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Going to College...Need a Netbook

post #1 of 7
6/11/12 at 5:31pm
Thread Starter 
Ohai! So I'm off to Arizona State University in the Fall (Barrett! Anyone else?biggrin.gif) and that makes the title self-explanatory.

I'm looking for something that satisfies as many of these qualities as possible:
  • Very good (7hrs) to ridiculous (10hrs+) battery life
  • Decent performance (Atom N2600+?)
  • Upgradeable to SSD (Gonna have an 830 64GB in it)

I know that's relatively basic, but wait! There's more!

Going to college, well, I'll need a good typer. Don't need big resolutions or big diagonals, just a decent to good keyboard to handle note-taking and other writing. I'm certain I'll do a clean install of Windows on the SSD, so stock bloatware and HDD don't bother me at all.

It'd be nice to keep it around $300 to 350 as well. I've been eyeing this Asus 1025C for quite some time for its battery life and keyboard, but it's not the easiest thing to upgrade. I can live with difficulties, however. Any other possibilities?

Thanks,
Nick smile.gif
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Beast of the Least 2.0
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[Hitachi Deskstar 320GB] [Samsung 840 Pro 256GB] [Some Lite-on 5.25"] [Windows 7 Pro 64-bit] 
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post #2 of 7
6/11/12 at 8:55pm
Then wait till College.
screen size?

Two main options: AMD with its Brazos platform. Meaning: better gpu, more smooth use, like in the case of 1080p movies (external display)
Intel: N5XX / N2XXX and all this. Higher battery time, less gpu power and maybe less computational power for the same price.

How much screen quality is important to you?
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post #3 of 7
6/11/12 at 9:05pm
Thread Starter 
Umm...I start classes in less than two months! I'd prefer not to wait until after school begins! The restriction of people funding this being out of the country for the majority of the summer also influences this decision. thumb.gif

Screen size is no issue, I think I mentioned. I don't expect an IPS or huge pixel density in a 10 or 11" netbook. Video playback is also relatively irrelevant. It might use Netflix a couple times, but I'll also have a desktop in college (migrating to ITX, hopefully). This is strictly for mobility thumb.gif

Thanks,
Nick
Beast of the Least 2.0
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Asus 1025C-MU17
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[Core i5 3570K] [Asrock Z77E-ITX] [EVGA GTX 460 SSC+] [Samsung 30nm 2x4GB @ 2000MHz] 
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[Hitachi Deskstar 320GB] [Samsung 840 Pro 256GB] [Some Lite-on 5.25"] [Windows 7 Pro 64-bit] 
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[Samsung 2033] [Lian-Li PC-Q08B (Want NCASE M1)] [Razer Deathadder 3.5G] 
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Intel Atom N2600 1.6GHz Powertel GMA SGX545 2GB Corsair 1066MHz Samsung 830 64GB 
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Beast of the Least 2.0
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Asus 1025C-MU17
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[Core i5 3570K] [Asrock Z77E-ITX] [EVGA GTX 460 SSC+] [Samsung 30nm 2x4GB @ 2000MHz] 
Hard DriveHard DriveOptical DriveOS
[Hitachi Deskstar 320GB] [Samsung 840 Pro 256GB] [Some Lite-on 5.25"] [Windows 7 Pro 64-bit] 
MonitorCaseMouse
[Samsung 2033] [Lian-Li PC-Q08B (Want NCASE M1)] [Razer Deathadder 3.5G] 
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CPUGraphicsRAMHard Drive
Intel Atom N2600 1.6GHz Powertel GMA SGX545 2GB Corsair 1066MHz Samsung 830 64GB 
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20mm blower Windows 7 Ultimate 32bit 10.1" 1024 x 600 Cookie Cutter 
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post #4 of 7
6/12/12 at 9:10am
love my 1025c, yes 1gb ram sucks, but does fine with internet, word, excel, nice little thing for homework and surfing the web. was less then $300 and lasts for 7hrs easily, and is very sleek and light.
+1 for 1025c, got mine at newegg!
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post #5 of 7
6/12/12 at 9:56am
Thread Starter 
I probably will go with the 1025C. It's upgradeability has been questionable across countries and, since there's no direct access to the interior via removable panels, I'd like to be sure if it is.

Any other suggestions?
Beast of the Least 2.0
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Asus 1025C-MU17
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CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
[Core i5 3570K] [Asrock Z77E-ITX] [EVGA GTX 460 SSC+] [Samsung 30nm 2x4GB @ 2000MHz] 
Hard DriveHard DriveOptical DriveOS
[Hitachi Deskstar 320GB] [Samsung 840 Pro 256GB] [Some Lite-on 5.25"] [Windows 7 Pro 64-bit] 
MonitorCaseMouse
[Samsung 2033] [Lian-Li PC-Q08B (Want NCASE M1)] [Razer Deathadder 3.5G] 
View all
CPUGraphicsRAMHard Drive
Intel Atom N2600 1.6GHz Powertel GMA SGX545 2GB Corsair 1066MHz Samsung 830 64GB 
CoolingOSMonitorKeyboard
20mm blower Windows 7 Ultimate 32bit 10.1" 1024 x 600 Cookie Cutter 
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Beast of the Least 2.0
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Asus 1025C-MU17
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[Core i5 3570K] [Asrock Z77E-ITX] [EVGA GTX 460 SSC+] [Samsung 30nm 2x4GB @ 2000MHz] 
Hard DriveHard DriveOptical DriveOS
[Hitachi Deskstar 320GB] [Samsung 840 Pro 256GB] [Some Lite-on 5.25"] [Windows 7 Pro 64-bit] 
MonitorCaseMouse
[Samsung 2033] [Lian-Li PC-Q08B (Want NCASE M1)] [Razer Deathadder 3.5G] 
View all
CPUGraphicsRAMHard Drive
Intel Atom N2600 1.6GHz Powertel GMA SGX545 2GB Corsair 1066MHz Samsung 830 64GB 
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20mm blower Windows 7 Ultimate 32bit 10.1" 1024 x 600 Cookie Cutter 
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post #6 of 7
6/12/12 at 10:17am
Acer and samsung make some nice smaller laptops/netbooks. I'd suggest going AMD for that sort of thing.

You can always upgrade the RAM, it just isn't that expensive. Just make sure the cpu/motherboard supports more ram. I went from 1 GB to 2 GB in my netbook, it made a big difference. That's why I recommend at least 2 GB, for windows 7 anyway.

I know you said resolution isn't important but it might be nice to have a step up from 1024x600. That's my resolution and I always feel like there isn't enough screen real estate. Not because the screen itself is small but because there isn't much pixel space. The start menu will take up something like 40% of my screen.
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post #7 of 7
6/13/12 at 3:13am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nick0matic View Post

Ohai! So I'm off to Arizona State University in the Fall (Barrett! Anyone else?biggrin.gif)

I have nothing to say besides BEAR DOWN!

Hah, I'll be at the University of Arizona in the Fall, but I have a couple of friends attending ASU. If you ever need someone to hang with, shoot me a PM.
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