Ubu-wha?

February 21, 2009 7:05 PM

What kind of netbook should I get?

I am looking at getting a netbook. It will be used primarily to surf the web. I want it light and fast, meaning performance-wise. Not too particular about the battery life or how small the keyboard is.

Inexpensive is best of course, but I know the less expensive models have Ubuntu. I've never touched anything but DOS and Windows, so that worries me a bit. How hard is Ubuntu to work with? I would probably only be installing Firefox. I've never seen Ubuntu and wouldn't know where to start.

So, I'm looking for netbook recommendations and whether I should not worry and whether I'd better just pay a little more for a Windows machine since I have no Linux experience. If I do get Ubuntu, where should I go to start learning how to use it?

One more: at the moment I only have dsl pulling down 1.5 mbs. Should I worry about upgrading from 512 mbs of memory in a low-end netbook or will my relatively slow internet connection make that futile? Thanks.

posted by CwgrlUp to technology (19 comments total)

We had a similar thread recently:

http://ask.metafilter.com/113770/netbook

Your requirements are not that demanding. I would recommend what I did in the previous thread, which is to go to a store and try them out. You'll get a much better sense out of what you like and dislike that way.

I went with a Windows machine, but I have more demanding software requirements and zero desire to mess about with the OS.

The thing about RAM is, it's so incredibly cheap right now that I would recommend upgrading unless you are just flat broke. 512mb of RAM was fairly limiting in Windows 2000 back in the day, so I would recommend a minimum of 1gb.

Do you have an idea about screen size? That can really help you to narrow models down. I went with a 10" which is really the minimum for me.
posted by selfnoise at 7:25 PM on February 21

Hi,

I've only messed around w/ netbooks in Circuit City...but they've been popping up on Slickdeals a lot lately.

Here's a link for the s10 around $300 - http://forums.slickdeals.net/showthread.php?sduid=0&t=1202783

I also saw a thread earlier today for an x61 which is the thinkpad portable series...a 12" screen for around $650....might be worth checking out.

All I can say about Ubuntu is it's really pretty simple. Assuming your wireless card works, you'll probably be thankful you left windows. Firefox, and most necessary apps are installed by default in ubuntu.
posted by pilibeen at 7:31 PM on February 21

I wouldn't worry about learning Ubuntu; it's pretty easy to use and in many cases more intuitive than Windows. If you've successfully used DOS you can almost certainly use Ubuntu.

A handy resource is the Ubuntu Pocket Guide which you can download for free as a PDF.
posted by fearthehat at 7:32 PM on February 21

For web browsing etc., Ubuntu should be fine. Any netbook you can find is almost certain to come with Firefox installed and configured out of the box. If you want to try it out ahead of time and have a spare blank CD, making a live CD is pretty straightforward.

Also, extra RAM is definitely worth it. The problem with many solid state disks is their fairly slow write speed, which means if you exceed your physical RAM capacity and start swapping, the performance penalty will be much worse than on a regular desktop or laptop. Spend the extra $15 or whatever for an extra GB and save yourself a headache.
posted by teraflop at 7:44 PM on February 21

This kind of question has the potential to generate a lot of answers (and opinions!) so you might find that it's going to be sort of tough to narrow it down to the exact one you should buy.

That being said, if I were to purchase one today (and I'm seriously thinking about it), I would go for the Asus Eee PC 1000HE. It is hands down one of the best (if not the best) netbooks out on the market right now. Great hardware (and battery life), great reviews, looks great, etc. $374.00 at Amazon.

That's my $0.02. Let the disagreement begin!
posted by karizma at 8:18 PM on February 21

Ubuntu, especially Ubuntu Netbook Remix, is incredibly easy to use. It will come with firefox installed, and Netbook Remix has pretty much everything else you could feasibly want for basic daily use (word processing, video, webcam software). I'm constantly recommending it on here, but I'm the proud owner of a Sylvania G Meso and I love it and would recommend it without any major caveats. They're very cheap now, come with 1 GB ram, netbook remix installed, and have a real harddrive, which I wanted. Plus, cute colors! They don't have the big name of some of the other netbooks, and the early reviews were negative (something which mostly seemed based on the brand name and the presence of Ubuntu), but the only thing that's not perfect on them is the keyboard size--and I have small hands, so it hasn't been a problem.

