Netbook for travel writer

[travelbug]

Hello all,

I'm new here. I've been searching for a netbook to take backpacking around Europe for a year -- something in which to store music and photos, surf the net, and also on which to do my writing and editing work. No rocket science.

I've been going crazy with trying to choose a netbook. I don't have a technical bone in my body, so I'm finding it all very confusing and difficult to decide on what's best for me. I've read so many reviews and spoken to so many sales people who all have differing opinions. I would really appreciate any help I can get from you unbiased folk.

The most important things for me are:

* Weight (I'll be carrying it around for a year, so this point is crucial)
* Battery life (definitely need six cell)
* Keyboard comfort
* Windows XP Home (I've been told this is what I should go for...)
* Internet connectivity
* Durability and quality of the brand's technical support
* Price -- hopefully around the AU$400 mark (US$350)

I live in Melbourne, Australia, so it needs to be available here. The netbooks I've been considering have been the Lenovo S10e, the Toshiba NB200 and the MSI Wind U123H. The MSIs seem to be the lightest netbooks around -- true? Are any of these choices advisable? I've been warned away from HP and Dell brands...

Thanks so, so much!

[netbooking]

Hi travelbug, welcome to the forum.

How about a few more details on the type of travel (is the backpacking on foot or just to keep your stuff together) and how much writing (are you churning stories for a magazine or blogging or just email to friends) plus just exactly what do you expect to do with the photos (storage only or easy editing or do you need photoshop)?

I travel around the Pacific Rim (West Coast of USA/Canada to Asia and down to Australia in case you don't know what that means). I go between continents by air and around mostly by train with some car rental. Never to Europe though.

Acer has a big sales presence in Europe and support. A co-worker takes his around Germany, Switzerland and Austria.

I use an Asus 901 a lot. It's hard to find one now and I wouldn't recommend it for lots of typing but it is a sweet carry partner. It handles my camera's SD cards well. It's tough, ugly, cheap, lightweight and an SSD drive makes it durable. I have a backup SSD.

For the lightest weight but not meeting your requirements I carry an iPod Touch. It does good net stuff. I carry extra SD cards for the pix.

The photo part of your post is the limiter. You will have to match your expectations carefully. The more you expect, the bigger the computer and the more expensive it gets.

[travelbug]

Thanks so much for your reply, netbooking.

It would be great if I could do minimal photo editing on the netbook, but I can live without that if it means the unit will be much lighter and/or cheaper. I definitely don't need Photoshop. I will be budget travelling -- i.e. lots of walking! -- and living out of my backpack (max around 15kg/33 pounds) for a year, so every few hundred grams will count. I really wouldn't want the netbook to go much above 1.3kg (2.8 pounds). The lighter the better.

I'm not quite sure how much writing/editing work I'll be doing at this stage -- it could vary. But I'm travelling for the travel, not for the work, so I certainly won't be on the unit for hours and hours a day. I'll need to be able to put MS Word on it (I need to be able to use track changes for editing work), and also Final Draft, or any similar screenwriting program. Most likely is that I'll mainly use the netbook to write the occasional travel article, check my email and store photos. I really don't need any fancy features (chances are I wouldn't know how to use them, anyway!)

I hope I've clarified things.
Thanks again.

[ericinboston]

Originally Posted by travelbug

Hello all,

I'm new here. I've been searching for a netbook to take backpacking around Europe for a year -- something in which to store music and photos, surf the net, and also on which to do my writing and editing work. No rocket science.

I've been going crazy with trying to choose a netbook. I don't have a technical bone in my body, so I'm finding it all very confusing and difficult to decide on what's best for me. I've read so many reviews and spoken to so many sales people who all have differing opinions. I would really appreciate any help I can get from you unbiased folk.

The most important things for me are:

* Weight (I'll be carrying it around for a year, so this point is crucial)
* Battery life (definitely need six cell)
* Keyboard comfort
* Windows XP Home (I've been told this is what I should go for...)
* Internet connectivity
* Durability and quality of the brand's technical support
* Price -- hopefully around the AU$400 mark (US$350)

I live in Melbourne, Australia, so it needs to be available here. The netbooks I've been considering have been the Lenovo S10e, the Toshiba NB200 and the MSI Wind U123H. The MSIs seem to be the lightest netbooks around -- true? Are any of these choices advisable? I've been warned away from HP and Dell brands...

Thanks so, so much!

Hi and welcome!

First, go down to 1-2 stores and touch the various netbooks...bring a pen and paper and jot down which ones have poor keyboards and/or are too heavy. Believe it or not, all these sub 3lb netbooks are extremely light. You're not going to be able to tell the difference between a 2.8 and 2.6lb netbook. I wouldn't stress over that.

