Intel ATOM Notebooks

Which brand of netbook do you prefer?

  • Acer

    Votes: 5 17.2%
  • Lenovo

    Votes: 4 13.8%
  • Asus

    Votes: 8 27.6%
  • HP

    Votes: 3 10.3%
  • Dell

    Votes: 6 20.7%
  • Samsung

    Votes: 3 10.3%

  • Total voters
    29

sh4rpz

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 6, 2009
Messages
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Location
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Hi guys,

I've seen these and am very interested in getting one. I would primarily be using it for email & web browsing.

I require some advice or feedback on:

1. How worth it are these notebooks for what I want to use it for?
2. Which are the best deals or models on the market right now?

Edit: 3. How does it perform with Windows 7?

any constructive feedback would be great!

Thanks in advance,

-R
 
I have an Asus 1000HE netbook with 2GB RAM. Windows 7 Home Premium works very well.

It's great for email and web browsing, I have even run Photoshop CS4 on it.

It gets a bit slow for heavily CPU intensive stuff, like video processing or batch processing of photographs, but is fine for anything else.

And with the 6 hour battery life (claimed 9.5 hrs) it is a great travel machine.

The newer models with the Atom n450 processor are even better.
 
If you are not looking for power and are very patient, go for it. Remember that an Atom is the smallest processor is the Intel family
 
I don't have much to offer in the way of experience on these netbooks, but the small amount I do have shows that the keyboards are a little too small for my liking when it comes to typing easily, you would especially battle if you could touch type! Granted it will do the job perfectly well, but if your emails are rather long, you may end up frustrated in the end.
 
Thanks for the feedback guys!

Please post any specials or deals should you come across any in the next few days, if possible!

Thanks again.
 
If you are not looking for power and are very patient, go for it. Remember that an Atom is the smallest processor is the Intel family

Have you ever actually used one? Doesn't seem like it.
I have tested the following models: HP, Lenovo and Sony Vaio (my current one)

Make sure you do get the N270 processor at least, or the N450 (I think it is) ... stay away from the Z processors, they have some performance issues.

I am running Windows 7 Enterprise on mine, and have no need for my Dell E6500 any more, as I can do everything on the Vaio that I do on the Dell. Applications in use daily, and simultaneously include:

Outlook 2010
Word 2010
Excel 2010
SAP GUI
SQL Server Management studio 2008
Chrome
IE
Visual Studio 2005
VLC for media streaming

And it performs like a daemon.
 
The Vaio W's are great because they have a better screen resolution (1024*768). But the battery life is not great.

The new ones use the N450 CPU.

They are expensive in SA, IC sells them - maybe Fotocats and Dion Wired as well. Dion Wired should be the cheapest.
 
I see Esquire also sells the following for R 2579 (ex. VAT):

BenQ JoyBook LITE U102 Black
10.1 LCD Wide Screen
DDRII-667 1GB
ATOM N270
160GB (5400RPM - SATA)
Built-in 1.3M camera
Built-in 10/100 Ethernet
3-cell Lithium-Ion Battery, 53 Whr (4800 mAh)
Microsoft® Windows® XP HOME
 
Thanks again everyone for the useful tips and info.

Will keep you guys posted, when I have checked out various retailers.
 
I have tested the following models: HP, Lenovo and Sony Vaio (my current one)

Make sure you do get the N270 processor at least, or the N450 (I think it is) ... stay away from the Z processors, they have some performance issues.

Thanks for this info - will look for one which uses either of these.
 
The Vaio W's are great because they have a better screen resolution (1024*768). But the battery life is not great.

The new ones use the N450 CPU.

They are expensive in SA, IC sells them - maybe Fotocats and Dion Wired as well. Dion Wired should be the cheapest.

I returned the Lenovo due to the screen resolution ... my Vaio is 1366Xwhatever.
Battery life is a bit dodge (2.5 hours), but nothing an extended battery can't solve
 
OK last post :)

DC3 (www.dc3.co.za)

sells the following netbook for R2923 (VAT incl):

Asus EeePC 1001HA Black Textured
Intel ATOM N270 (1.6Ghz)
10.1" LED Backlight WSVGA Screen (1024x600),
160GB SATA HDD,
1GB DDR2 Ram (upgradeable to 2GB),
802.11b/g/n WLAN,
3 Cell Battery (4hrs battery life),
3x USB, 10/100 Ethernet,
Multi Card Reader (MMC/SD(SDHC)
2x Audio Jack (Head Phone/Mic In)
0.3M Pixel Webcam, Built in Digital Microphone,
Genuine MS XP Home - MS Works ver 9 (Full Package)
MS Office 2007 Trial - Norton Internet Security Trial
Weight : 1.1KG

For +- R400 more you could get a 6 cell battery version which doubles your battery life over the 3 cell..

Then another one that takes the N450 CPU for R2804 (VAT excl.):

MSI U130
10" WSVGA LCD (1024x600)
Atom 1.6Ghz(N450)
1GB DDRII
160GB SATA
802.11b/g/n
Win 7 Starter
Black (3cell)
 
... my Vaio is 1366Xwhatever...

Yes, you are right, just slipped my mind - the Sony W is 1366*768. That's better than the others, although HP also has that as an optional extra.

I must say, that is the one thing that I would like on my slightly dated Asus 1000HE. In fact, it's the only improvement that I desire.
 
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