Feel free to MeMail me if you have any questions.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 8:24 PM on February 21

Does Windows lag anymore than Ubuntu? Or is that not noticeable?
posted by CwgrlUp at 9:29 PM on February 21

Both Windows XP and Ubuntu will be plenty fast on a netbook if you're just doing web browsing --- until you start to run low on memory. Then they'll both lag. ("thrash" is the technical term)
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 9:41 PM on February 21

I spent $20 and ten minutes of Mr. F's time to boost my Lenovo S10 to 2GB of RAM. The S10 comes apart pretty easily for that kind of upgrade.

Mine came with Windows XP; I vaped it for Ubuntu Intrepid with the Netbook Remix packages on top. (The Netbook Remix stuff consists of a handful of utilities that make your life a little easier on a tiny screen.) I used to be a Unix admin for a living, so I went in expecting at least a little pain, but Ubuntu's got a really good install experience these days and good support for automatic updates and so on.

That thing's been my daily driver for a month now and I'm pleased as punch-- it's as rock-solid as any Lenovo ThinkPad, and it gets me all my Pandora stations, public radio, RSS feeds, and other workplace diversions without fuss.
posted by fairytale of los angeles at 10:05 PM on February 21

Does Windows lag anymore than Ubuntu? Or is that not noticeable?

Thats practically a religious question. Honestly, performance is borderline crappy with either. Those little atom CPUs just arent good for anything more serious than email and web. Even then with a lot of flash-based webpages open it can get pretty bad.

Regardless, you can answer your own question by downloading the ubuntu CD and running it on the windows computer you are using now. It will run "live" thus not installing itself on your hard drive. There's a performance hit here, but you'll be able to play with the UI, apps, etc and decide if its for you.

The downside with going with ubutnu is that if, in the future, you need windows only software then that means spending $150 on the XP retail box. The price difference when you buy the laptop with XP is usually only 20-50 dollars more.

The MSI Wind and the HP Mini are my favorites. I find the keyboard on the eeepc to be dreadful and it feels cheaply made. Heck, they all feel cheaply made. Before you choose you should go to the computer store and try the keyboards. Do not get a screen under 10".

Also, you might be happier with a real laptop thats only slightly bigger than the netbooks, yet only $100 or so more. Dell has this 13" 4.9lbs inspiron with a processor thats about 5x faster than the netbook atom and 3gigs of ram. Not to mention a real hard drive and CD/DVD player. $599
posted by damn dirty ape at 10:23 PM on February 21

I've got Xubuntu, a variant of Ubuntu on my laptop. Don't get Ubuntu unless you are willing to spend 1 hour of searching and reading about how to solve any small problem you may encounter, like setting-up a printer or getting your firewall set-up.

Ubuntu is pretty easy to use, but you have to want to use it and learn it. It's also really helpful to have a dual-boot with XP or Vista because there are just somethings that take too long to set-up in Ubuntu.
posted by 517 at 10:43 PM on February 21

I just took my EEE 901 on a backpacking wedding + honeymoon across SE Asia. I used to think I wanted to swap it for an EEE 1000 soon - but honestly, this one was the perfect size and weight with all the performance I needed. 20gb is all I need to store a few movies, music, documents, and run all the software I need. I can't tell you how enjoyable it was to take pictures all day then lounge out in little coffee-juice shops in Bali editing with Picasa and uploading to Facebook & Flickr at night. During the reception, we plugged in different iPods played the music out of Amarok. Throughout the trip it was a joy to turn on the EEE and be showing a slideshow of our wedding photos in less than a minute when we met new people.

