Want to purchase a small netbook (for a friends present) mainly to use on an upcoming overseas holiday.
As long as it can surf the web then thats great, dont really have any other requirements. My friend said he doesnt mind if it has linux…
Im not familiar with prices or models so any help would be much appreciated!!
Also, i have until 3 January to purchase the present, would it be better to purchase now or later (though i dont really want to leave it to the last minute) ? THANKS
This one looks like it's still available and could actually double as a proper computer for only $299 after cashback:
http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/18609
Also, i have until 3 January to purchase the present, would it be better to purchase now or later (though i dont really want to leave it to the last minute) ? THANKS
There might be interesting bargains during December due to the holiday spending season and the January launch of Pine Trail netbooks (which has evidently started to impact pricing of older netbooks). Of course, keep in mind customer service/opening hours, order processing and delivery times towards the end of the year.
Report: Pine Trail netbooks to show up on January 11
by Cyril Kowaliski — 9:38 AM on December 4, 2009We recently heard that Intel could launch its next-gen Pine Trail netbook platform on January 3. Not true, according to DigiTimes, which reports that Asus, Acer, Lenovo, and MSI all plan to release Pine Trail netbooks on January 11.
The systems will all feature Atom N450 processors, which put the CPU core, integrated graphics, and memory controller on one die, with accompanying Pineview I/O hub chips. The move to a two-chip solution with all performance-critical components on a single, 45-nm die should help improve performance and battery life, and it might reduce production costs a little, as well. […]
In the meantime, the report notes that Asus, Lenovo, and MSI have all dropped the prices of their 10" netbooks in Taiwan to "clear inventories" in preparation for Pine Trail's debut. Those systems now go for as little as $10,000 TWD, or $311. Prices are even lower in the States: Newegg currently sells a 10" Lenovo IdeaPad netbook with 1GB of RAM, a 160GB hard drive, and Windows XP for just $289.99 shipped.
A friend lent me an Asus EEE701 with 4GB SSD disk for a long trip. It was very good for me. Very good WiFi sensitivity. I appreciated that it was only 0.9 kg. Surprisingly I could live with the small screen, as you just hold it up closer. The small keyboard takes a bit more getting used to.
You can get it for $200 new even in places like Officeworks or maybe even less on eBay I dunno. It's been out a long time, it was one of the original models that started the Netbook craze. When you put Linux on it, I recommend Ubuntu Netbook Remix which is designed to maximise use of the small screen. Another possibility is Crunchbang Linux. Then install the Google Chromium browser which works faster than Firefox.
Buy a cheap USB memory stick to backup your photos. The SD card reader works fine. You'll need at least a 1GB USB memory stick to do the Linux install anyway.
Feel free to ask if you need any help with Linux installation.