hey guys, in the next 2 or 3 days i am going to buy a mini laptop but i want your input on which you think is the best. i know a lot of people with acers and they talk good about them (Lisa x threads also talk good about them) but they tell me that MSi's are better. i have no idea i am not very savy when it comes to computers.

just want to know what do you think is best: acer, gateway, MSi, dell, HP etc etc

THANKS

 

I have the acer one its so beast dude 2 years strong no problems i got it off amazon

 

IMO Acer would be the way to go.

 

With any mini-laptop AKA netbook, you can expect it to be very slow. By slow, I mean, don't expect to use it to play any modern games at a decent framerate. Netbooks are designed to be extended battery life devices. You will not want to load it with software that continuously runs like iTunes which is a memory/processor/battery hog even when sitting idle in the background. The idea is mobile computing, not a desktop/laptop replacement. So basically, you want to get the cheapest one you can find.

With that said, I absolutely love the price I paid on my 64 bit Gateway. Gateway sells them for $350. It was $249 and both myself and a co-worker grabbed one. I check the deal-a-day websites and post in a thread in the computers/technology/gaming forum every time they have one. They are now selling the same one for $199.

I use mine for working on my computer while sitting outside or for displaying manuals on my car. I also use it on vacation as a mobile computer, or in the car tethered to my iPhone's 3G internet.

A good idea for any netbook is to load Ubuntu Netbook Edition on it and use it as the primary operating system. It is very battery conservative and uses less resources then Windows 7 or even Windows XP. This means you can get done what you need to on the internet, play your music, write your word documents, and it will last longer then Windows.

 

^^^ My mini-laptop is NOT a Netbook. Look it up... Acer 1410.

 

^^ It has no dvd/cd rom. A netbook is a small form-factor laptop with no dvd/cd rom drive, designed to save power with a lighweight processor and small screen. This saves weight and electromotive components. This saves weight and electromotive components. They use the 'net' or a USB drive to load software. It's a nebook.

The first page I found even calls it a netbook http://liliputing.com/2009/09/acer-a...10-review.html

 

acer=gateway btw. Acer owns gateway now, have for sometime.

From my personal experience running a repair shop do not get - acer, gateway, hp, emachine (cannot comment on msi) - do not buy at best buy/walmart/etc. People often buy there cause they can go and look at it. If you get any warranty through them and use it they'll have your laptop for a long time. And you always get the crappiest version of that model marked up to almost the cost of the nicest one.

get - lenovo, dell, asus, toshiba (of those my least favorite is dell but is prob. going to be the cheapest)

Acers just fall apart, same with gateway, hp's mobo's always go out, same with emachines. The ones I listed almost never have bad motherboards and the 3 non dells hold together over long periods of time (the dells are doing better). For a netbook I'd either get the asus or lenovo. I had an eee pc and really liked it. They seem to hold together for a long time as well.

edit: When I said "hold together" or "fall apart" I'm talking about the casing, hinges, plastic, etc. When we get lenovo's, toshiba's or asus's in that are 3-4 years old the cases are nearly as tight and the day they left the factory. The others, not so much, most of them you'll need new hinges in a couple of years or you'll end up breaking the case.

 

really good info guys.

ill have to weigh all the pros and cons you guys have raised here

 

I've never had any problems with acer/gateway machines falling apart nor have I had a problem with the mobo's crashing. I have a Acer netbook and a desktop, they are solid machines. People don't take care of their computers.

I agree with supercow, Stay away from HP.

Check out Newegg or TigerDirect for specials too. They might have something really nice that you might like for cheap.

 

I must say that my Gateway netbook does not feel cheap and I abuse my stuff when working on my car. Granted, I've only had it for 5 months... it's been dropped a few times and still works great.

edit: hinge is still good and no chips/breaks in the equipment. I'd say this will last at least 2-3 years like any other laptop's life expectancy.

I think that is the problem.. people pay $2000 for a desktop-replacement Laptop computer and expect it to last more then 3 years. No laptop lasts more then 3 if actually used as a laptop. After 3 years the hard disk goes bad from being jarred ever time it's set down, the case cracks, the memory goes bad from high temperatures on top of a pillow blocking vents, and the battery goes bad as well.

Then people say... "this is a piece of sh*t, and I paid over $2000 for it!". Well, you should have bought a Desktop. You will never get what you pay for in a Laptop. Netbooks, however, are so cheap they make sense as an augmentation to a Desktop computer. $250 is reasonable for a piece of hardware which is going to last 2-3 years.