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Which netbook?

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  Which netbook? Mark Pearson <bytebitter@somewhere.invalid> - 2011-01-30 11:44 +0000
    Re: Which netbook? Alan Secker <alan@asandco.co.uk> - 2011-01-30 22:14 +0000
    Re: Which netbook? greymausg@mail.com - 2011-01-31 10:52 +0000
      Re: Which netbook? Lusotec <nomail@nomail.not> - 2011-01-31 13:25 +0000
    Re: Which netbook? notbob <notbob@notbob.invalid> - 2011-01-30 15:30 +0000
    Re: Which netbook? "Trevor Hemsley" <Trevor.Hemsley@mytrousers.ntlworld.com> - 2011-01-30 07:17 -0600
    Re: Which netbook? Lusotec <nomail@nomail.not> - 2011-01-30 13:01 +0000
    Re: Which netbook? General Schvantzkoph <schvantzkoph@yahoo.com> - 2011-02-06 20:06 +0000
    Re: Which netbook? General Schvantzkoph <schvantzkoph@yahoo.com> - 2011-01-30 20:22 +0000
      Re: Which netbook? "Dave {Reply Address In.Sig}" <noone$$@llondel.org> - 2011-01-30 21:11 +0000
      Re: Which netbook? AD <isquat@gmail.com> - 2011-02-06 08:58 -0800

#2015 — Which netbook?

Hi All,
Currently stuck between the following:

Toshiba NB250-108 Atom single core 1.66GHz, DDR3 & HD GPU
or
Acer Aspire One D255 Atom dual core 1.5GHz, DDR2 & Intel 3150 GPU

Both are similar with respect to amount of installed ram (1GB), HDD
space & features.
To be used for business so usual communication/office software but
also required to run either VMware or VirtualBox with one active VM.

Acer looks better, has 2 year warranty & comes pre-installed with
Android so I'm presumming hardwarecompatibility will be less of a problem.
Toshiba - rougher but better spec'd?

Would the dual core Atom offer any performance benefits for use
with virtualisation?

Any help appreciated please.
Thanks.

Rgds,
Mark.

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#2017

It's true that 9 inch screen models are a bit too small for real work. 
However for travelling light they are terrific and contrary to another 
responder, I had Windows XP as a guest under VirtualBox over Mandriva Linux 
about two years ago on an EEE PC 901. That's the one with only 20Gb of solid 
state memory. It worked fine. I've taken it all off now and just have 
PCLinuxOS which behaves superbly.

If I had my time again I would go for a 10 inch screen model but I would 
definitely have an Asus again. The reason is as I discovered their guarantee 
is indeed worth the paper it is printed on. I'll go into detail if you want.

HTH 

Alan

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#2022

On 2011-01-30, General Schvantzkoph <schvantzkoph@yahoo.com> wrote:
> On Sun, 30 Jan 2011 11:44:25 +0000, Mark Pearson wrote:
>
>
> Don't get a netbook if you want to do any real work on it, the screen 
> resolution is inadequate and Atom processors don't support virtualization. 
> If you just want something to just walk around with and to do some light 
> Internet browsing then get one with a 1366x768 screen, most come with a 
> 1024x600 screen, the extra 168 vertical pixels will make a huge difference 
> in usability.
>
> My other recommendation is don't buy them online, buy them at a store 
> where you can boot it on a Fedora Live USB stick so that you can determine 
> if there is kernel support for the WiFI chip. Manufacturers don't specify 
> the WiFI chips that they use and they change them from day to day. I 
> bought an ASUS netbook from Newegg after checking it out at Best Buy. All 
> of the ASUS netbooks at Best Buy had Atheros WiFI chips which have kernel 
> drivers. The one I received from Newegg had a Ralink WiFI chip which 
> doesn't have a kernel driver, although they do have a Linux driver on 
> their website which works very well, but you have to compile it yourself 
> which is a chore that you would rather avoid doing.


Agree with the above thoroughly, I bought a Dell 10 netbook, as above
different wifi chip, so I got a USB wifi which worked, but lost that
USB slot. It has a decent keyboard.

Netbooks are for informal, on-the-road work. Not really suited for
any other use

-- 
greymaus
.
 .
...

