Laptop buying advice forum: Poll: Would you buy a Netbook?

Why would I want a little toy computer with no CD/DVD drive? I own a full size laptop and a desktop computer that I built with my own 2 hands. If I want portability I can take my laptop with me wherever I want to go, I have no need for a little POS netbook. -kd5-

Netbooks are highly portable; for me, that is about the only good thing about one. I was looking for a very portable laptop; this isn't it. Poor processing power, anemic audio (my pda has better sound!), inadequate, outdated video, temperamental touchpad, not enough memory. Slow internet speeds, screen size is just awkward for doing anything useful. Does very little well.
Some of these problems may be brand specific--I got an Asus which I would not recommend to anyone--but the processor, memory and video are pretty typical, and pretty minimal. I upgraded the memory, which contrary to all the reviews I read, did NOT help--so in addition to all the other inadequacies, I may just have gotten a lemon.
DO think carefully about what you want it for; they have their uses, but are very limited (& limiting) if any of your expectations or your applications are at all demanding.

We bought one just to see how well they work, with the idea it might be handy in the kitchen. It is about as slow as I anticipated, certainly tolerable for web browsing, and it is a spare when one of us is using the desktop. Since it came with wireless as well as an ethernet port, getting on the home network was easy. We did buy a wireless mouse and an external hard drive for back-ups. And since we don't have an external CD/DVD drive, I bought an 8GB flash drive to create a recovery "disk." Some netbooks may not have the software to do this, but I found it in the <brandname> tool folder off the main menu.

Main drawback: the screen is a bit too short for some websites. I keep the toolbar in the browser hidden until I need it, to get an extra quarter inch of display. The model we have has pitiful audio - not loud enough to hear unless the room is dead quiet.

Nice things include battery life, portability, and I have to say that Windows 7 Starter is a pretty full featured O/S for such an inexpensive machine. The 250GB HD in the netbook probably will never get full.

I copied some recipes to the machine in the kitchen. Instead of printing a copy from the desktop, we can pull it up on the netbook and set it right on the counter while preparing a meal.

I bought a laptop or notebook computer as an addition to my desktop computer to be used when mobile and traveling. Likewise, I have a netbook computer that is in addition to my laptop when traveling. For example a 17" screen laptop takes a lot of space in certain circumstances such as while actually on the road. The netbook allows sending/checking email, using Skype and other such daily tasks very easily. While stopped of course, or in a motel overnight. It is a handy addition that makes life easier while on the move. Definitely not a replacement for a laptop/notebook computer. The nebook is certainly useful and valuable to have, but not as a sole device for anything important.
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There was one option missing from the poll.
Never again!
The first problem that I ran into with mine was when my Internet Security that came with my Netbook kept asking me to backup my files/system (emergebcy backup) on a CD. At that point I knew it was a mistake purchasing it. That along with a unviewable viewing screen that requires a magnifying glass to be able to read. The first recieved email containing photos was a joke. Having to scroll so long to see them (individually) was a waiste of time.

Yes I have a netbook and love it. No it is not as fast as my full size laptop, But for just surfing and email it is cool.

I too wondered why anyone would want a netbook, no DVD/CD burner, low ram, speed ect... but then I moved back with my father. I now have one of the smallest bedrooms possible. My 15.6 inch laptop was endangered daily of falling off of shelves and dressers too small to hold it and a lamp and alarm clocks. Answer Laptop stays in living room and netbook in bedroom.

I have enjoyed it on trips because of the light weight, I still can upload my photos and email them from my camera. No no fancy editing, but they are backed up until I get home.

One draw back is watching videos, I uploaded my Itunes movie on it to watch on the plane to Vegas last week. real slow and did not play as well as the same movie on my iPod.

Oh yeah my father liked my netbook so much he bought one for himself to use for surfing and travel.

just remember it is a basic computer. not a work horse.

I like my netbook, probably because I'm not a hard-core gamer, software developer, composer, etc, just a basic Internet user, e-mailer, and document writer. The netbook is very portable and has good battery capacity; and at home I use it connected to a flat-screen monitor, which gets around the "squinting at a tiny screen" problem that some have complained of.

I have decided that I've been expecting too much of a netbook. These are essentially niche-devices, designed to fit in between smartphones or PDAs and larger, heavier, more expensive notebooks. I want the greater portability and long battery life; since I have more powerful machines available to me now, I'm willing to make the trade-off. IOW, I think there's a netbook in my future.

(Unless someone produces a netbook-sized tablet with a slide-out keyboard. That would be the best of both worlds IMHO.)

Of course, I still won't be able to enjoy what some consider the full "netbook experience" very often, since the nearest Starbucks is over an hour's drive away. But my cigar-friendly front porch is a more-than-acceptable substitute.

Btw, a very Merry Christmas to all!

Yes, I am one of a minority. I bought a Toshiba NB205 last January. I added a gig of memory before I ever took it home. At the recommendation of the big box store I had all of the junk removed and did not use Norton. I was told that it was too heavy of a program and it would slow down my pretty new toy. which has done very well. I ended up with Kaspersky instead. I have been very impressed with the speed. My daughter and my sister bought Dell minis at the same time and theirs are both painfully slow compared to mine! One has Norton and the has AVG so perhaps its the memory not the antivirus that makes the difference. I was used to a Dell XPS12 so the size didn't bother me too much. I do really notice the difference when I go back to it. I only do email,ebay and research and pictures on it but it suits my needs very well.

And I'm delighted with this purchase! It resulted in a wonderful tool assisting me in my profession when going onboard ships for annual safety inspections and completing the blank forms stored in the hard and/or pen drives for being later on printed with the ship's printer and finally signed by the Master or the shipowner, whovever be available at the moment. I strongly recommend to people who have to perform word processing or other computing tasks away from his home or office environment.

I bought an MSI Wind netbook, and I love it. Its brilliant. I can touch type, use it for emails, communications, video phone calls, photo editing, spread sheets etc. If I really need a larger screen I have a socket to connect it to my TV. It fits in my handbag if I want, its light, and a delight. Although I have a regular size laptop, its become a permanent desktop computer now, and I rarely use it. I have a very neat little and lightweight Samsung USB DVD read/write drive that does not need a power supply, so I can use it anywhere. The battery power is excellent and long lasting, so if I am watching an on line video I can carry it to where I am working without the power lead.

When I renewed my Web and Walk contract with T-Mobile, I purchased an EEE PC for 70,00 Euro.
For portability i'ts hard to beat and for surfing the web and email it's super. I also watch movies recorded as virtual DVD's on an external hard drive and with 6,5 hrs battery life It useually lasts me for a full work day.
That said, for serious work it dosn't come close to the comfort of my Notebook. I have MS Office 2010 on the EEE and it runs well, but the small screen real estate, makes Excel Word and Co uncomfortable for more than a few minutes...
All that said I am very pleased with it and can stick it im my briefcase instead of carrying a laptop bag as well.
For me it's both a fun, and within it's limitations, a useful addition addition to my gadgetry...
And it didn't cost the earth..

but I only want one for two uses in the kitchen:
1) reading and writing recipes
2) researching recipes on the internet

I want the portability for times I don't need all the power/capability of my 13.3" MacBook .... sometimes I just need to deal with email, surfing, and kocking out a short document (will be getting Pages - which I also use on the desktop). Once the next generation of iPad comes out, I'm heading to my favorite Apple store!