Buying a Netbook, need advise

[Nophix]

I'm going shopping for a Netbook and need some advice.

I've basically limited it down to the MSI Wind, Acer Aspire One, or the eeePC.

All 3 of these fall in under the $350 price point, have 10" screens, and 120gb+ hard drives with Windows XP. I believe they all have the Atom processor as well.

I've also found some with the Celeron over the Atom for a little less. Is there any major advantage?

Basic uses for this will be Windows administration(active directory, and remote Citrix apps). I will also be using it for web and watching videos while traveling(standard def and web primarily).

I need to have Windows for work. I have some apps that don't run under Linux without much headache. I also want a clear screen, and I have heard this is where the Asus eeePC falls short.

This is going to turn into my semi-primary machine. I still have machines at home for larger tasks and gaming, and I do have 3 laptops for work, but this will fit in the tank bag on my motorcycle so it will get the most use. Its going to replace my current Acer laptop.

So, anyone have experience with all 3 and have any recommendations?

[chaser48]

did you have specific models. We can't compare the generic brand. Each model by the respective manufacture will be improved upon. So if you are looking at an older version and we have experience with the newer one. Our suggestions are mute.

I have the Asus Eee PC 1002ha. Love using the laptop. I use it at school during most of my classes for taking notes. And when i work at the office i use it to access the network drive and printers. In order to use the network drive and printer you have to log in to each server. Since most netbooks have only Win XP Home. At my house i have a domain set-up so i just remote desktop into my server. Or you could also install UltraVNC which will integrate into Windows logons.

I can usually get 2 1/2 hours watching hulu videos over wifi at my house and at school and 3 1/2 hours Browsing internet and general office work.

Of Course this is quite a bit more expensive than you originally state price range.

The Celeron Processor is not as low power consumption as the atom. But other than that i don't know the specific differences between the two.

[donito]

I've had an Acer Aspire One 8.9" with the 6 cell battery and 160 gig HD for about 4 months now. It is awesome. I like it so much that I plan to buy the 10" version within the next few weeks. I'm currently dual booting Windows XP and Slackware Linux and haven't had any problems. The wifi works great under Slackware. Whatever you intend to use it for it is a great machine. I think Darren and Snubs think pretty highly of their Aspire One's as well.

I'm going shopping for a Netbook and need some advice.

I've basically limited it down to the MSI Wind, Acer Aspire One, or the eeePC.

All 3 of these fall in under the $350 price point, have 10" screens, and 120gb+ hard drives with Windows XP. I believe they all have the Atom processor as well.

*snip*

[Nophix]

Thanks guys! I wound up buying the eeePC 1000he. I'm liking it a lot so far. I do have some wireless issues too work through. For some reason it doesn't like WPA, so I'm running my home network on WEP with MAC filtering until I figure it out.

[Method]

I've had an Acer Aspire One 8.9" with the 6 cell battery and 160 gig HD for about 4 months now. It is awesome. I like it so much that I plan to buy the 10" version within the next few weeks. I'm currently dual booting Windows XP and Slackware Linux and haven't had any problems. The wifi works great under Slackware. Whatever you intend to use it for it is a great machine. I think Darren and Snubs think pretty highly of their Aspire One's as well.

I too have the Aspire One and am very happy with it. The 6 cell battery is tits.

[unixpro]

ive got the msi wind with the 9cell battery ebay running 9.04 flawlessly and i get about 6-7 hours on a charge with video watching. The only thing ive still to get working under linux is the webcam