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#2032

greymausg@mail.com wrote:
> General Schvantzkoph wrote:
>> Mark Pearson wrote:
>> Don't get a netbook if you want to do any real work on it, the screen
>> resolution is inadequate and Atom processors don't support
>> virtualization. If you just want something to just walk around with and
>> to do some light Internet browsing then get one with a 1366x768 screen,
>> most come with a 1024x600 screen, the extra 168 vertical pixels will make
>> a huge difference in usability.
>>
>> My other recommendation is don't buy them online, buy them at a store
>> where you can boot it on a Fedora Live USB stick so that you can
>> determine if there is kernel support for the WiFI chip. Manufacturers
>> don't specify the WiFI chips that they use and they change them from day
>> to day. I bought an ASUS netbook from Newegg after checking it out at
>> Best Buy. All of the ASUS netbooks at Best Buy had Atheros WiFI chips
>> which have kernel drivers. The one I received from Newegg had a Ralink
>> WiFI chip which doesn't have a kernel driver, although they do have a
>> Linux driver on their website which works very well, but you have to
>> compile it yourself which is a chore that you would rather avoid doing.
> 
> Agree with the above thoroughly, I bought a Dell 10 netbook, as above
> different wifi chip, so I got a USB wifi which worked, but lost that
> USB slot. It has a decent keyboard.
> 
> Netbooks are for informal, on-the-road work. Not really suited for
> any other use

I would remove the "informal". I prefer to work on a workstation or my 17" 
notebook but when those aren't an option I can still use my 10" netbook for 
much of my work (e.g. programming and system administration). 

Regards.

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#2028

On 2011-01-30, Mark Pearson <bytebitter@somewhere.invalid> wrote:

> Would the dual core Atom offer any performance benefits for use
> with virtualisation?

Why resort to virtualization?  Just run a full OS.  

You can put linux on a pendrive (key, flashdrive, etc) and take it
down and try it in the store.  Jes plug in and boot.  

I've tried several distros and despite my not being much of an ubuntu
fan, ubuntu UNR 10.x is the only one I found to work without any config
changes on my Asus eee.

http://www.pendrivelinux.com/

nb

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#2029

On Sun, 30 Jan 2011 11:44:25 UTC in comp.os.linux.hardware, Mark Pearson 
<bytebitter@somewhere.invalid> wrote:

> Would the dual core Atom offer any performance benefits for use
> with virtualisation?

Neither one has a processor with virtualisation extension (VT-x). Some 
virtualisation products either require this or work much better with it.

-- 
Trevor Hemsley, Brighton, UK
Trevor dot Hemsley at ntlworld dot com

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#2036

Mark Pearson wrote:
> Currently stuck between the following:
> 
> Toshiba NB250-108 Atom single core 1.66GHz, DDR3 & HD GPU
> or
> Acer Aspire One D255 Atom dual core 1.5GHz, DDR2 & Intel 3150 GPU

No experience with these netbooks so my comment

> Both are similar with respect to amount of installed ram (1GB), HDD
> space & features.
> To be used for business so usual communication/office software but
> also required to run either VMware or VirtualBox with one active VM.

I would advice you to add more RAM, especially if you intend to run VMs.

> Acer looks better, has 2 year warranty & comes pre-installed with
> Android so I'm presumming hardwarecompatibility will be less of a problem.

If Android is pre installed then it is safe to assume that Linux hardware 
compatibility is good.

> Toshiba - rougher but better spec'd?
> 
> Would the dual core Atom offer any performance benefits for use
> with virtualisation?

Performance wise, a "Atom dual core 1.5GHz" is a better choice than a "Atom 
single core 1.66GHz". This extra performance will have a increase in power 
demand, with a corresponding reduction in battery duration.

Regards.

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#2041

 
> 1366x768 is unusable trash. I have a 13" mac book pro so i'd know might
> be better in linux in terminal mode but with X11 - not so good. i'm
> scrolling in browser constantly. I really hate it. I don't know who
> would buy a 11" or even 10" piece of trash

Not unusable but not for doing any heavy lifting. If you delete the bottom 
panel and just use the top panel you'll have enough room to do e-mail and 
basic web-browsing. There is a quantum difference between 600 and 768. 
There are some unshrinkable control panels that exceed the limits of a 600 
height screen but fit on a 768.

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#2044

On Sun, 30 Jan 2011 11:44:25 +0000, Mark Pearson wrote:

> Hi All,
> Currently stuck between the following:
> 
> Toshiba NB250-108 Atom single core 1.66GHz, DDR3 & HD GPU or
> Acer Aspire One D255 Atom dual core 1.5GHz, DDR2 & Intel 3150 GPU
> 
> Both are similar with respect to amount of installed ram (1GB), HDD
> space & features.
> To be used for business so usual communication/office software but also
> required to run either VMware or VirtualBox with one active VM.
> 
> Acer looks better, has 2 year warranty & comes pre-installed with
> Android so I'm presumming hardwarecompatibility will be less of a
> problem. Toshiba - rougher but better spec'd?
> 
> Would the dual core Atom offer any performance benefits for use with
> virtualisation?
> 
> Any help appreciated please.
> Thanks.
> 
> Rgds,
> Mark.

