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Is a Netbook the way to go?

post #1 of 23
8/26/09 at 5:55am
Thread Starter 
My 79 year old mother misses surfing the net and has been seeing advertisements for Netbooks. All she wants one for is to surf the net.

Would a Netbook be the way to go for her financially and is it practical? If so, which brand would be ideal (don't want to go over $350).
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post #2 of 23
8/26/09 at 6:08am
Honestly, I think she would be better served with an equally priced laptop. Not so much in regards to computing power but more for screen size. Reading on a netbook's screen can be terribly tiresome after a while due to the small size of the text.
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post #3 of 23
8/26/09 at 6:14am
My wife, my father and my father-in-law all have Dell Mini 9s, and swear by them. They're a little too slow for my use but for someone that's just going to surf the web they can't be beat. Plus they're incredibly easy to carry around and weigh almost nothing. It's the one thing that makes me consider picking one up- so I don't have to do the t-rex typing whenever I fly.

Think the Mini 9s have been replaced by the 10s now but you can find them for around 300.
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post #4 of 23
8/26/09 at 9:18am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Eileen View Post
My 79 year old mother misses surfing the net and has been seeing advertisements for Netbooks. All she wants one for is to surf the net.

Would a Netbook be the way to go for her financially and is it practical? If so, which brand would be ideal (don't want to go over $350).
I bought my dad an Acer Aspire One netbook earlier this year and its perfect for him. Not least for the fact that its OS is Linux-based (Linpus Lite), the desktop has gigantic icons, very simple and clean almost child-like interface, so unlike a Windows OS there's absolutely no chance of him accidentally destroying everything.

I thought the small size would be a problem for his eyesight, but you can enlarge everything in Firefox so its no problem. Its even got a webcam. I dont know about battery life as my dad has it plugged in all the time.
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post #5 of 23
8/26/09 at 2:52pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks for the suggestions and the first thing I was worried about was the font size but if that can be adjusted it should not be a problem for her.
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post #6 of 23
8/26/09 at 2:55pm
Thread Starter 
At first glance this one caught my attention:

http://www.amazon.com/Acer-AOD150-19...1308996&sr=8-1
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post #7 of 23
8/26/09 at 3:05pm
I have an ultra portable. I love everything about it except the screen size and keyboard size can be tiring sometimes. I don't know about docking ports for netbooks, but that may be a good idea for long term use on one of these tiny computing devices.
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post #8 of 23
8/26/09 at 3:09pm
I have an 8.9" Acer. (I picked it up before the 10" came out.) It is great for checking email and reading the news. I have even been able to watch hulu and youtube videos on it. It can lag a bit, but hitting the pause button for a second or two usually gives it time to catch up. I adjusted to the small size of the screen fairly quickly and hardly notice it at all anymore.

I think they are fairly cheap at Costco these days, if you have a membership. I suggest them because they seem to have a fairly liberal return policy should anything go wrong.
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post #9 of 23
8/26/09 at 3:12pm
I got an ipod touch instead of a netbook. It is great because its like an ipod that does the net basically
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post #10 of 23
8/26/09 at 3:32pm
Thread Starter 
Keep in mind Kate this is for a 79 year old so an ipod touch is out of the question.
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post #11 of 23
8/26/09 at 8:27pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Eileen View Post
Keep in mind Kate this is for a 79 year old so an ipod touch is out of the question.
Oh. Well on that note I'll just add, i work with someone in their 50s/60s, and she owns an Iphone and loves it. The touch screen stuff is really easy to figure out and is pretty intuitive.
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post #12 of 23
8/26/09 at 8:37pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Eileen View Post
Thanks for the suggestions and the first thing I was worried about was the font size but if that can be adjusted it should not be a problem for her.
Yep, just pressing 'Ctrl +' in Firefox makes everything bigger, plus F11 makes it full screen. The small size of the netbook had me worried when it arrived, but my dad got used to using it pretty quickly.