Next, now that you have eliminated some of the options, you are right that most netbooks that have been released in the past 1-10 months offer very similar specs. The only 2 specs you should probably think about **IF** you intend on playing a lot of movies are: CPU and Video specs. If you DO NOT intend on playing videos, then you can pretty much grab any netbook.

Third, you state that you want Windows XP...this will limit your list even further as XP is being phased out. Better buy now!!

Fourth, $350 may be a bit hard to set as your ceiling. If you increase that to $399 you should find a few more options. This should be the last configuration piece that you play with.


Internet connectivity...what do you mean? Your netbook will require you to use someone's WIFI connection unless you purchase some kind of cell phone plan. All netbooks ship with Wireless B and G compatibility...some come with N but N is so super rare that it's a moot point.

Unfortunately there is no matrix on this website to compare all the netbooks side by side in an Excel-looking grid. Yet.


-Eric

[netbooking]

You need to make a purchase for your most demanding use and that is a screen for Final Draft and Word with decent keyboard. Any of the 10in 1024X600 screen netbooks will do. With power brick and case, the weight will be around 3-4 pounds, with travel camera about 5 pounds. A weight buster considering you are lucky to work an hour a day on it.

The Asus 1000HE setup with a 64GB SSD drive is large enough for that kind of writing and can be found cheaper right now but it will still bust your budget with the SSD drive. I've got one and it is tough. I can work on it easily at bus stops, on trains and in coffee shops but I'm lucky to get in as much as 15 minutes of work at a time that way, an hour a day total. With SD card cameras, it helps view photos for discard editing.

That means finding an internet cafe and renting their computer or stopping at hotels with open lobby computers or at libraries. You would carry your data on a USB drive.

I would still carry an iPod Touch for the internet use making reservations, checking locations and doing email. That's my minimum kit. A Touch, noise canceling headphones for air travel listening to music/games, a digital camera and renting a computer. It is way easier to carry and allows me to live out of a briefcase for weeks at a time.

I'm a one bag traveler, minimalist, when not working a job that demands a larger computer. The smaller size bag is easy to leave in a locker while exploring but most of the time I carry it. I wear city casual slacks and sport coat with walking shoes rather than backpack and boots or, worse, sports shoes. That's a whole other topic so talk it over if you like.

[ThisIsNot]

Originally Posted by ericinboston

First, go down to 1-2 stores and touch the various netbooks...bring a pen and paper and jot down which ones have poor keyboards and/or are too heavy. Believe it or not, all these sub 3lb netbooks are extremely light. You're not going to be able to tell the difference between a 2.8 and 2.6lb netbook. I wouldn't stress over that.

I agree. We can recommend 40 different netbook models but it won't do any good if you don't like they keyboard, weight, screen resolution, the stores don't have them in stock, and the stores are pricing them too high. Looking at U.S. prices and simply doing a conversion to Australian dollars won't work as it doesn't account for most aspects that cause store pricing.

Feel free to take a pen and paper along with a digital camera (if you felt the need to take pictures) with you to the stores. You can then come back here and ask questions regarding the different netbook models and read through all the reviews. You aren't going to have trouble with any netbook when it comes to light photo editing. There are online "lite" Photoshop-type apps that are free to use. I forget what they are called but they are out there and work right through Internet Explorer/FireFox. Ditto same goes for Microsoft Office 2007. Netbooks these days can run that without a hitch as Office isn't a resource intensive series of programs. I even have the beta version of Office 2010 up and running on my netbook too. The advanced animations and themes in PowerPoint run just fine.

As Eric said, you really only have to worry about specs when it comes to video playback (this includes online Flash video playback). There are netbooks that are designed for video playback. Pretty much any netbook out there can effectively handle standard definition (SD) video playback (though they will struggle with Flash video playback, this includes sites such as YouTube and Hulu). However, many netbooks now come with the appropriate hardware for high definition (HD) video playback. They can handle 1080p videos without a hitch. The benefit these netbooks have is that Adobe is supporting the hardware for Flash playback. This means that the netbook will no longer struggle when opening a standard YouTube or Hulu video. It also means that YouTube HD videos are beginning to playback quite nicely. Flash 10.1 adds this hardware support and it is still in a non-final press release. There will be a second version of this press release containing performance updates this month while a final version should be around in the summer.

So you need to judge how important video playback is. Most netbooks can playback SD content including videos purchased from the iTunes Store. Factor in Flash and HD video playback and the whole thing becomes different. Go down to your store and let us know which models you liked that fell within your price budget.