Don't get a netbook if you want to do any real work on it, the screen 
resolution is inadequate and Atom processors don't support virtualization. 
If you just want something to just walk around with and to do some light 
Internet browsing then get one with a 1366x768 screen, most come with a 
1024x600 screen, the extra 168 vertical pixels will make a huge difference 
in usability.

My other recommendation is don't buy them online, buy them at a store 
where you can boot it on a Fedora Live USB stick so that you can determine 
if there is kernel support for the WiFI chip. Manufacturers don't specify 
the WiFI chips that they use and they change them from day to day. I 
bought an ASUS netbook from Newegg after checking it out at Best Buy. All 
of the ASUS netbooks at Best Buy had Atheros WiFI chips which have kernel 
drivers. The one I received from Newegg had a Ralink WiFI chip which 
doesn't have a kernel driver, although they do have a Linux driver on 
their website which works very well, but you have to compile it yourself 
which is a chore that you would rather avoid doing.

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#2048

General Schvantzkoph wrote:
> 
> Don't get a netbook if you want to do any real work on it, the screen
> resolution is inadequate and Atom processors don't support virtualization.
> If you just want something to just walk around with and to do some light
> Internet browsing then get one with a 1366x768 screen, most come with a
> 1024x600 screen, the extra 168 vertical pixels will make a huge difference
> in usability.
> 
I have an Aspire One which has served very well. I certainly wouldn't want 
to use it as-is for long periods but it is great as a portable machine for 
light use. A netbook that can talk to a USB keyboard and mouse, and has an 
external VGA connector can be made into something ergonomic, although the 
processing power is still limited. The other way I use it is to just set it 
up next to my work desktop machine (which runs Windows XP), and run X-
Windows on the desktop and connect to the Linux netbook that way. 

All computers are a compromise and we all have different usage patterns and 
acceptable restrictions. I have had a top-spec laptop before now but it ate 
batteries and was not something you'd want to carry very far. The netbook is 
more limited but will run 9+ hours on the extended battery and is very light 
by comparison.
-- 
Dave
da ve@llondel.org (without the space)
So many gadgets, so little time.

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#2053

On Jan 30, 12:22 pm, General Schvantzkoph <schvantzk...@yahoo.com>
wrote:
> On Sun, 30 Jan 2011 11:44:25 +0000, Mark Pearson wrote:
> > Hi All,
> > Currently stuck between the following:
>
> > Toshiba NB250-108 Atom single core 1.66GHz, DDR3 & HD GPU or
> > Acer Aspire One D255 Atom dual core 1.5GHz, DDR2 & Intel 3150 GPU
>
> > Both are similar with respect to amount of installed ram (1GB), HDD
> > space & features.
> > To be used for business so usual communication/office software but also
> > required to run either VMware or VirtualBox with one active VM.
>
> > Acer looks better, has 2 year warranty & comes pre-installed with
> > Android so I'm presumming hardwarecompatibility will be less of a
> > problem. Toshiba - rougher but better spec'd?
>
> > Would the dual core Atom offer any performance benefits for use with
> > virtualisation?
>
> > Any help appreciated please.
> > Thanks.
>
> > Rgds,
> > Mark.
>
> Don't get a netbook if you want to do any real work on it, the screen
> resolution is inadequate and Atom processors don't support virtualization.
> If you just want something to just walk around with and to do some light
> Internet browsing then get one with a 1366x768 screen, most come with a
> 1024x600 screen, the extra 168 vertical pixels will make a huge difference
> in usability.

1366x768 is unusable trash. I have a 13" mac book pro so i'd know
might be better in linux in terminal mode but with X11 - not so good.
i'm scrolling in browser constantly. I really hate it.
I don't know who would buy a 11" or even 10" piece of trash
>
> My other recommendation is don't buy them online, buy them at a store
> where you can boot it on a Fedora Live USB stick so that you can determine
> if there is kernel support for the WiFI chip. Manufacturers don't specify
> the WiFI chips that they use and they change them from day to day. I
> bought an ASUS netbook from Newegg after checking it out at Best Buy. All
> of the ASUS netbooks at Best Buy had Atheros WiFI chips which have kernel
> drivers. The one I received from Newegg had a Ralink WiFI chip which
> doesn't have a kernel driver, although they do have a Linux driver on
> their website which works very well, but you have to compile it yourself
> which is a chore that you would rather avoid doing.

Yes, beside the obvious common sense that says that you could fall in
hate with the keyboard,
touchpad and/or display. Better find that at the store than having to
pack the garbage
that should have never been made and ship it back to the seller

Having said that I did buy some notebooks in the past online, usually
based on extensive reviews

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