EDIT: Just to give another shout out to the Linux OS which even made me jealous. Netbooks with that OS start up almost immediately, like under 60 seconds. Check out the main screen. I mean I dont want to appear pedantic to older computer users, but you cant deny this kind of OS will work out much better for them than anything from Windows, a company whose operating systems even frustrate IT tech geeks.

Though I got my Acer with Linux OS from a UK website, dont know if they're on sale like that for the US.
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post #13 of 23
8/26/09 at 10:24pm
http://www.amazon.com/ASUS-1000HE-10...1336173&sr=8-4

I have this one, got it on sale at 300, and I love it. Although, I use my iphone quite a bit, this has been able to get quite a bit done.
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post #14 of 23
8/26/09 at 10:31pm
I have the Dell Vostro A90, which is basically the Mini 9. Got rid of Ubuntu and installed Mac OS...runs great, nice for surfing and watching Divx encoded movies, tv, etc...
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post #15 of 23
9/9/09 at 9:54am
I bought the new ACER Aspire one 11.6" screen for my wife yesterday. I had to go across town to find one in RED.

The good: Lightweight 3 lbs. BIG SCREEN. Perfect size if you don't want a heavy laptop. I'm quite envious and wish I had one for myself. It runs XP home edition.
Connected right out of the box.. very simple and easy to use. Comes in 4 different colors. Only $350.

The bad: The Bloatware comes preloaded with crap that needs to be deleted immediately. Once you do that, the computer is actually pretty darn fast.
One button for left and right click (which isn't totally awful).


of course I've only had it a day, but my wife has been glued to it.
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post #16 of 23
9/9/09 at 10:44am
Yeah, the bloatware on a lot of these is TERRIBLE. I'd almost recommend just formatting the HD and reinstalling whichever platform you go with. I'm thinking of getting a Netbook myself - I've already got an Acer Aspire laptop but I'd like something smaller and lighter to carry around (and cheaper in case I get jacked) to dick around with.
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post #17 of 23
9/9/09 at 3:55pm
Been thinking about one of these myself. Do they have optical drives, or is that one of the tradeoffs?
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post #18 of 23
9/9/09 at 4:50pm
No optical drives for netbooks as far as I know. No space and too much of a battery hog when it's working.

No matter what you buy though, find someone decent with computers and have him install Windows 7 on it. It's the best thing to come out of Microsoft since Age Of Empires 2 and it will make a ton of difference.
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post #19 of 23
9/10/09 at 2:53pm
I have the Dell Mini 9 with XP operating system. Bought it in February, and it's been perfect for me--someone who uses it to surf the net, write, and play the occasional card game. I pop it in my purse and I take it everywhere. If wifi is not available, I just tether my blackberry to it and I'm good.

I can't imagine ever going back to a full size notebook. They are obscenely large, and radiate too much heat.
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post #20 of 23
9/10/09 at 6:55pm
I actually use a laptop as my desktop computer and it hardly moves now unless it has to. I use my iphone for most browsing and chatting, but pull out the netbook for on the go processing, video conferencing, and typing stuff up.
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post #21 of 23
9/30/09 at 3:59pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by neaux View Post
The bad: The Bloatware comes preloaded with crap that needs to be deleted immediately. Once you do that, the computer is actually pretty darn fast.
How do you discharge all the bloatware without a clean re-install? How do I look for it (even considering some hogs from windows).
A VAIO user here
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post #22 of 23
9/30/09 at 4:29pm
start << control panel << add or delete programs

you'll see a list of programs and you should be able to tell what is important and what is unnecessary.
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post #23 of 23
9/30/09 at 4:53pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by neaux View Post
start << control panel << add or delete programs
Thanks, and sorry, I was in a rush and forgot to post that I already tried something like that but I'm still fighting with process non essential like associated with media center etc...
I think I wiped most of the serious stuff.
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