: IBBoard

Posted: Thu Jun 03, 2010 7:24 pm

Looks interesting, but I was looking in the �200-�250 range. It looks like the guide price for that is more like a proper laptop at ~�350.

I am quite interested in how all of these processors stack up, if anyone has any numbers. If everyone has their netbooks running pretty much the same these days then it won't make too much difference, but I've seen a few different model numbers floating around.

Re: Netbooks with Linux?

Rhakios — Thu Jun 03, 2010 7:05 pm

Author: Rhakios

Posted: Thu Jun 03, 2010 7:05 pm

If I was currently in the market for a Netbook, I'd be buying one of these, or a close relative. The Nvidia ION chipset is a step up from the Intel ones and, at least as far as my Revo (which has ION) is concerned, works just fine with Linux and the Nvidia driver.

Re: Netbooks with Linux?

IBBoard — Thu Jun 03, 2010 1:35 pm

Author: IBBoard

Posted: Thu Jun 03, 2010 1:35 pm

The larger screen is part of what I'd like, though. 10.1" seems reasonable from the range I saw in PC World, where as I've not seen the 8.9" in the flesh and it seems like it might be a bit small.

Thanks for the comments. I did suspect that the trend was towards Laptop-isation (Windows and a HDD).

Re: Netbooks with Linux?

wyliecoyoteuk — Thu Jun 03, 2010 12:29 pm

Author: wyliecoyoteuk

Posted: Thu Jun 03, 2010 12:29 pm

Actually, the newer, more up to date netbooks are larger screens, large hard disks, and Windows only, but most of them have the same Atom processor and Intel chipset as the original ones.
The AA1 is an excellent netbook, and apparently the Acer refurbs are mainly user returns because they didn't have windows on them .
I bought an AA1 with 8gb SSD, 9 cell battery and 1.5 Gb RAM on Amazon for �90, with a 3 month guarantee from an Amazon seller and it looks and performs like a brand new item.
That compares well with the going rate on Fleabay of about �150 with no guarantee.

Re: Netbooks with Linux?

IBBoard — Thu Jun 03, 2010 10:33 am

Author: IBBoard

Posted: Thu Jun 03, 2010 10:33 am

I know some of them are "as good as new", but that's still seconds and possibly ends of stock. Getting something newer and more up-to-date would be good.

As for Amazon, I hadn't thought of looking there. I'll buy books, but I'm not sure how much I trust electricals, especially if they're from other traders rather than Amazon itself.

Re: Netbooks with Linux?

wyliecoyoteuk — Tue Jun 01, 2010 10:00 pm

Author: wyliecoyoteuk

Posted: Tue Jun 01, 2010 10:00 pm

As I said, and there are also loads on Amazon.

Re: Netbooks with Linux?

towy71 — Tue Jun 01, 2010 8:52 pm

Author: towy71

Posted: Tue Jun 01, 2010 8:52 pm

wyliecoyteuk pointed towards this site for Aspires etc.

Re: Netbooks with Linux?

IBBoard — Tue Jun 01, 2010 8:27 pm

Author: IBBoard

Posted: Tue Jun 01, 2010 8:27 pm

Ram: Browsing, webmail and writing (probably in OpenOffice, if it'll handle it). The browsing is mainly text-based, with the odd excursion to somewhere like I Can Haz Cheezburger, where most videos are ignored.

Performance with some things like Flash was one of the things I wondered about with Atoms, but they can handle Windows...

Towy: Thanks for the suggestion. I'd liked the look of the Acer Aspire Ones, but hadn't found one while looking. I'll try again.

Re: Netbooks with Linux?

towy71 — Tue Jun 01, 2010 8:12 pm

Author: towy71

Posted: Tue Jun 01, 2010 8:12 pm

Well I bought an Acer Aspire One ZA3 and am really chuffed to bits with it, it did come with Vista on it but I've only booted into that os a couple of times and it was painfully slow and stupid. Much discussion on this thread

Re: Netbooks with Linux?

Ram — Tue Jun 01, 2010 7:56 pm

Author: Ram

Posted: Tue Jun 01, 2010 7:56 pm

What do you actually wish do with it?

My wife complains that our mini 9 slows down playing flash games, and get worse when the power is plugged in to charge the battery...

2 gib Ram and 8 gig SSD drive.

Dell.com have a few models, not sure if they'll deliver to the UK though.

Re: Netbooks with Linux?

IBBoard — Tue Jun 01, 2010 7:30 pm

Author: IBBoard

Posted: Tue Jun 01, 2010 7:30 pm

Buying a netbook with Windows and putting Linux on it would be an option, apart from a) I'd really rather avoid even having to buy the Windows license in the first place and b) my wife wouldn't trust it and would probably just stick with Windows.

An SSD would be an advantage, if possible, as it is less moving parts and should be an even quieter machine, but it isn't looking promising :\

As a related question, has anyone seen any comparison of how all of these different versions of the Atom stack up? Some have lower numbers but faster clock speeds. I know the model numbers aren't a perfect guide these days, but there must be something to tell what is better than what.