[netbooking]

CNET OZ has a lot of info on what is available to you. There's an article on smartphone vs netbook and netbooks for Max portability for on the road all the time.

[travelbug]

Wow -- thanks all so much.

I've been to a few computer shops so far but they always tend to have only a couple of (usually old) netbooks to play around with. So far, I quite liked the feel of the MSI Winds (I was on the verge of buying a Wind U100 Plus but they had all gone by the time I'd made up my mind!) I also didn't mind the feel of the Toshiba NB200, but I've read that they get quite hot -- too hot to keep on your lap -- if used for extended periods. That's a bit of a turn off...

A shop told me that the new MSI U130 will be available in a couple weeks. Any thoughts on this one? Another that was mentioned was the Asus Eee PC 1001HA -- but that one only has a three cell battery. They all seem to have some sort of drawback!

Regarding Windows XP Home -- I don't really even know the difference between this and Windows 7 (yes, I'm that clueless!) but I've been told that I should go for XP. As long as I can get into my pet programs and the internet, I'd be happy.

I can definitely go up to US$400 if needs be. As far as video playback goes -- again, it's not necessary, but it would be nice.

I guess what I'd love to know is this: is there a netbook out there with a good battery life, a comfortable keyboard (according to you), which is nice and light that stands out above the competition? Any brands to gravitate towards or stay away from?

And one more embarrassing question to finish: can most netbooks run Windows Media Player? (Go ahead and mock me.)

Thanks again.

[JesterEric]

I wouldn't keep *any* netbook on my lap for an extended period of time.

I'll just echo TiNman and the EIB. Hit the stores and see what you like. On Media Player, yes, if it's running Windows (XP, Vista, 7, whatever*), it'll have a version of the Player on it.

Not sure why you were warned away from the HP. I know ThisIsNot for one is a fan of their Mini. I work on an ASUS 900, but the Mini looks good. I like the larger keyboard HP has.

My hands are small, so the size of the 900's keyboard isn't that bad for me. I am writing most of my book (I'm a professor) on it. It's not the most comfortable thing, but it isn't the size of the keyboard that is the issue, it's the silly position of the right shift key on ASUS keyboards.

The ASUS 900 and 901 models have, I think keyboards that are 89% (or maybe 86%? I can't remember the exact number) of full size. HP's and MSI are I believe 92%, if not larger. I know I can tell the difference when I play with the MSI at the store. The 9" models are phasing out, but I believe Melbourne has the ASUS 1000 series out there, though not sure where the price is right now.

As for battery life, I understand the desire for longer time, that's always a good consideration, but consider how much time you may really be on battery versus times you can find an outlet. Whenever I'm traveling I've found that I'm on an outlet easily 90% of the time, making the 2+ hours I get on my 4-cell battery usually more than enough (More than 2 if I turn off WiFi).

I don't remember if you said specifically, but where are you traveling? Are you going overseas (in which case, do not forget to get an adapter, perhaps one with a transformer for the various outlets in different countries) or just walkabout in Aus? (I did the latter. Finished my PhD in the US and got to spend 6 months in Australia. The wife and I loved Melbourne, one of our favorite all-time stops. Even went to see the Fairy Penguins come back to shore

*Even if it was running Linux, you could, with tweaks, run WMP on it, but there would be little reason to do so.

[ericinboston]

Originally Posted by travelbug

Regarding Windows XP Home -- I don't really even know the difference between this and Windows 7 (yes, I'm that clueless!) but I've been told that I should go for XP. As long as I can get into my pet programs and the internet, I'd be happy.

I guess what I'd love to know is this: is there a netbook out there with a good battery life, a comfortable keyboard (according to you), which is nice and light that stands out above the competition? Any brands to gravitate towards or stay away from?

1)For netbook usage...there is no difference between WindowsXP and W7. W7 simply has prettier screens. Personally, either OS will be fine for your netbook but DO NOT GET Windows 7 STARTER edition.

2)Personally I hate HP...will never buy anything in the world that has their logo on it. I speak for a few other friends and peers, too.

3)The good news is that you have many netbooks to choose from. The bad news is, you have many netbooks to choose from. For a general use user like yourself, you're going to have to buy what you like. Specs are really not a big thing for you. The only advice I would offer is to buy a netbook that is no older than 6 months old (meaning, when was the Street Date it began selling? should not be older than say August 1, 2009).

4)Have you looked at Samsung? My dad bought one (chose it all by himself) and he loves it. He bought it June 2009 so I do not recall what the model # is.