I prefer the faster but smaller SSD drives of the 901 to the HDD of the other models. I like that this little laptop I drag around the world in a satchel has only one moving part: the fan.

As per the OS - I don't know any netbook shipping with Ubuntu, which is a shame. Asus ships with a spectacularly awful idiot-proof version of Xandros. I think the Acer models are using a version OpenSUSE, and some others use gOS. The point is, if you buy the cheaper Linux netbook, you'll likely want to upgrade to a better version of Linux (which isn't very hard. I think installing Linux is easier than installing Windows). You can install almost any Linux OS through a USB thumbdrive using UNetbootin. Click the ISO, load it up, adjust your BIOS to boot from the USB and wa-la. Go to Distrowatch if you want to read up on different OS's.

I switched to Linux when I bought my EEE. I've become rapidly addicted since. I've tried many, many distros. Make no mistake, Linux has a learning curve. It might be even steeper if you're already really good with Windows. Things like having no drive letters still throw me off. There are little kinks with Linux that bother me, but I love the overall experience. I think the saying "Linux is free if your time is worthless" is true... you'll spend a lot of time tinkering with it. For me, that's a good thing. It's a hobby now.

The most important thing to remember is that it's OK to leave your old familiar software at the door. OpenOffice3 is 95% the MS Office experience, Amarok/Rhythmbox are everything you hoped iTunes could be. As Dr. Thompson would remind us, "buy the ticket, take the ride." Don't expect anything Windows when you install Linux. If you really, really need Windows like my wife does for Quickbooks (there is no open-source replacement), you can also load it up in Virtualbox. It boots Windows up as a program inside Ubuntu (or any distro) in about 15 seconds. Forget about WINE. Really.

EEEbuntu and Easy Peasy/Ubuntu-eee are good distros that work well out of the box. I HATE the "netbook remix" GUI though. Right now I'm dual-booting a full GNOME version of UbuntuEEE but hate the 90 second boot time. I'm about to fully migrate to CrunchEEE (a Crunchbox remix, itself a stripped down version of Ubuntu). I love the minimalist look, the 1.5gb footprint, and 40-seconds-to-internet boot time. I wouldn't recommend it for beginners but it is lightning fast on my little 1ghz chip.

Hope this helps.
posted by trinarian at 11:11 PM on February 21 [2 favorites has favorites]

... a keyboard note. I've written 20 page papers on my 9" EEE. It takes a few hours to get used to the keyboard, that's it. I'm not a small-framed guy.
posted by trinarian at 11:13 PM on February 21

As per the OS - I don't know any netbook shipping with Ubuntu, which is a shame.

The Dell Inspiron Mini 9 ships with Ubuntu.
posted by Gnatcho at 2:03 AM on February 22

Does anyone happen to know if the Dell Mini 9 is actually available for touchy-feely at any stores? Or do you have to buy one and return it to get a feel for if you'll like it?
posted by dmd at 6:46 AM on February 22

The Dell Mini 9 is sold in my local Best Buy, so you might check there.
posted by capsizing at 6:59 AM on February 22

As per the OS - I don't know any netbook shipping with Ubuntu, which is a shame.

The Dell Inspiron Mini 9 ships with Ubuntu.

And the aforementioned Sylvania G Meso.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 8:51 AM on February 22

I think the saying "Linux is free if your time is worthless" is true... you'll spend a lot of time tinkering with it. For me, that's a good thing. It's a hobby now.

I think that's the perfect way to phrase the Linux experience, trinarian. It was only once I switched to Ubuntu that computing became a real hobby of mine. You'll spend some time learning (esp. the command line), but the command line really isn't that much worse than DOS--and, like DOS, you'll quickly find that, for a few things, it really is faster. When you need to use it at all, and with Netbook Remix, it's feasible that you'll never have to.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 8:55 AM on February 22

Seconding Lenovo S-Series, throw 2 gig of RAM in there and Ubuntu, you are good to go.
posted by sophist at 1:44 AM on February 23