I got over idea of buying netbook because prices never came down around here. They are still $400-500+ and less only for leftovers of really outdated models.

With new lineups on CULV processors starting at $600 it just doesn’t seem like a good deal.

For now I am fine with my Dell Vostro 1310, will see how it goes in few years.

My wife and I each have an Asus EEE PC HA1000. Our first EEE PC
had a 7-inch screen which we found totally unworkable. So we both
bought the HA1000 with 10-inch screens. This is the ~minimum~
feasible monitor size for a netbook !

Rationale behind netbooks being convenience and portability. Don’t
expect full-size laptop results from a netbook, and you won’t be
disappointed ! Yet, overall, we have been amazed at how adequate
our 10-inch Asus netbooks are.

Second thing: The 1.6-gHz Intel Atom processor is the practical
minimum for comfortable computing. Any slower CPU will disappoint !
( Many of the newest netbooks come with a 1.4-gHz CPU. )

Third thing: By definition, a “netbook” doesn’t have an integral
optical [CD/DVD] drive. Anybody bothered by this should consider
just how often they actually use that drive. Most people are going
to realize that -unless they play a lot of games or watch a lot of
movies- they don’t really use an optical drive all that often.

We bought a nice Memorex external DVD reader/writer from Geeks.com
for $30. Use it for our netbooks, but it’s also a nice back-up for
our systems which have integral optical drives. Plus sometimes a
second CD/DVD drive is expedient. An external optical drive ain’t
exclusively a netbook investment when you have other computers.

Fourth thing: Our two Asus netbooks each have a 160-gig hard drive.
There’s no good reason to have less. And 160-gigs has proven quite
adequate.

SSD [Solid State Drives] are very nice. When prices come down, and
capacity goes up (to at least 120-gigs at a $150 price point), we’ll
likely convert to SSD. Right now, though, SSD specs and technology
need to stabilize a little more.

Fifth thing: First thing we did was increase the RAM on our Asus
netbooks from 1-gig to 2-gigs. Even though they run Windows XP,
two gigs RAM makes everything run better and faster. And, at about
$30, this was cheap enough to be a no-brainer !

Sixth thing: The smaller keyboards on netbooks is a REALLY BIG
DEAL for many folks. I hunt-and-peck two finger type, so it
could matter less to me. The wife touch-types, and she bought a
rubber flexible roll-up keyboard. $22 at USBgeeks…

http://www.usbgeek.com/prod_detail.php?prod_id=0370

MY IDEAL NETBOOK:

The perfect netbook would have…

* An 11-inch screen. ( Who says that netbooks are limited to
10.4-inch screens ? ) This retains the basic small form factor
while optimizing monitor view-ability.

* One of the new Intel Atom 1.6-gHz DUAL CORE processors. ( Intel
~hates~ netbooks, and refuses to release this CPU for use in them ! )

* Windows 7 Home Premium. ( Microsoft says Win 7 Home Premium works
in netbooks equally as well as Win 7 Basic. ) Preferably the 64-bit
version. Then having 4-gigs RAM makes sense.

Forget Linux. Too non-standard. Who wants to have to learn another
operating system ?

* 4-gigs of RAM. ( Only practical using 64-bit Windows. )

* Three USB ports. ( Which Asus ~already~ has on their EEE PC’s. )

* At least one eSATA port.

* Matte black finish. ( Unlike the current Asus glossy black,
which looks absolutely great …until you touch it ! )

* 160-gig or bigger SSD (without jacking up retail cost of the
notebook by a few hundred dollars !).

Until then, a conventional 160-gig hard drive is perfectly
satisfactory.

The DataRat

.

Thanks for extensive comment! I tend to hear a lot about failed expectations about netbooks. They are nice but slightly overhyped as “small but can do anything”.

At first I estimated that 2nd generation of notebook will be much more refined but it seems it will take even longer than that to move to new chipsets and bigger screen sizes.

The 2510P is a much better user experience and in my location sells for not much more than a netbook. Seems the reviews of the slow harddisk taken a big bite out of it’s resale. I discovered this to be true. Slow harddisk was a pain. So, together with other 2510P users we figured multiple ways around it and documented it for other 2510P users to benefit from here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=352887 .

With a low buy in price for a 2510P it becomes quite a user configurable unit. A bargain in my opinion.

Yeah, I have an impression that second hand market for 2510p is quite common which is sign of good model. :)

Netbooks are good concept but they ended up couple hundred bucks higher than initial expectations (Asus started all the hype with $200 expected price) and have performance issues on top – small screen and bad chipset in first generation mostly.

Doesn’t look like prices coming down so they will brobably get better in performance and phase out part of budget notebook market, instead of being below them.

Myself I had recently bought Dell Vostro 1310. Will review later after more usage time.

Glad to see you at my blog btw, hope you find it worthwhile. :)