Hello, I'm looking for a netbook for ~£250 (thank you AVForums)

mrpizz

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Hello,

I'm an engineering student with a small-ish budget looking for a netbook. I'm currently using a very old Dell desktop.

My budget is ~£250. Although if it's worth paying more then I can. I hope whatever I get will last a good few years.

Whatever I get, even if it is low standard, will probably be better than my current desktop. In which case I will be using the netbook as my main computer, not just as a portable computer. I have a screen, keyboard, mouse and external hard drive which I can plug in to use at home.

However - saying that - the main reason I want a netbook is because of portability. I travel a lot and I'm in the library more than I am at home.

I don't need to run programs like Autocad or Photoshop. I need it to browse the internet, look at PDFs and occasionally run programs like Matlab.

So the main requirements I'd like it to have are a good battery life, a decent matte screen (I'd like to be able to use it outside) and for it to have a decent processor (is that right?) so I can browse and multitask quickly (I can't stand how slow my current desktop is). Oh and I need to be able to plug it in to my monitor, which is an old Dell flatscreen.

I also really appreciate good design and build quality. A friend of mine uses an Acer netbook which is lovely. Another friend uses a Dell netbook which is horrible. I'm also typing this from a HP laptop which I have borrowed and it's full of horrible flaws (the keyboard and scroll pad are not nice). I'd like to avoid brands or models which have known flaws (not necessarily dell and hp, I don't know enough to write them off).

Thanks in advance. I don't know where to look for advice and I don't have enough money to not care about a purchase as big as this. I appreciate any help.

- Tom
 
Looking around the best option I could find was the Samsung NC110: Samsung NC110 Review | Netbooks | CNET UK. However this review was written in June 2011 so I thought it might be a bit dated. My research skills go as far as searching cnet and which. I assume you guys here are a lot more informed.
 
To clarify the monitor I use needs a vga connector, which that laptop (the NC110) has.
 
I went in to Currys today. I left more confused than when I went in. I was told that the NC110 is now obsolete, that they won't be stocking it any more and that netbooks become outdated within months. I'm not sure how true all that is. I was also told that netbooks with the same processor will all be equally quick. Is that right? The only real info on show was the processor, battery life, memory and RAM. Which wasn't enough to distinguish between the netbooks. I also wasn't sure that the netbooks on display were the latest models (the samsung had a worse processor and less battery power than the NC110. So I'm stumped. I'm completely unsure what to get.

Please help. Thanks.
 
You could get the N150+, I'm not sure where the best price is but it's in budget here:
Samsung N150 Plus NP-N150-JP0MUK

Has VGA, leaves you money to upgrade the RAM, see:
Computer memory upgrades for Samsung N150 Plus Netbook from Crucial.com

That should be perfect for your needs and budget, the N150 is still as solid and well built as the former Samsung netbooks, the only other other suggestion I'd make is an ASUS EEE, I'm using an old EEE and it has lasted me a few years so far of pretty heavy use with no problem.

This one is in budget:
ASUS EeePC 1011PX-BLK069S

And again memory upgrade if necessary:
Computer memory upgrades for ASUS Eee PC 1011PX Netbook from Crucial.com


I guess the person that you spoke to at Currys either honestly didn't know too much about netbooks and the market or was trying to sway you towards either a full laptop or a tablet... There are still plenty of good netbook choices out there and if you look in the right places can still get good deals.
 
I'm looking at netbooks in the same price range. I'm waiting a few weeks as Intel has recently released the next generation Atom processors, which offer better performance & improved battery life. Maybe the reason you were told that the NC110 is obsolete is that it's about to be replaced so Samsung has stopped manufacture, although it's still listed on their website.

I suspect a lot of manufacturers may be announcing new models with the new chips at CES in Las Vegas next week. (Jan 10th-13th)
 
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Yeah I've just been looking in to that. The Lenovo S110 looks lovely and it's expected to be in the same price range. I think I'm willing to wait. Thanks for the advice Iccz and Dave.
 
Acer, Asus & Samsung have all announced new netbooks using Intel Cedar Trail processors, but none appear to be on the UK market yet. The situation with Samsung is rather odd - they are said to be abandoning the netbook market in the first quarter of this year, but they have announced new products. . .
 

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