Do you have a UMPC or NETBOOK? (or planning to buy one?)

[ghosthunter]

Yup, an ASUS PC 1000H, 160 HD, 2gb RAM. Bought it in the US last October 2008 during my vacation. Got it cheaper there at that time. Used it for a while during my stay in the US. Gave it to my teen daughter when I came home at sobra siyang natuwa.

Oh, well, much as I want to keep it for myself because of portability, but to my dismay, I found out that my hands and fingers were not made for a UMPC, hehehe. Plus screen size gives me terrible headaches because of my above jaeger 4 near vision.

Have you tried HP's entry into the UMPC market? The keyboard is larger which might be more comfortable for you (I know the feeling because I also have large hands).

As for the screen, if ten inch screens aren't big enough, maybe you simply have set the resolution too high making the fonts too small? Anything bigger than ten inches and that's laptop territory already.

[BackSpace]

curiously... why dual boot with XP and Vista? Usually I would head dual boot for Linux and Windows XP. Is there something you are using that requires both versions of Windows? I would think you would have been better off with just either XP or Vista in your AA1 and save the rest of the space for applications and files...

nothing special I just love using both of them.. and most of the time my relatives are using it.. and if other windows crash they can use the other one...my main laptop got Ubuntu Linux and Vista...

[pup2]

Pretty happy so far with my MSI wind 100XP+. It's pretty fast and medyo malaki the keys.

[ghosthunter]

i have asus 1000h pero plano ko bumili ng compaq cq40 ngaun kasi hirap ako mag-graphics sa 10" liit

Well, the point of a UMPC is not to replace your regular desktop or full featured laptop computer. But if you really want to go graphics in your UMPC, you can always connect a big monitor to it through it's VGA port so you don't have to go blind editing on the small LCD screen.

I think that solution would be cheaper than buying another laptop, unless the ASUS 1000 is too slow as well.

[architect]

*GH,

How do you find your AAO? Is the 8.9" screen OK?

I am still looking for the perfect netbook for me. Went through the various PSIONs, 200LXs, Jornadas, etc. My family's company in the States even came out with our own version in the early 90s called the Pocket PC (I know, we should have trademarked the name. It sounded so generic at that time.) catering to flight attendants and pilots.

Then for the longest time I was satisfied with the Fujitsu P7010. I carried it around with me wherever I went. Then the Asus Eee PC 701 came out and suddenly the Fujitsu seemed very heavy. I went with the Asus for a while but my eyes got tired fast although its cost, size and weight made it ideal to be brought anywhere.

Then I bought the Astone UMPC when its price was slashed down to P10K. However the tiny pad and angle of the touchscreen makes it difficult for screen navigation. Plus it is excruciatingly slow.

So now I am using a MSI Wind for my netbook. I find the 10" screen much better than the 7" screen of the Asus and the Atom CPU, 2GB RAM, and 160HD are just right for my needs. While it is generally OK, I still find the size a tad too big to carry around.

But Acer recently came out with an 8.9" AAO with a hard drive. I am very tempted to get this. However I am just concerned I might find the 8.9" screen inadequate. In addition, my sons' Acer 5672 laptops broke down quite easily. The first had a system board failure one month after the warranty expired. The second has several malfunctions, including stuck keys. Hence, my hesitation.

Still, I have to say netbooks, with their low prices and sizes, have their charm and certainly appeal to the geeks in us. They are the new mobile phones.

[impulzz]

got the MSI wind u100 for 22k sa pc corner v-mall
160 gb hd, 2gb ram, 6 cell bat.

so far ok naman mabilis din, well for word processing and surfing

[swordsman]

Bought this one also late last month:

HP Mini Note 1000


OS: MS Windows XP Home
CPU: Intel Atom 1.6ghz
RAM: 1gb (planning to upgrade)
HDD: 60gb PATA
Screen: 10.2" 1024 x 600
Webcam: 1.3mp
WiFi: 802.11b/g
USB Ports: 2
Bluetooth: Yes
Battery: 3 cell

This was my choice because it had arguably the best keyboard and best build quality of all the Atom netbooks out there.

