The Christmas Netbook 2009

[MasterRex862]

Hello compadres,

 

I'm in a bit of a predicament. I've been looking forward to purchasing my mother (my only living blood relative, the only person who aids me through life and assists with tuition...) a netbook for christmas. Motive aside, let me tell you what plagues me. Like most of you, I fear the immediate depreciation of tech purchases. In this case, I have stark fears related to the imminent release of the Dual-Core Atom paired with nVidia's ION chipset. I'm afraid I'll wind up purchasing some netbook (possibly a MSI Wind U123-003US - great battery life... but ugly aesthetics!) that will be quickly outdated. My greater fear is that I've fallen out of sync with the netbook marketing brigade - it appears Asus now has the balls to market items like this Eee PC variant without including what processor or graphics chipset is present in the device. I'm both sad and in dismay that Asus (or Newegg) would let something like this happen. I fear that I'm going to make a poor choice out of lack of information/research.

 

TL;DR

 

What is the 'Christmas Netbook 2009'?

 

Aesthetics > Battery Life > Performance > Portability

 

Thanks,

 

Rex <33 :]

[Zertz]

I know it would kind of kill the whole Christmas gift idea, but Pinetrail netbooks will be released around the CES timeframe (early January). The IGP and IMC will be integrated on the processor's package.

 

Basically, it'll be better, faster and draw less power

[MasterRex862]

I didn't know that the ION had been released already! How does the OCC population feel about the HP Mini 311? It seems to be both sleek and powerful, though I've not read on about battery life yet.

 

EDIT: Thanks Zertz, I forgot about Pine Trail entirely.. I'm a bit of a pessimist, though. Do we yet know the capability of the 'on die' gpu? Last time I was reading up on it, Pine Trail was stuck at 480p video playback (it's not a HUGE quandary, but it's a bit disappointing since even the Zune HD can play video at higher resolution). Do we yet have any benchmarks? I don't know that it's worth a disappointing christmas morning for.

Edited November 16, 2009 by MasterRex862

[The Smith]

I didn't know that the ION had been released already! How does the OCC population feel about the HP Mini 311? It seems to be both sleek and powerful, though I've not read on about battery life yet.

 

EDIT: Thanks Zertz, I forgot about Pine Trail entirely.. I'm a bit of a pessimist, though. Do we yet know the capability of the 'on die' gpu? Last time I was reading up on it, Pine Trail was stuck at 480p video playback (it's not a HUGE quandary, but it's a bit disappointing since even the Zune HD can play video at higher resolution). Do we yet have any benchmarks? I don't know that it's worth a disappointing christmas morning for.

From what I read, the HP mini 311's battery life is a tad under 6h.

[Zertz]

EDIT: Thanks Zertz, I forgot about Pine Trail entirely.. I'm a bit of a pessimist, though. Do we yet know the capability of the 'on die' gpu? Last time I was reading up on it, Pine Trail was stuck at 480p video playback (it's not a HUGE quandary, but it's a bit disappointing since even the Zune HD can play video at higher resolution). Do we yet have any benchmarks? I don't know that it's worth a disappointing christmas morning for.

I don't expect miracles out of Pine Trail's IGP, ION will probably still be faster for graphics. However, the current Atom+GMA945 can watch SD YouTube and DVDs and Pine Trail will use a significantly newer IGP so it's safe to assume 480p will play well.

 

You did mention "Battery Life > Performance" which is why I mentioned Pine Trail. It depends how much you're willing to give up

 

I'm sure you'll make her Christmas morning enjoyable with an Atom 330 + ION

Edited November 16, 2009 by Zertz

[The Smith]

If you want something strong while still having a decent battery life, look at the Acer Aspier Ferrari One. Athlon Neo X2 + HD3200. I did not find anywhere to buy it though.

Edited November 16, 2009 by The Smith

[Zertz]

If you want something strong while still having a decent battery life, look at the Acer Aspier Ferrari One. Athlon Neo X2 + HD3200. I did not find anywhere to buy it though.

Cute!

[MasterRex862]

Hrm, that Acer Ferrari One does look promising although it doesn't seem to have the best battery life. I also was not able to find a place to purchase the netbook online. :[

 

Is there any netbook that is currently superior to the HP Mini 311?

 

 

PS

Thanks for the input, guys! Zertz, honestly you have a point. I always do this! I always look for performance when the true application of the netbook probably will be web browsing and other menial tasks my mum will end up doing.

Edited November 16, 2009 by MasterRex862

[Zertz]

In terms of graphics performance, no. The Athlon Neo is faster than Atom, however.

 

I have an Eee 1000H and it runs everything I need just fine. Browse the web, type articles, chat, etc... It's obviously not the fastest thing around, but I have the desktop for that. I do run ABP on it though because Flash ads totally kill Atom.

 

Bottom line: the perfect netbook does not exist yet, but the HP Mini 311 seems to bring a lot to the table

[The Smith]

In terms of graphics performance, no. The Athlon Neo is faster than Atom, however.

 

I have an Eee 1000H and it runs everything I need just fine. Browse the web, type articles, chat, etc...

 

Install Vista on it and run Ubuntu in a VM. My Athlon Neo is borderline. I'm not sure how the Atom will fare.

 

Oh and it has a bit of difficulty with Flash too. Flash ads are not a problem at all, but Machinarium, which is made in Flash, will lag a bit when in fullscreen mode. (1280x800)