10" Netbook for School

[RevRav]

Hey guys, I'm in the market for a 10" netbook that can last me through lectures and classes:

I'm currently looking at:

- HP Mini 210
- Lenovo S10-3
- Asus 1015 PEM
- Asus 1015 PN

Any words on the above 4? How were your experiences with any of the above company's similar products?

Some of my requirement includes:
- Minimum Atom N550
- 10" to 11" Monitor max
- Use DDR3 RAM

Want / Nice to have:
- 3.0 Bluetooth
- 3.0 USB
- HDMI port

[willystyle]

I own the Asus 1015PEM and absolutely love it.

My only complaint is running Windows Starter, or Windows 7 for that matter. It's not very smooth and snappy as I would like on a netbook. Do yourself a favor and upgrade the ram immediately after purchase if you intend to run Windows.

Otherwise, run Linux instead, it's much better, from both a security and performance standpoint, and there are certain Linux OS distributions made specifically for netbooks. I recommend Jolicloud.

http://www.jolicloud.com/

[RevRav]

Yeah, I would be upgrading the Windows for sure.

The 1015 PEM does look promising. Especially with the bonus of USB 3.0.
However... the 1015 PN includes the Ion2 technology + includes HDMI port.

If only there's a model that combines 1015 PEM and PN together....

[willystyle]

Well, if you're not gonna do any gaming. I wouldn't bother with ION2. On the other hand, if you do plan to connect your netbook to your HDTV, then go with the 1015PN with the HDMI. FYI, streaming HD content on a netbook is irrelevant, as you won't notice any difference on a 10" screen.

Both of these features were unnecessary to me, so I opted for the 1015PEM.

[RevRav]

How's your battery life so far? Any where near the rated 13 hrs?

[willystyle]

When I was using Windows 7 Starter, I could get over 11 hours out of it at the lowest screen brightness, while the netbook lagging quite badly to an almost unusable state. I can only imagine that the battery life will be just as bad, if not worse, when you upgrade your Windows 7 Starter to Premium, for example.

On Jolicloud, I can get between 7-8 hrs.

[mk1freak]

i got me a asus i love it, i installed ubuntu netbook edition and it's ok speedwise, i dropped in a cheap 60gb ssd and some extra ram and the thing is so snappy now!
SSD really make a diiference IME

[RevRav]

^ Which one are you using?

[mk1freak]

the pn

[RevRav]

How's the Ion2 graphics ?

[ddr]

what's ur budget?

these things are so slow w/o a ssd that i'd just get a lower-end and reliable one

are you really going to game or pump 1080p stuff on a tv?

i sold mine after one semester

[willystyle]

Netbooks are slow only because most people don't use Linux. I would say it makes a world of a difference if you used Linux instead of Windows, if you're too poor to upgrade to SSD + RAM.

ION2 is a slight graphics enhancement which allows you to do some light gaming and perform 1080p playback on your HDTV. It is by far not a desktop nor gaming laptop replacement. 1080p playback is useless on a 10" netbook screen.

You should nail down what your needs are vs. what you want.

[RevRav]

Originally Posted by ddr

what's ur budget?

Around ~$500 range. Trying to keep it to the 10".
Most likely will replace it with a SSD when one goes on sale

[!MiKrofT]

Most ppl don't want to use Linux though. I've used Netbook with windows 7 and I haven't had any problems. Although 2 gb of RAM is a must. It's so cheap anyways.
Posted via RS Mobile

[ninjai123]

i suggest go get a lenovo 12 inch or 13 inch on cl good battery and quality products rather then a netb00k?

[willystyle]

Originally Posted by !MiKrofT

Most ppl don't want to use Linux though. I've used Netbook with windows 7 and I haven't had any problems. Although 2 gb of RAM is a must. It's so cheap anyways.
Posted via RS Mobile

Netbooks with Windows 7 is horribly slow, even with 2GB of RAM installed. It makes me not want to use it.

[RevRav]

Originally Posted by ninjai123

i suggest go get a lenovo 12 inch or 13 inch on cl good battery and quality products rather then a netb00k?

Trying to keep it in the 10" range.

[qwertyuiop]

I'm in the same boat. Is the 1015PEM going to be frustratingly slow without any hardware/software upgrades? Will be using for internet, word, excel, and multimedia (up to 720p mkv or avis, xvid, rmvbs, etc.).

Anything else a better value in the same price range (the 1015PEM seems to be $399 everywhere)?

[willystyle]

Originally Posted by qwertyuiop

I'm in the same boat. Is the 1015PEM going to be frustratingly slow without any hardware/software upgrades?

If you plan to use it straight out of the box, then yes, I personally find it very slow.

[RevRav]

They need to make a model that combines both 1015 PEM and 1015 PN!

Does anyone know if both model use the same casing... same thickness side to side?

[mk1freak]

if i recall correctly memory express has the 1015pem or pn on display go check it out.

ion2 is decent for day-to -day usage (word processing email, web surfing, streaming video) mind you i don't game hardcore on this sucker, i have the sager 8760, m11x and the g53 for that
its decent enough for flash gaming.

[!MiKrofT]

Originally Posted by willystyle

Netbooks with Windows 7 is horribly slow, even with 2GB of RAM installed. It makes me not want to use it.

Each to their own.

To the ppl asking about speeds. If you're doubtful of how fast the system will run just go and try one out. Of course first thing I'd do is remove all the bloatware. But that's a given.

[ddr]

it's a clear sacrifice between size/portability and power

there are low end 15" i3's to be had around 500
or u can get a single core atom and a ~$100 SSD

[RevRav]

Originally Posted by mk1freak

if i recall correctly memory express has the 1015pem or pn on display go check it out.

ion2 is decent for day-to -day usage (word processing email, web surfing, streaming video) mind you i don't game hardcore on this sucker, i have the sager 8760, m11x and the g53 for that
its decent enough for flash gaming.

They had another older model out on display...1001 or whatever. Same thing but just different specs. I think between the 1015 PEM and 1015 PN, the PN with the additional of Ion2 sounds much more promising.

However...what caught my attention was the model beside it. It wasn't the 1215N, but another older one (1201?). The keyboard feels so much better for extended typing. What I don't understand is...why Asus would had failed to include bluetooth built-in

[mk1freak]

asus sells a bt adapter for 3.99 when it goes on sale

i would just go buy it at mem express, since if you dont like it you can return for no restocking fee within 14 days