Was pretty happy with the purchase... till last week HP announced the Atom version of the aluminum-bodied mini note (serialized as 2140).

How much po nyo nabili & where?

[ghosthunter]

Sorry for the delayed response.. I seem to have overlooked this..

How do you find your AAO? Is the 8.9" screen OK?

the screen is fine. The keyboard is a bit of a squeeze so my typing is back to the older four finger typing but otherwise ok. Boot up (Windows XP Pro) is a bit slow as compared to my niece's LENOVO S10 with 160gig hdd. If you keep the LINUX, it can boot up in under 30 seconds.

Then I bought the Astone UMPC when its price was slashed down to P10K. However the tiny pad and angle of the touchscreen makes it difficult for screen navigation. Plus it is excruciatingly slow.

The astone is really just a toy. The keyboard & screen are too small for serious use.

So now I am using a MSI Wind for my netbook. I find the 10" screen much better than the 7" screen of the Asus and the Atom CPU, 2GB RAM, and 160HD are just right for my needs. While it is generally OK, I still find the size a tad too big to carry around.

I find the size of the Wind slightly big but that is what you get if you want a 10" screen. The AAO is smaller because of its smaller screen.

But Acer recently came out with an 8.9" AAO with a hard drive. I am very tempted to get this. However I am just concerned I might find the 8.9" screen inadequate.

You can use the two finger zoom in/out function via the pointer pad if you need to enlarge the items on the screen. I kinda stumbled on this when I was using my AAO to read a magazine.

[zman]

I bought a blue h1 umpc, no issues. Good for occassional surfing, easy to carry around and good gadget to help pass the time. Kept the default linux OS, mostly surfing lang naman.

[safeorigin]

planning to purchase one for my mum

[safeorigin]

planning to purchase one for my mum

[Horsepower]

GH, your AA1 can be as fast as the S10 by simply upgrading to an HDD (or low-latency SDD). They're practically the same machine.

to keep costs low, Acer spec'd the AA1 with high-latency SSDs. Latency is delay. High latency = high delay = slow.

Replacing it with an hdd (zif socket I think, same thing used on iPods) should be easy.

[Stoner]

swordsman: at Villman, Park Square branch. All shops offer the mini note at the same price of 21k at that time.

[ghosthunter]

GH, your AA1 can be as fast as the S10 by simply upgrading to an HDD (or low-latency SDD). They're practically the same machine.

I know. But upgrading it with micro-hdds would kinda defeat the purpose of a ultra-cheap notebook pc. Also I kinda love the "no-moving-parts" thingie of SDDs. In fact I have this bad habit of tossing the AAO (while running) onto my bed at night. No danger of damaging the drives.

[ghosthunter]

Anyone wonder why none of the netbook vendors are selling upgrade battery packs for their products like ACER ASPIRE ONE, Asus EEE PC, Lenovo S10, etc?. It's impossible to find six and nine cell battery packs. Hence, if you have a 3 cell netbook, you're doomed to a 2 to 3 hour power limit.

At least I got around it by ordering a six cell battery pack (6.5 hours power time) from an online store. Costs about as much if bought locally, judging on how typical branded six cell battery sells for. There was a nine cell version with even longer battery time (9 to 10 hours) for only $10 more but it sticks out too much from the bottom.

[ephraim]

i'm planning to buy one, but not exactly the latest model. however, i still do not know what that will be.

i need a very portable machine that i can lug around to wherever i go (lugging a 15", 5.5 pound laptop isn't very nice), and i'm hoping it will give me long hours. i'm planning to use it for mostly typing, since i really cannot avoid cramming for papers and it would be nice to have something small to type notes with, or for coming up with drafts. internet would be nice, but it isn't vital. basically, i'll be playing journalist here.

i want it to be very cheap as well, so used machines wouldn't be an issue. it'll just be for typing after all. i can get used to small keyboards.

currently, i'm eying handheld PCs of 8 years ago. the HP jornada 720 and the NEC mobilepro 900c are attractive options, if i can find good-as-free prices. they're very small and i read that their battery lives can reach 10 hours, although i don't know if that holds true today. the eeepc might be my choice if the price is right. most probably, this will be purchased in the states.

any suggestions?

