Domainers Are Netbooks Worth The Investment?
Now I know investment and the word netbook should not go together by any means, but lately I’ve been really thinking about purchasing one. I am also in the market for a few other items for the office. I figured that once I purchase a netbook I will sell off my Sony Vaio laptop, hell it seems to operate as slow as one. My whole purpose for this year is to get out of the home office more, hence the reason for undergoing renovations at my office in Downtown.
I want to take this even further. I would love to go to coffee shops and work. For some reason this idea has always intrigued me. There is a certain freedom a netbook provides you with that a laptop does not. Whenever I am lugging my laptop around it always seems to be a problem. I’ve got to watch what I am using because these days the battery runs out within 20 – 30 minutes. If I can’t find an outlet to plug into then I am completely inoperable! With a netbook this would not be a problem. I read a few reviews on the following netbooks:
Fujitsu M2010 $449
Great reviews for portability, but wouldn’t you expect that from a netbook! 
Dell Latitude 2100 $473
This was rated highly for the ergonomic features and performance.
Lenovo IdeaPad S10-2 $364
Performance, portability and value makes the Lenovo IdeaPad an item to reckon with.
HP Mini 5101 $425
Great all around but a bit pricey for a basic netbook.
Toshiba Mini NB205-N210 $349
The reviewers from “Government Computer News” magazine chose this as the overall winner. This is a great netbook for an unbelievable price. I am really debating on purchasing this one!
Sony Vaio W-Series $500
Can you say expensive! Performance was good and the features were also highly rated, but come on if I wanted to spend $500 it would most likely be on a full sized laptop.
Anyhow, I have some decision making to do. I popped over to Dell and saw some other items that I would be interested in as well. They were kind enough to extend a few financing offers my way, so we’ll see what I end up with. I just might decide to stick with the old trusty Sony Vaio I have. I really would like to sell domain names while at a coffee shop! There is something relaxing about that.
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February 20, 2010 12:30 am
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February 20, 2010 5:10 am
I love my Acer Aspire One Netbook (running XP and has a 160 gb hard drive) that I bought for $199 shipped about 4 months ago.
I bought a 9-cell battery off eBay for ~$35 and now my battery lasts over 7 hours.
Either way, I think you can’t go wrong with a netbook in terms of convenience. However, don’t expect a lot of processing power out of any of them
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Jason Reply:
February 20th, 2010 at 10:24 am
Wow, Acer sounds like a great deal. $35 for a 9-cell batter is unheard of, I’ll have to look into this one as well.
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February 20, 2010 7:10 am
Netbooks can be great, as long as you realize what their function is and not trying to over do them. I have one HP Mini and just actually ordered another for my Fiance. BWT, if your willing to get a refurbished mini (I did) you can get it for $240 shipped (and if your familiar with Casback, you can get 8% back if you use paypal). Making it very affordable.
http://cgi.ebay.com/HP-1-6GHz-Intel-Netbook-w-Windows-7-Bluetooth-1116nr_W0QQitemZ170448323597QQcategoryZ177QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp4340.m263QQ_trkparmsZalgo%3DDLSL%252BSIC%26its%3DI%252BC%26itu%3DUCI%252BIA%252BUA%252BFICS%252BUFI%252BDDSIC%26otn%3D10%26po%3D%26ps%3D63%26clkid%3D7980065487678814729#ht_5856wt_939
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February 20, 2010 8:03 am
I suggest waiting for a smartbook (next more advanced generation of netbooks) or an iPad.
here is a vid about smartbooks…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxbbjobwaR0
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Jason Reply:
February 20th, 2010 at 1:12 pm
Wow, now I hope that device is as good as the video they have put together. Honestly I tend to wait a while before I buy into the next gadget (cough gimmick)! In this case I have been debating on getting a netbook for aroud a year and half now. Figured I have waited long enough to make my decision.
The smartbook looks like an interesting device.
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February 20, 2010 8:55 am
I picked up a Tosh NB200 last month and it is great to carrying to the cafe/bar/airport. Battery life has not been an issue – I don’t think I have been below 60%. Allegedly it will last for 9 hours if the settings are right. I do still use my big Dell laptop as my desktop because it is faster for local apps. like DRT, and the screen is bigger. I used to carry my Macbook around, but the Tosh takes the ’shall I take it?’ decision away.
Enjoy your new freedom!
