Laptop is probably dead--do I want another laptop, or a netbook?

[Julie in CA]

I use my computer mainly for surfing the Internet, downloading audiobooks for my mp3 player, word processing, recipe software, and I store a small amount of digital photos.

 

Do I need another laptop, or should I go with a Netbook?

[Michelle in AL]

Most netbooks don't have a CD ROM drive, you might need that for music and photos.

 

I'm a pretty avid photo person, so I would want a laptop for enough storage for that (if that was where I wuld store photos).

[Julie in CA]

Most netbooks don't have a CD ROM drive, you might need that for music and photos.

 

I'm a pretty avid photo person, so I would want a laptop for enough storage for that (if that was where I wuld store photos).

I don't know a lot about it all, but I saw a netbook on woot that was sold with an external CD/DVD drive. I don't use the CD/DVD very often on my laptop, so would the external be good enough?

[Debora R]

I have a netbook. I regret that I did not buy a laptop.

[Joker]

I don't know much about all of this but we just purchased a new laptop today because our old computer crashed. All of the software we bought to add on to it came with keycodes for those that had netbooks. It said you go to an online site, punch in the keycode and it downloads the software without a cd drive.

[Julie in CA]

I have a netbook. I regret that I did not buy a laptop.

So, why the regret?

[MorganClassicalPrep]

If it's going to be your primary computer, you want a laptop. Netbooks are nice, and I actually plan on buying one for bringing to school/taking notes/internet between classes, but they don't have as much storage space as laptops, they don't have internal CD/DVD drives, the keyboards are small, and the screens are SMALL!

 

My DD has a netbook and it surprised me how small everything looked onscreen. I can't even watch my shows (at cbs.com, abc.com...) because the viewing screen won't fit, and if I make it smaller it's really too small to even watch. You can also zoom in and make websites bigger, but then nothing fits on the screen. You end up scrolling side to side just to read everything! I actually kind of regret that we bought her a netbook, and am considering buying her a laptop and taking her netbook, since now I have to buy an external drive for her to use certain software and games she'd like to have.

[BikeBookBread]

I'll plug switching to Mac whether it be desktop or laptop... we switched 2 months ago to an iMac desktop, and have never looked back...

 

Played with an iPad (again) today and love love love love love it. The keyboard dock is nifty.

Edited May 29, 2010 by BikeBookBread

[Tap]

I would buy a smaller laptop lonnnng before a netbook. They are just too small for me. I think of them like a large iPhone :lol: not a small computer.

[Shawna in Texas]

We have two netbooks and an external drive. We've used the external drive twice. Once to upload router software because our big computer died. We also used it to upload a school disc. We use a flash drive quite a bit. The software that came with it was on an SD card (games and non-essential).

 

We love them. DH can still do excel for work. It has a 120G HD, which we won't even get close to filling up. DH watches quite a bit of TV on it without any problems. Right now we use a netbook as our primary because the big one wasn't worth repairing. At this point we've no plans to get anything bigger. Unless you were a gamer, or wanted to use it primarily for movies, I think they are great little machines.

Edited May 29, 2010 by Shawna in Texas
added info

[milovany]

I'm typing on a netbook right now. Get a laptop. The keyboard and screen are both too small to be used comfortably. It's a backup computer for us.

[Lizzie in Ma]

Spent last weekend fine tuning one for my Mom's friend so she could see the screen!

I thought the thing was a waste of money and the hassles from the smaller screen with no mobile type operating system was absurd.

I couldn't' even get to the enter buttons on a registry cleaner I installed without some serious creativity.

Finally figured out the control - deal but she needs the font so large to read it at all.

I can't imagine trying to actually work on it.

[Hockey Mom]

I love my netbook. BUT, I only use it for my HST software, internet, and for storing programs from Currclick. I use my PowerBook for everything else.

[Night Elf]

I just bought a netbook yesterday, but only as a school companion. My laptop is too heavy to carry around. I don't know much about it yet, but I got an Asus Eee PC and it feels like a toy. I need a thin, light machine that will fit in my book bag. The only reason I got it is to do my homework while on campus. It doesn't have the same processor as a laptop so it's slightly slower in navigating pages. It's not a noticeable difference. It has a 92% keyboard which is fine to type on, though it's not as comfortable as my laptop that has lots of space to work with. And of course the screen size is a little frustrating because my eyesight isn't what it used to be. If I change the font on my netbook too large, I can't see as much of a document as I'm used to seeing. I was doing lots of scrolling last night in just one document.

