elegantlion Posted April 15, 2012 Share Posted April 15, 2012 I adore my netbook, the size, the battery life, everything, but now the motherboard is dead and I'm wary about replacing it with another netbook. I've only had this one since Christmas of 2010, so not quite a year and a half. So I'm back to the geriatric 2007 mongo huge laptop with no battery life for now. Upgrading it would not be cost effective. It's essentially my digital file cabinet. I know tablets are the wave of the future for now, but I really like a small laptop. Plus our budget, well it's low and this wasn't the expense we needed right now. If I do a tablet it needs to be able to have a keyboard, mouse, and monitor plugged in. If I do a desktop I lose all portability. Any suggestions? Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christine Posted April 15, 2012 Share Posted April 15, 2012 :lurk5: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KirstenH Posted April 15, 2012 Share Posted April 15, 2012 Well, how much can you spend? I love my Sony Vaio SA (a 13.3-inch ultrathin laptop with insane battery life that goes with me almost everywhere), but it was over $1,000. I know people also love their Macbooks (both Pro and Air). If you're going to do a tablet as a computer replacement, I recommend an iPad. I personally use all Android products (phone and tablet), and while I love the *idea* of them (greater customizability, more "freedom" in apps, etc.), the reality is that iOS is just less of a hassle. Android tends to be buggy and while there are a billion apps for Android, most of them suck. There are much better apps available for the Apple ecosystem. (Yes, my name is Kirsten and I have iDevice envy.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted April 15, 2012 Author Share Posted April 15, 2012 Well, how much can you spend? I love my Sony Vaio SA (a 13.3-inch ultrathin laptop with insane battery life that goes with me almost everywhere), but it was over $1,000. I know people also love their Macbooks (both Pro and Air). If you're going to do a tablet as a computer replacement, I recommend an iPad. I personally use all Android products (phone and tablet), and while I love the *idea* of them (greater customizability, more "freedom" in apps, etc.), the reality is that iOS is just less of a hassle. Android tends to be buggy and while there are a billion apps for Android, most of them suck. There are much better apps available for the Apple ecosystem. (Yes, my name is Kirsten and I have iDevice envy.) Well 1000 is way out of budget. I don't really want an Ipad. I have an Android phone which I like, but I use a phone for a phone, kwim. I really don't give a rip about apps. I need Internet, battery life, and a real keyboard. The 350 dh paid for the netbook was a stretch last year, but he saved and I had been wanting one for about two years. (insert pouty whine here)---- We don't buy a lot of stuff, but computers are kind of our thing. Grumble, grumble, grumble. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KirstenH Posted April 15, 2012 Share Posted April 15, 2012 (edited) Well 1000 is way out of budget. I don't really want an Ipad. I have an Android phone which I like, but I use a phone for a phone, kwim. I really don't give a rip about apps. I need Internet, battery life, and a real keyboard. The 350 dh paid for the netbook was a stretch last year, but he saved and I had been wanting one for about two years. (insert pouty whine here)---- We don't buy a lot of stuff, but computers are kind of our thing. Grumble, grumble, grumble. With your budget and list of requirements, you might be best served by another netbook. What did you have before? I know a few happy owners of the Acer Aspire One. Everyone I know with a Dell netbook has had problems. The problem with tablets is that they're expensive. By the time you fork over the $400 for an Android tablet, you might as well pay the extra $100 for an iPad. The cheapest option for you would be a Nook Color, rooted to make it into an Android tablet. In theory, you could then install a keyboard. That requires some savvy, though, and voids the warranty. It's also not THAT much less money than a new netbook, and is a huge hassle. (ETA: I use a Kindle Fire pretty often for accessing the internet, and I find the virtual keyboard adequate for Facebook, searches, short emails and forum posts. It's the best "virtual" I've ever used. That said, I still prefer a real keyboard and switch to that whenever I need to type something of any length (like this reply).) Edited April 15, 2012 by KirstenH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tap Posted April 15, 2012 Share Posted April 15, 2012 Have you looked into how much it would be to replace the mother board in the one you have? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amsunshine Posted April 15, 2012 Share Posted April 15, 2012 Is there any way you could get the motherboard replaced? (I don't know much about this, just trying to think of an althernative). FWIW, we love our Gateway netbook -- got it for our dds for schoolwork and it goes everywhere with us now. We got it at Best Buy for around $200 on sale. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted April 15, 2012 Author Share Posted April 15, 2012 What's your budget and what do you want to do with it? You can get online from a e-reader and keep your cost pretty low, or you can get a low end laptop and still beat ipad's pricing. Budget is really none, but my birthday is coming up and I can see my parents offering some towards a new whatever. With your budget and list of requirements, you might be best served by another netbook. What did you have before? I know a few happy owners of the Acer Aspire One. Everyone I know with a Dell netbook has had problems. The problem with tablets is that they're expensive. By the time you fork over the $400 for an Android tablet, you might as well pay the extra $100 for an iPad. The cheapest option for you would be a Nook Color, rooted to make it into an Android tablet. In theory, you could then install a keyboard. That requires some savvy, though, and voids the warranty. It's also not THAT much less money than a new netbook, and is a huge hassle. (ETA: I use a Kindle Fire pretty often for accessing the internet, and I find the virtual keyboard adequate for Facebook, searches, short emails and forum posts. It's the best "virtual" I've ever used. That said, I still prefer a real keyboard and switch to that whenever I need to type something of any length (like this reply).) The netbook was an HP Mini. We've had Hp products for years without issue, so this was a surprise. Our computer guy said he has more issues with all brands of netbooks, so dh isn't keen on forking out more money for a netbook. the Fire doesn't process fast enough from what I've heard. And I really need something with the capacity of a real computer as I write a lot, stories and such. I also need a real keyboard for that purpose, and I have small hands so the netbook keyboard was great for typing fast. My best bet may be to buy a separate tower, then wait for the newest wave of tablets to get a little more affordable or save for a better laptop. I have a workable monitor and can get a keyboard for cheap. It won't be portable, but that would get me fully functional sooner. Any ideas on towers? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tap Posted April 15, 2012 Share Posted April 15, 2012 I bought dd13 an HP G4 14" for Christmas. It was about $350 on a pretty good sale but I added a Fair Trade warranty so we paid about $500. She loves it. It gives her the portability of a netbook but with a disk drive and adequate memory to run full programs and play movies, etc. I know this may be out of your budget, but it has a been a great computer for her. She takes it back and forth to school each day and has not had a bit of problems with it. I am really glad we didn't go with a net book for her, the extra money for the notebook was worth it for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted April 15, 2012 Author Share Posted April 15, 2012 Have you looked into how much it would be to replace the mother board in the one you have? Is there any way you could get the motherboard replaced? (I don't know much about this, just trying to think of an althernative). FWIW, we love our Gateway netbook -- got it for our dds for schoolwork and it goes everywhere with us now. We got it at Best Buy for around $200 on sale. I think it would be about 200.00. Whatever happened also cooked the battery, so that would be another 75.00 to 100.00, so dh doesn't want to repair it, because we're not sure what happened and what else got messed up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted April 15, 2012 Author Share Posted April 15, 2012 I bought dd13 an HP G4 14" for Christmas. It was about $350 on a pretty good sale but I added a Fair Trade warranty so we paid about $500. She loves it. It gives her the portability of a netbook but with a disk drive and adequate memory to run full programs and play movies, etc. I know this may be out of your budget, but it has a been a great computer for her. She takes it back and forth to school each day and has not had a bit of problems with it. I am really glad we didn't go with a net book for her, the extra money for the notebook was worth it for us. I'm going to look at laptops too, thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaxMom Posted April 15, 2012 Share Posted April 15, 2012 No ideas for replacement but, in the meantime, you could probably just replace the battery in the laptop so you have portability. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest submarines Posted April 15, 2012 Share Posted April 15, 2012 I read this thead title as, "My neighbour is dead..." :lol: I have no replacement suggestions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted April 15, 2012 Author Share Posted April 15, 2012 No ideas for replacement but, in the meantime, you could probably just replace the battery in the laptop so you have portability. We've considered that, but they're about 100.00 as well. I read this thead title as, "My neighbour is dead..." :lol:I have no replacement suggestions. yes, thankfully it's just a computer. I think dh is going to let me use his laptop for a while. It's newer, doesn't heat up like mine, and he's been hinting for a tablet. So I'll end up with his laptop hand-me-down and he gets the new tablet, that's what will happen. :glare: Story of my life. Thank you all for your suggestions. If it was up to me I'd buy a cheaper netbook, but it's more up to the budget than anything. I cashed in my coins to buy the last book in the Hunger Games, so I'll have a distraction today at least. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest submarines Posted April 15, 2012 Share Posted April 15, 2012 yes, thankfully it's just a computer. I have to explain my ":lol:" at my original comment. I was reading this title after I read "my crazy neighbour" thread about the paranoid neighbour with the video camera. Hence my odd reaction. :001_huh: And my confusion as why would she want a replacement? Anyway, back to my fuzzy internal world. :001_huh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KirstenH Posted April 15, 2012 Share Posted April 15, 2012 Check Amazon for off-brand replacement batteries. My son's Dell Inspiron 14 chews through batteries like nobody's business. We replaced the battery twice through Dell, for $95 a pop (the first one, they sent us for free, though, after I called customer service to complain). After that, we got an off-brand at Amazon for $39 and it has actually lasted longer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shanezomom Posted April 15, 2012 Share Posted April 15, 2012 I have an Acer Aspire laptop that was only $329 at Best Buy two or more years ago and it runs rings around the HP $1,200 laptop my husband got for our graphics intense CAD/CAM programs for our machine shop. The Aspire was cheap, it's light, it doesn't get hot, and it has a separate numeric keyboard to the right. I love it. They have reasonable netbooks which I have no experience with. My battery life, however, is not great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ereks mom Posted April 15, 2012 Share Posted April 15, 2012 I bought this one about the same time you got yours. I just LOVE it. I'm not sure Acer makes them anymore, but there's probably a newer version of it now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NicksMama-Zack's Mama Too Posted April 15, 2012 Share Posted April 15, 2012 It's a refurbed Dell Inspiron Mini. I bought it from the Dell Outlet online. Comes with a one-year warranty. I use it everyday, all day. I keep in to a chill pad thingy. http://www.amazon.com/Belkin-F5L001-Laptop-Cooling-Pad/dp/B000NWIOM6 I don't keep the chill pad plugged in -- but the shape allows airflow underneath the laptop. I'm a firm believer that keeping the cpu as cool as possible prolongs the life of the computer. Now that I've had the mini for a while, I really don't like carting around anything bigger. I have an old 15 inch Dell laptop that I pull out now and then and I think it's so bulky! I wonder if you will feel the same moving from a mini to a laptop? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted April 15, 2012 Author Share Posted April 15, 2012 (edited) Thanks, everyone. I'm on dh's laptop now, my old one just runs too hot anymore. It's nice, but it's like driving someone elses car. I may look at the Dell outlet, for 200.00 I could do a netbook again. Dh probably wouldn't balk. I have a cooling pad, but the netbook never ran hot, it just died. :glare: Like I told someone else, I have condiments in my fridge that are older than the netbook. I do adore the smaller size, I could use it in the kitchen while I was doing dinner, it was great to use in bed, taking it to the park. I feel like a kid who just lost their security blanket. :( Edited April 15, 2012 by elegantlion Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brigitte Posted April 16, 2012 Share Posted April 16, 2012 I think it would be about 200.00. Whatever happened also cooked the battery, so that would be another 75.00 to 100.00, so dh doesn't want to repair it, because we're not sure what happened and what else got messed up. I bought a new battery for my Asus netbook on Amazon for about $35 and it has 2 or 3 times the life my original battery had when it was new. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawna in Texas Posted April 16, 2012 Share Posted April 16, 2012 I'm on my Acer Aspire One and it is 4 years old this month. The HD crashed the first year (completely my fault, I downloaded some sort of patch for some sort of game and it really wasn't a patch, blah, blah, blah). Bought a new 160G on Amazon for $40. Put Ubuntu on it. I love this silly thing. I replaced the adapter last year for less than $10 (ebay), and was enchanted by a 9cell battery (ebay again) for less than $30 (I knew I was taking my chances with that purchase; the 6cell I had was still giving my about 2.5 hours, but I succumbed). The only problem I have with it now is the screen. It goes out at certain angles and it takes a few seconds of fiddling to get it right. I'm almost sure it's because of the heavy battery. And we're pretty hard on our netbooks. Now, dd got an HP mini 3 years ago that only lasted for 1.5 years. We replaced the adapter and battery within the first year and 6 months later the motherboard went out. Last summer we got her an Acer Aspire One and it's still going strong. She does a bulk of her school on it and plays WOW and Minecraft on it and she doesn't have any issues. For my next computer, I think I'm going to get an 11.6" Acer. I want just a little bigger screen, but I'd go with a 13.3" if I find a good deal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weddell Posted April 16, 2012 Share Posted April 16, 2012 Check http://www.woot.com everyday. They are one of those daily deals sites and are owned by amazon. They have a few different versions of their site (woot, kids woot, home woot, sellout woot). Regular woot and sellout woot regularly have cheap laptops. You have to check out the specifications and read the comments and reviews but there are definitely some good deals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted April 16, 2012 Author Share Posted April 16, 2012 Check http://www.woot.com everyday. They are one of those daily deals sites and are owned by amazon. They have a few different versions of their site (woot, kids woot, home woot, sellout woot). Regular woot and sellout woot regularly have cheap laptops. You have to check out the specifications and read the comments and reviews but there are definitely some good deals. I love woot shirts! I'll have to check their deals. Thanks everyone. Using a giant laptop seems so odd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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