- Paul
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Jason Reply:
February 20th, 2010 at 1:34 pm
Paul, that’s a great machine. I’ve always liked Toshibas and the reviews that I read were amazing for such a low price.
I am inching towards this laptop. Nice catch phrase! “Enjoy your new freedom!”
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February 20, 2010 9:44 am
My wife has the Dell Latitude,I have used it a couple of times but I cant get my fingers used to such a smaller board.
I would stick with the Laptop, I cant comment on the others as I havent used them.
Regards,
Rob
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February 20, 2010 11:09 am
Not sure what kind of work you’re going to be doing in the coffee shop (I always find it very difficult to concentrate when there’s so much noise and chatter going on), but you might want to hold off on the netbook until you can take a look at the Apple iPad – due out end of March. I have a Dell 9″ netbook. Battery life and cramped keyboard make it all but unusable for anything more than browsing and reading blogs. iPad is supposed to have 10hr battery life and close to full size laptop-esque keyboard. I have a feeling netbook market will dry up once iPads start shipping.
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February 20, 2010 11:21 am
Jason, i have a couple of friends that have the Acer and have gotten mixed reviews. Problems with the network card and the mouse pad are abundant, but otherwise they’re great. I have a MSI Wind and i absolutely love it. I didn’t know about the 9 cell battery for the Acer, but i’m going to have to look for one for my MSI! Also, if you want turn into your computer into a dual OS computer, the MSI can be hacked into a “Hackingtosh” and you have the best performance. In the words of today’s youth “google it” and you’ll learn more!
Also, try to get one with XP rather than Windows 7.
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Jason Reply:
February 20th, 2010 at 1:49 pm
Ever since I saw your netbook, I’ve been on the hunt for one myself. Showing me how you tethered it to your phone was definitely a convincing factor. So why not!
I tethered my laptop with my blackberry but it just wasn’t the same!
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February 20, 2010 11:26 am
I’ve been using my MSI Wind netbook almost exclusively at home and on the road for the last year and it has been GRRRRREAT.
It’s so much lighter than my old laptop and the battery life has been terrific (I went with the bigger battery), usually a minimum of +6 hour with wireless and multiple apps running (I rarely use it for playing videos) and stretching out to +8 hours when my multi-tasking is limited.
Though I recently lost the wireless connectivity after dropping it at an airport security point, the only real negative so far is eye strain. I’m not sure if this is the result of the small screen or the fact that I spend FAR more time on my netbook than I ever did on the old laptop.
I just bought a 24″ monitor in hopes it will help my eyes feel better a bnd will be picking up a USB network adapter to resolve the lack of wireless.
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February 20, 2010 11:31 am
While those are all great netbooks, I’d recommend the lenovo s12, its got a standard sized keyboard but its still incredibly small, lightweight, and portable. I got my girlfriend one for her birthday and shes been using it as her primary computer for almost 7 months now with no complaints.
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February 20, 2010 11:49 am
I bought a netbook to take with me for TRAFFIC, costs $200 and works great. I’ll go look what kind I got. I have a 12″ mac laptop I love but my wife needed it that weekend so I figured I would waste more than $200 betting football and…..well…..you were there to see I was right. By the way, email me your phone number
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Jason Reply:
February 20th, 2010 at 1:58 pm
Only $200, wow that is a great deal. HAHA What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. We won’t talk about those midget clowns. OOOOOps!
I’ll DM you over twitter a little later today. Gonna give you a call tomorrow bud.
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February 21, 2010 7:27 am
I think you should really look at what type of work you want to do on the netbook itself. If all you are going to do is browse the web, write an article or two, or possibly play some solitaire you should be fine. If you are going to be running lots of programs and stuff like that i would recommend looking in to buying another laptop. On top of that make sure you know the capabilities of the netbook. When i went to look in to them a while back most of them can not run a program from a CD unless you buy an upgrade or an external drive that can read the programs on the disc. That alone was what turned me away from the Netbooks. That and with the price of making it do what i wanted it to do was the same as buying a full powerful laptop.
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February 22, 2010 11:15 pm
Good advice, I only need it for basic functions. Pretty much browsing the net, typing a few emails / blog entries, searching for domain names, etc… Don’t think I have the need nor want to install programs onto the machine.
If I need something installed I normally use my desktop for this. The portability of a netbook is unmatched and for that along I will probably end up purchasing one.
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February 26, 2010 5:37 am
My laptop is the best. LOL
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