Intersection readers helped me make the decision to convert to Apple and last year, I bought a MacBook Air. The first laptop was stolen in DC, and I’ve had my current model since June 2008. Overall, it’s been easy to use and I especially appreciate its light weight when traveling.
A few months back, the battery stopped holding a charge. Fair enough–it’s been over a year–so I purchased a new one (AppleCare does not cover batteries over warranty). Thing is, the laptop’s charge continues to plummet when unplugged. It’s also very slow with a tendency to crash unexpectedly and has started making a strange ringtone-like ‘chirp’ at irregular intervals. The folks at my local Mac Genius Bar are very friendly, but unfortunately there’s nothing they can do, leaving me in my current predicament: A month before my next book deadline, I must mail my laptop to the Apple depot for a week or so…
Given all the trouble, I’ll admit I’m beginning to question my faith in Mac. Since I’m traveling again this week, I’ll be purchasing a new netbook over the coming days. So far, I’m most interested in the Toshiba mini NB200 and the Sony VAIO, however there are a lot of other models out there.
Once again, I’m looking for advice from our most tech savvy readers…
August 24th, 2009 at 3:43 pm
So you’re looking for what, specifically? Screen size? Battery life? Build quality? I’ve got an eeepc and a Dell Mini, both with 10″ screens (and both at least partly hackintoshed, but that’s neither here nor there); of the two the eeepc 1000HA has much better battery life, but the Dell Mini 10V has a better screen, a better touchpad, and both looks and feels much better to use.
August 24th, 2009 at 3:43 pm
I own a ASUS Eee PC 901, and I like it. It has a 20 GB flash drive, and I added a 16 GB flash card to pretty much double my memory for around $16. If I don’t have any major deadlines when I’m at conferences, I bring the Eee PC. It allows me to net surf and email without any hassles and the seven hour plus battery charge is a thing of beauty.
However, when I have major writing to do, I bring my Lenovo with me. Sure it is heavier, but it also has more computing power and allows me to do everything I need to do to put together a suitable document (word processing, image editing, etc). A full sized keyboard (which most netbooks do not have) is a huge plus in this realm as well.
So, IMO it all depends on what you want to do. If it’s to write a book, I’d pick a full sized laptop, albeit with a little less heft to it.
August 24th, 2009 at 3:45 pm
I’ve been very happy with my Acer Aspire One. http://tinyurl.com/nzxsht. It has a 92% keyboard and a large screen plus the 6.5 hour battery claim is accurate. I wouldn’t try to fold proteins on it but for writing, serfing and making Powerpoint presentations it’s just what I need.
August 24th, 2009 at 3:47 pm
I’m looking for an inexpensive second computer that’s portable with a decent battery life that’s easy to set up and use… I’ll need it ready with lots of files transferred by my next flight Thursday morning.
August 24th, 2009 at 3:49 pm
Should be http://tinyurl.com/nzxsht They have a 7.5 hour version as well.
August 24th, 2009 at 3:55 pm
I’ve heard excellent things about the Aspire One, then. Of course, all of this might be moot given your Thursday deadline – might be easiest just to swing by Best Buy, check what they have in stock, and look up battery life for each online.
That’s the best strategy for figuring out what size keyboard you’ll need, too – try typing on them in the store. The difference from one to the next can be amazing.
August 24th, 2009 at 4:04 pm
I assume you’ve seen this following on the Lifehacker site:
http://lifehacker.com/5273096/five-best-netbooks
I have an Acer Aspire One (with a 6 cell battery) and am very happy with both its performance and its price. The Sony you’re looking at appears to have only a 3 cell battery; the Toshiba has a 6 cell. I think you’ll want the extra hours you get from the 6 cell. Re getting the most out of a laptop battery, see the following:
http://batteryuniversity.com/parttwo-34.htm
August 24th, 2009 at 4:07 pm
Sheril, I highly recommend the Samsung n120 I have. Its keyboard is really great for a netbook, nice and light and the battery practically lasts forever..well 6-8 hours easily. I’ve heard nice things about the Toshiba but never seen one in person. Good luck! Sam(bazon)
August 24th, 2009 at 7:16 pm
Sheril, I’d like to talk about the odd behavior of your battery. I occasionally hear horror stories of lemon computers and I often wonder how much of it is genuinely “the lemon factor” and how much of it is the accumulation of tiny factors in the user’s behavior. The first thing I will mention is heat. Laptop batteries of all kinds are susceptible to heat, and the MacBook Air, because it’s such an extreme design, is especially vulnerable to heat. That machine must be kept out of hot environments such as baking cars in summer, roasting in direct sunlight, and so forth.
A second, less common factor is extreme vibration. Again, the MacBook Air is especially vulnerable to this because it’s advertised as being lightweight. Ideally, you should carry any laptop inside a thickly padded carrier. Of course, that would contradict the whole point of the MacBook Air, wouldn’t it? In any case, every time a shock wave travels through that machine — every bump and bang — it degrades the delicate membranes inside the battery.
