Hi-Fi Corp Proline Mid Notebook

[Budza]

http://www.hificorporation.co.za/uploads/ipapers/hifi_big_brands/flash.html#/1/

Anyone got any more info on this offering?

Is this Proline clone of the Wind, or is it a re-badged Wind (better?)

There is also lots of discussion on the Touchpad- anyone know if this is Synaptic?

60GB hdd could be better, but for R3800, it'll do.

Compared to the Aspire One @R5000 from the Incredible Con, this looks pretty good.

Any comments?

 

[Budza]

I was really keen on the Aspire One, but would have liked to have 2GB RAM, which it cannot take (1,5GB max). Can I chuck another 1Gb module in the Proline dude?

Also keen for a TV-out to make a compact (quiet?) media streamer...

The hdd can always be upgraded, anyone know if it is SATA?

Should I even bother with these "Netbooks"? Any netbook users got some positive/negative feedback on their experiences?

 

[cyberarmy]

Not anything like Wind/Aspired one, I saw their paper ad yesterday. This one is using VIA processor, not the Intel ATOM everyone else is using in the Netbooks, don't know how good they are....

 

[Budza]

cyber, seen your comments on similar machines around the forum. You ever end up buying a little guy, or you still shopping around? What are you looking for exactly?

 

[cyberarmy]

cyber, seen your comments on similar machines around the forum. You ever end up buying a little guy, or you still shopping around? What are you looking for exactly?

I will probably get one when I go to Hongkong during Xmas, I am looking at 9-10' LED screen, Atom processor, 1G+ RAM, SSD storage (preferred), good battery life.

Wind/Aspire one, Dell S9/10 are on my list because of their price/specs.

I will use this one around the house, and maybe hook it up with external HD to do BT 24/7.

 

[charlie_82]

The HP 2133 Mini-Note uses the same CPU...

 

[Budza]

cyber, thats pretty close to what i am looking for- guess that's what many budget netbooks will end up as. Mini Pirate ships

Would be keen for 2GB RAM in an Aspire One, just to stop the swap, and maybe save a bit of battery life.

Are these Atom chipsets with integrated vgs able to play full HD content to a moerse external screen?

 

[cyberarmy]

I think it would depends on what VGA chip these netbooks are using and the playback decoding methonds.
I have seen 945/965 and x3100, but if the VGA is not good enough for HD playback they can always use CPU, which I remember I read somewhere 720p playback will be fine.

 

[EtienneK]

The VIA processors are good. They aren't dual core, but they are faster than the ATOMs.

 

[Pooky]

I bought a Proline U100. It is a rebranded MSI Wind so there is basically nothing much different. I dunno about that one but mine has an Atom processor.

It can also be upgraded to 2gigs of RAM and will recognise it.

It is quick a zippy laptop for what's inside it, and loads up Windows Vista Ultimate with Aero perfectly.

 

[Budza]

Cool. The Proline advertised has a VIA processor, which I understand is less powerful than the Atom (1.5 vs 1.6 GHz) As far as I know, then new VIA processors are much better, but the C7-M is an older one. I reckon something better than the Atom could hardly sell for less.

EtienneK-> On what do you base your findings that the VIAs are faster than the Atoms?

Also, how big are the powerbricks for these things? Obviously thr smaller the better all round...

Thanks for all the replies!