What Do You Know About Netbooks?

[LAGC]

I was just out at the local Best Buy with my brother looking at mini-notebooks today and was really tempted by the Toshiba mini NB205. Of all the netbooks on display there at the store, it had the best look and feel, and I especially liked the keyboard layout with the separate PgUp/PgDn keys on the right side (with most other netbooks you have to hold down Fn and one of the arrow keys to simulate that behavior). But what really almost sold me was the 9-hour (!) battery life of that particular model, which blows away most of its competitors. The model they had there on display sported a 160GB hard drive for $399. But with 6% sales tax that would end up being almost $424. After a quick search on Amazon, I found a superior model with 250GB hard drive for only $348 with free shipping and no sales tax -- a $75 savings. I'm tempted to go ahead and order it tomorrow once my paycheck clears, but part of me is tempted to wait until the after-Christmas sales to see if it might be any cheaper.

What also concerns me is that there are a few emerging technologies that are coming out soon, namely USB 3.0 (which is 8 times faster than current USB 2.0 standards) and Gigabit Ethernet (several full-sized notebooks have Gigabit Ethernet jacks, but no netbooks do currently). The idea was to have something I could easily tote along with me to play with during down-time at work, let alone use as a tool to aid with computer consulting work which I do from time to time, like backing up customer's data (including many gigs of music) and transferring it to a new system for them. That 250GB hard drive with USB inter-link cable would come in handy for such chores. I'm just wondering if its worth waiting several months until USB 3.0 becomes more common and standard, or if I should just bite the bullet now considering there will always be *something* newer and better coming out "right around the corner."

Do any of you have any experience with any preferred netbook models? The only other make that really caught my eye is the Acer Aspire One series. Both it and the Toshiba sport Atheros-based wireless B/G Internet capability, which would make them readily supported in Linux, not just with Windows 7 Starter edition that comes stock by default. I've heard horrible stories about that as well, how Windows 7 Starter is so stripped down and limited that it might be better to just try to find a netbook with Windows XP pre-loaded on it instead, but I can't imagine needing to run any native XP apps on it that 7 wouldn't support (or will soon support in any case). I ran across some reviews that complained about a 90-second boot-up time on that Toshiba NB205 model, but I tested it out myself in the store and it went from power-off to desktop-usable in under a minute, so no real complaints there. And of course, most of the time you'd just leave it in "Hibernate" mode anyway when not in active use, which would only sip juice from the battery then quickly restore back to working state when you needed it again.

Anyway, I'm just trying to decide if I should buy now or wait, or look at different options altogether. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[Mutley]

1. Netbooks are fine if you're looking for a small, lightweight machine

to do basic stuff on. Beyond normal web browsing and email checking, maybe some light stuff on Word, you're not really going to get much more out of it. You MAY be able to watch some video, but I wouldn't count on it. Plus, they are not nearly as upgradeable as notebooks and desktops, so it's difficult to extend their life.

All in all, I would recommend a regular notebook if you want a portable computer.