Lastly, the manner in which you cycle the battery affects its life. The worst case is to drain it down all the way to absolute zero, then charge it up partially, then drain it down again, then charge it up, over and over. In other words, the worst case graph of “level of charge” versus time would show a line stubbornly staying at zero, with occasional short forays up to 50% or 80%. That kind of profile kills batteries fast. The best case graph would be a horizontal line at 100% with occasional forays down to 50%. In other words, you want to keep that baby charged all the time, and NEVER let it discharge down to zero. It should be plugged in and charging most of the time that you use it at home or at the office, even if you’re using it.
I have a MacBook Pro with two batteries — I wanted to be able to use it on long flights. I have had it now for three years, and both batteries are still providing me with about 90 minutes of operational time each. If I use the various strategies to reduce battery use, I can get two hours out of each.
You mention that you were satisfied with your batteries lasting only
August 24th, 2009 at 7:56 pm
As general-purpose electronic computing devices get smaller, more and more compromises get made in their design. Smartphones are the ultimate expression of this (thus far).
My advice is to decide what you cannot compromise on and cater to that need… then compromise on the other stuff. It sounds like you are well down that road already when you specify that you want a netbook, so just pursue that logic.
A netbook places a premium on small size and weight, while still having a (more or less) full keyboard. Therefore you’re getting an ultra-small laptop that’s designed for easy transport. Also netbooks invariably use specialized low power processors that consume less power and put out less heat. These help extend battery life and make a smaller battery practical (many netbooks are getting longer average charge lifespans than the average laptop).
My guess? You’re a writer in at least part of your life. You need to figure out if you intend to spend longish spells writing on this netbook. If so go for a larger screen and better keyboard. However that will eat into your battery life, which you can compensate by getting a bigger battery, but at the expense of weight. Always with the compromises!
On the other hand if what you really want is a sort of communication tool, whereby you blog for a few minutes at a time, but no major writing/computing really, then you can probably forgo the larger screens and keyboards.
Figuring out what you can live without is the hard part. Most people don’t want to give up anything at first and that pushes them into notebook territory.
August 25th, 2009 at 3:43 am
I have three netbooks:
1) Asus Eee PC running Jolicloud
2) A Hackintosh MSI Wind
3) A Toshiba mini NB205 running XP.
I use the Toshiba the most because of the battery and the largest keyboard in the netbook range. I find that I can use it all day with little problems.
The other two I still use, but more for niche projects.
Bets of luck.
August 25th, 2009 at 8:00 am
If you love your Mac, stick with it.
Of course they’re not cheap …
Fujitsu make excellent small computers, but they make a Mac look cheap! Sony have some pretty good slightly cheaper ones.
As for the EEEPC, you may love it or loathe it. Walk into a shop and poke at it for, say, 30 minutes. And ask lots of questions – like how well does it run with ‘MSWord’ (or whatever programs you use), how many programs can you run before it starts to limp, etc.
Dell has a pretty good small, cheap notebook with an old fashioned spinning hard drive (as opposed to many machines its size with only solid state storage). Unfortunately I can’t remember the name of the product line and I can’t browse their product website for some reason. It works pretty well with WinXP but of course I’d recommend ditching that and using some Linux distribution.
I’d use it to run instruments if the EEEPC weren’t cheaper; my only problem with it is that the keyboard is a bit small for me so I scream a lot on the odd occasion that I have to use it. (That machine is also at another office site so I can’t easily get a look at it.)
August 25th, 2009 at 8:06 am
Dell has a pretty good small, cheap notebook with an old fashioned spinning hard drive (as opposed to many machines its size with only solid state storage). Unfortunately I can’t remember the name of the product line and I can’t browse their product website for some reason. laptop battery It works pretty well with WinXP but of course I’d recommend ditching that and using some Linux
August 25th, 2009 at 11:39 am
I suggest trying to type on a netbook before you decide to get one. I don’t find them suitable for writing anything longer than an email or blog post on.
They’re fantastic little machines for portable internet connectivity, but that’s really about it.
If you want something to be able to write with, get a laptop with at least a 13″ screen, if not 15″. Netbook makers may advertise their keyboards are “90%” of a standard keyboard, but standard is a laptop keyboard, not a desktop keyboard, and that 10% makes a big difference.
I have a hard time touch typing on a friend’s Asus EeePC 1000HE. I don’t really find the keyboard on it any more usable than the thumb-board on my smartphone.
August 26th, 2009 at 1:23 am
Well, it wasn’t a Dell at all that I had in mind (although they do produce a nice little computer). I was looking at a Lenovo Ideapad S10. Good looking, well built, screen’s great for its size, battery lasts a long time, and it’s got a hard disk (you really don’t want to fork out money for solid state storage). My only problem of course is the tiny keyboard, but if you learn to type by drumming on the keypad with a pair of pens, that’s fine. You might want to upgrade the RAM, but I think you’d be happy with that machine.
November 6th, 2009 at 7:20 pm
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