I have just started at university, and I need a new laptop. It needs to be (very) small, anything above 11" is too big. So I guess one of those new netbooks would be the best choice. But... which one to buy? I will be using it for simple tasks such as office or calendar software, web browsing, email etc. Also I do need it for presentations with powerpoint or something alike - right now I use OpenOffice, and hope to be able to continue to do so. There is no power to recharge it anywhere. Thus the laptop should have/be: -small weight and size -long battery life, 12 hours or more appreciated -able to do simple tasks -have WLAN and LAN -have some kind of video and audio connectors as VGA or DVI I am kinda limited in my budget, but it depends on the laptop really. It should last for the next 3-4 years, so it shouldn't be crap. But the price should be reasonable. Thank you for your advice.
You won't get 12 hours on netbooks -- they usually carry 3-4 cell batteries. I believe you can buy an MSI Wind with an after-market 6-cell, but that's an additional cost and it sticks out the bottom and back like a sore thumb. My friends Eee only lasts 3 hours on its battery (with Linux, not XP). Best bet? Something like a 12" Dell with a 6-cell battery + 3-cell slot loaded (swap with DVD drive) battery. I used a setup like that on a 14.1" Dell Precision from work and I got 8 hours on that dual battery combination. With the emergence of LED Backlit panels (I didn't have one) you could probably extend the battery life even further. If you want to claim "Dell is crap" that's probably because you've been looking at their Home/Regular laptops -> skip those and head to the Small Business area and pickup a Precision or Latitude. Different quality and support. You also need to take into consideration that something like a high-end Eee or MSI Wind plus a 6-cell battery will drive your costs up into the region of standard 14.1-15.4" laptops -- which while bigger and heavier offer better "bang for your buck (performance wise)". Limited budget + Asking for a non-crap laptop + 12 hour battery life => very difficult to find, if not impossible. Can't get the best of both worlds, yet. Some of the new Dell business laptops feature 12-18 hour batteries, but in a 14.1" form factor (similarly with Lenovo).
Thanks for your input. As I said, my budget is kinda limited. It it is worth it I will shell out more. It needs to be small by all means, there is no space for a 14" on the desks - plus it would be disturbing for fellow students and the prof. So how long could an EEE last, with all upgrades? I will have a look at the Dell laptops.
The Eee 901 or the 1000 are probably your best bets... they are rated at 6-7 hours. Of course usage does strongly influence your power consumption -- WiFi being one the major culprits of power drain. The new Eee's use the Atom processor over the older Celerons which in turn uses less power (the Atom that is). Eee's bundled with SSD's also use less power, however you need to take into consideration how much capacity you really need. Consider power management as well -- maybe have your display turn off after 10 seconds of non-usage? Or have it go to sleep mode after 5 minutes? There really are a lot of variables so giving you a firm number wouldn't be fair game -- do some research and reading, look at benchmarks and see what people have to say for themselves (manufacturers tend to list battery life time in the most optimistic kind of sense: turn laptop on, leave it on, wait till it dies, don't do anything, don't turn on programs, leave WiFi off, etc). Dig around, but I still believe that you won't hit 12 hours on a netbook with reasonable usage.
Check out the Dell latitude E4300 (13inch).. it's just 1 inch bigger and it's because it's wide, it doesn't feel the difference. It has the ability to attach 2 batteries without sacrificing a device. It has a standard type 6-cell battery, and a Splice Battery (optional), as they call it, which is the size of the laptop, that you add at the bottom of it. With both batteries you have apparently 15hours of battery life. Else you get 5-6 hours with just the 6-cell battery. Comes complete with eSATA, 2 USB's, LED backlight screen and keyboard, magnesium alloy LCD back and base, nice looks, DDR3 RAM (customizable up to 4Gb of RAM at Dell Canada), VGA (DisplayPort, port exists but you have to use the dock station), and more. You should check it out. I am interested myself on it.
Ok, so the EEE 901 has a 9.1" screen and the 1000H has a 10" screen. The 1000H also has a 80GB hard disk. So how does this HDD affect battery life? I am also seriously considering the latitude e4300, but I seem to be not able to order the Splice Battery. How big and heavy is it?
Yes, the moving parts of the HDD do affect the battery life, but not to a great degree. How ever the newer versions of the Eee, hopefully out before Christmas, will all have SSD's and also look a little sleeker. Another thing to think about is the screen size, I'm certain that the extra inch does not affect the battery life much, but if you can deal with the ever so slightly smaller size a 901 might be the better option, also due to the cheaper price bracket you could always buy a second battery to ensure good life.
I did just order the 1000H, wanted the 901, but the difference was only 20€. The white version was 20€ cheaper than the black version, and I don't care about the color. It seemed like a much better value for money then. Plus my favorite store only had the 1000H.
Well there you go, Hope it works out for you and don't forget to come back to this thread and tell us how its coming along, I'm looking at getting on of the new ones for myself
I've been using my new white 901 for everything! I get about 3 hours on battery only. I just picked up a couple of Kingston 2Gb Traveler USB keys for keeping stuff and a German ex-military bread bag (like a small messenger bag) and I'm all set. I have the Linux version. Keep us posted on the big brother.
EEEPC. No doubt. I Love, LOVE!, my eeePCs In addition to the eee, I use a 20,000mah external battery which delivers a total 10hs use when charged (6hrs with all my modded goodies running)
Langer, check your PMs. I sent one. And thank you for bringing the eeePC to Bit-Tech. I love mine shown here: http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?t=158113&page=7 Toys are us has the 701 with the Atom next Tuesday.
