I'm trying to replace my old work PC a 2 yr-old HP dv2000. I'm looking at netbooks now as a potential replacement and wouldn't mind something more portable...my requirements are simple.

I need to be able to:

Run internet explorer at a decent speed
Run MS Office apps (word,excel etc)
Run Lightroom


I realize there are sacrifices to be made when you get a netbook but I suppose it can't be that bad. My biggest concern is that I'll miss my current big screen.

Any advice is greatly appreciated

thanks!

 

I currently have an ASUS Eee PC 1000HD. It's very convenient to have as a secondary laptop. I usually leave mine in the car, that way I always have a laptop on me.

To use as a primary laptop though, is a bad idea. I can type a paper on it if I need to, but I rather not. The small display is okay for internet browsing here an there, but if you are going to be using it for a few hours at a time your eye's will probably start to hurt.

Netbooks are great for secondary laptops, but they just can't replace the real thing.

 

Run Lightroom? Forget a netbook, you want at least a core 2 duo, if I remember the name correctly. I have trouble running LR on my desktop P4 3.6

 

^Yeah I was thinking it wouldn't be powerful enough..

 

Having spent about an hour on a netbook I have to agree with everything said so far. Just too small and not powerful enough. Now maybe an 11-13in thin n light (inbetween netbook and laptop) might work. They'll have a full size keyboard or almost and can run a Intel Core 2 CULV (more powerful than an netbook CPU) with an nvidia ION graphics, that's got potential! But if you want more powerful then get a full on notebook with a Core 2 duo but a thin n light is kind of the best of both worlds.

 

You may be able to get a small sized NOTEbook to run LR, but I have a Lenovo S10 and, well, no friggin way.

Internet, word, excel, sure thing.

LR?

 

I'm currently shopping for a netbook and don't think it is the answer for you. Close, but no cigar, as other have pointed out. I suspect by the time it comes to replace whatever you end up getting that won't be the case, but netbooks are still finding their groove presently.

While on this subject, I've heard that the ram is soldered into the mother board on the dells so it can't be upgraded. With the Asus and Samsung(and even HP I believe) you can easily upgrade to 2GB of ram, anyone have any experience or an opinion on this?

 

My roomie just got a gateway something something...10" screen. Runs Vista, has 3GB of RAM, 250GB HD, and cost him $450 CDN last week.

edit: oh ya, it has a full size keyboard, and can run dual monitors.

 

Check slickdeals for deals on laptops if money is a concern. Sounds like with LR a must, netbooks aren't an option.

 

I will say, other than LR not running, i LOVE my netbook when I travel or want to be a little less encumbered than with the full size machine.

 

i also got the s10...

not tru on the dell.. my niece has one... and as there is no easy access slot to get to the RAM module, you have to literally take apart the whole netbook to get to the motherboard out... and then you can switch the RAM... i don't understand why Dell didn't cut the hole at the bottom like everyone else... i figure they did it to force u to have to send it to them to swap... f'ers

 

Just bought my mom one yesterday. Ended up going with a Dell mini 10 because she wants something small to replace her full size laptop and only runs word/excel. Hope it works out, cheap enough and I read good things about the dell

 

My 4 year old Sony VGN-T350P was better then my netbook....Love it.

 

Interesting, not great news but better then being soldered, I guess.

 

I have an Asus netbook and love it.

 

I have a Samsung N120 and it's sweeeeeeeeet. I upgraded the RAM before I really did anything on the thing, so I'm not sure how it performs out of the box. But it's awesome.

 

I have the HP2140 and it works good for web-based electronic medical records at work which is all I use it for. I have big hands so it's nice having a fuller sized keyboard. Not having a DVD drive is lame but when I travel I just use a portable DVD player instead.

 

I thought the Dell Mini10 is the one with the non replaceable RAM.

The Acer Aspire One is another one that needs a total disassembly of the entire netbook to change the RAM and hard drive.

I have an S10 too. RAM and HD can be changed easily on there.

There's a few limitations of a Netbook in relation to using it for image processing. Most of the 10" and under have low resolution screens (800x600) which isn't ideal for image editing. The LCD's aren't that great so other than doing basic stuff like resizing and maybe some cropping, the desktop real estate isn't going to be ideal.

Also, the Atom CPU on Netbooks are roughly equivalent to a Intel Celeron in terms of processing power. Would you run the latest Photoshop on a 6-8 year old PC? Probably not. It'll work, but it'll be slow. Just take that into comparison before thinking about a netbook.

 

Rick, I rip the DVDs to the HDD as an ISO and use daemon tools to mount and play them as thought I had the disc in the machine. Works great.