[ghosthunter]

i'm planning to buy one, but not exactly the latest model. however, i still do not know what that will be.

i need a very portable machine that i can lug around to wherever i go (lugging a 15", 5.5 pound laptop isn't very nice), and i'm hoping it will give me long hours. i'm planning to use it for mostly typing, since i really cannot avoid cramming for papers and it would be nice to have something small to type notes with, or for coming up with drafts. internet would be nice, but it isn't vital. basically, i'll be playing journalist here.

i want it to be very cheap as well, so used machines wouldn't be an issue. it'll just be for typing after all. i can get used to small keyboards.

currently, i'm eying handheld PCs of 8 years ago. the HP jornada 720 and the NEC mobilepro 900c are attractive options, if i can find good-as-free prices. they're very small and i read that their battery lives can reach 10 hours, although i don't know if that holds true today. the eeepc might be my choice if the price is right. most probably, this will be purchased in the states.

any suggestions?

Eight year old computers might be cheap but it also means you are using eight year old computer parts which might die at any time. Electronics aren't meant to last forever and transistors do have a certain operating life as well as other critical parts like the LCD screen and hard disk.

The current batch of UMPCs are affordable. How much is your budget? DO you have any eye problems were you need contact lenses or glasses to read printed matter (like newspaper/magazines)?

If you need long battery life, the Asus EEE PC 900 or 1000 UMPCs might be your best bet as they have one of the longer battery life rating as well as bigger battery option. The screen sizes are 8.9 inch and 10 inches respectively.

The EEE PC 701 is simply too small to be practical. The 7 inch screen and small keyboard really makes it difficult to use, especially when you have options for units with bigger screens like the Acer Aspire One 8G.

The Acer Aspire One (or AAO) came out with two basic models. The low and high end models. The low end AAO costs P12K while the high end is around P22K. The basic features are Intel Atom 1.6Ghz CPU, 8.9" screen, 1 gig ram, two SD slots, 3 USB and weights roughly two pounds. The low end AAO has 8Gig solid state HHD, 3 cell battery (good for 2.5 hours) and comes with LINUX. The high end AAO has a 160gig HDD, 6 cell battery (good for 5 to 6 hours) and comes with Win XP Home.

The low and high end AAO units do have a performance difference (under Windows XP) because the 8gig solid state HDD is slow in writing data. But if used with the Linux version it came with, it is pretty speedy.

BTW, one major advantage of solid state HDD is there is no moving parts. You can shake the AAO 8G even if you have it running with no fear of damaging the hard disk.

The Lenovo S10 is another choice but might be a bit more expensive, priced at P24K to P26K depending on which store you inquire from. The features are Intel Atom 1.6ghz, 1gig ram, 120gig hdd, 10 inch lcd screen, 1 sd slot, etc and either 3 or 6 cell batteries. I have found a pink Lenovo S10 for P25K (cash) with 6 cell battery for my niece. She adores it. You might like it too but you might prefer the white or black units because the keyboard is better spaced as well as a more conventional touchpad/button layout.

[architect]

*GH,

Any plans of installing Win7 on your AAO?

[ghosthunter]

So far PC Corner seems to be having a good promo for the Acer Aspire One:

http://www.pccorner.com.ph/laptops.d...ty=0&x=45&y=10

Various models:
http://www.pccorner.com.ph/products....productid=4651

[ghosthunter]

*GH,

Any plans of installing Win7 on your AAO?

For now, no. I never use beta OS software since my days of being a certified technical support staff for a certain computer company. Quite happy with Win XP SP2 on my AAO.

Maybe when the release version of Win7 comes out (in August 2009) and proves to be a good OS, I would consider installing Win7 sometime in 2010 (which would be just in time for Win7 SP1 to come out).

Curiously, how much HDD space does Win7 beta consume on the HDD in a typical install?