 

I haven't tried music, but I did find one bizarre thing. I can't change the picture on my background. I have no idea why that feature isn't included. They have a folder with pictures. I right click on a picture, choose 'change background wallpaper', and then click 'yes I'm sure I want to replace the current background', and yet nothing happens. The control isn't even on the control panel. It's obviously not important, but it does bug me when I'm used to changing pictures for variety. :)

 

I wouldn't be comfortable with this small thing as my primary computer, but it will be perfect for my classes. I paid $369 for the netbook and a flash drive. You can get a nice laptop for not much more.

 

I went to Best Buy and looked at all of them before choosing this one, really because it was the one recommended by the guy helping me. It wasn't the least expensive nor the most expensive. So I decided to trust his judgment.

 

Oh, and I have no use for a cd-drive in a school laptop, but I have used the one in my laptop for some games, music, and MUS.

[ladydusk]

I'll be the dissenter. I have a desktop and a netbook. I've had the netbook for a year and a half and I *love* it. I use it for almost everything except storing pictures/music. I, too, thought the screen would be too small, but I find it absolutely sufficient for everything I want to do. Plus, it isn't so big that I can't see my children around it ;)

 

The only adjustment I needed to make was that the "," and "." keys are smaller than the other keys ... but I adjusted to that very quickly.

 

I surf, use Word & Excel, blog, read the forums, update my LibraryThing, etc. I don't watch a lot of movies, but will watch the occasional YouTube video or video linked here and find it does all that I need it to. I have an MSi Wind U100.

[Julie in CA]

I'll plug switching to Mac whether it be desktop or laptop... we switched 2 months ago to an iMac desktop, and have never looked back...

 

Played with an iPad (again) today and love love love love love it. The keyboard dock is nifty.

Well here's the deal...my ds is headed off to college in just a few months, and he's always used our home computer for school. Because I'm paying off credit card debt, I was trying to decide how I could possibly scrape together enough for a budget laptop for him. It's been my internal debate for roughly 2 weeks now. Yesterday, dd spilled a huge glass of ice water on my laptop. That means that not only do I have to try to scrape together enough money for a computer to send with him, I also need to try to scrape together enough for a new laptop for me. In short, I won't be looking at Macs anytime soon. It'd just be a temptation I don't need. ;) (But aren't they wonderful??:))

[MorganClassicalPrep]

Well here's the deal...my ds is headed off to college in just a few months, and he's always used our home computer for school. Because I'm paying off credit card debt, I was trying to decide how I could possibly scrape together enough for a budget laptop for him. It's been my internal debate for roughly 2 weeks now. Yesterday, dd spilled a huge glass of ice water on my laptop. That means that not only do I have to try to scrape together enough money for a computer to send with him, I also need to try to scrape together enough for a new laptop for me. In short, I won't be looking at Macs anytime soon. It'd just be a temptation I don't need. ;) (But aren't they wonderful??:))

 

 

I feel your pain. I desperatly want a Mac. My current laptop is getting old and I need a new one. But I'm a full time college student and a Mac is far, far away from my budget (of nothing.. lol).

 

Macs are amazing. But I'm a big Apple fan. Waiting impatiently for the iphone to come out on Verizon.

[T'smom]

I have a netbook and I don't mind the size at all. I've used it a lot to watch shows on the internet. But if you get one, I wouldn't get an Acer Aspire. I've had it for a year and a half and we've had to replace the power cord twice and the battery doesn't work anymore....but for not much more than a battery, we could get a new netbook! We also have a desktop- but I hardly ever use it because I find the netbook more convenient!

[Tokyomarie]

When my 5yr old Dell died back in January, I spent a lot of time researching smaller sized notebooks. I waffled between spending some significant money to purchase a "desktop replacement" model notebook (something with a big screen & lots of power) plus a 10" netboook for carrying around OR a smaller sized notebook.

 

I ended up with an 11.6" Toshiba Satellite & ditched the desktop replacement idea. This notebook is a full laptop computer minus the CD drive. I already owned an external CD drive which works for the few times I need one. The screen is on the small side but it's just enough larger than the true netbook screen that it works well for me for most of what I do. I think I would get frustrated with the 10" netbook screen if I was using it all the time. In other ways it has the full capability of a mid-range laptop: a regular laptop processor, 2G RAM, 250G HD, and a full Windows 7 operating system rather than the scaled back version that is in the netbooks. It has a long life battery- 8.5hrs- which I absolutely love!

 

I love that it is still small enough to carry together with a binder or books in my small tote bag. I use a small case that has the feel in some ways of a Bible cover.

 

So far, I've been very happy with my choice to go one step up in size from a true netbook to a machine that has the full computing capability of a regular laptop yet is still ulta-portable.

[SonshineLearner]

Apple has a deal right now.. if it's still going on... it's for people in some sort of education aspect....

:)

[Mommy22alyns]

I would go for the laptop. I was considering a netbook, but I'm glad I didn't get one. They are tiny and I'd hate to surf the net on such a mini screen. JMO.