good, cheap, fast....
June 18, 2012 4:40 PM   Subscribe

Looking for a netbook that's great for general web surfing and streaming video. What is there that meets those needs? preferably, sub $400
posted by tylerfulltilt to Technology (17 answers total) 6 users marked this as a favorite
 
iPad 2.
posted by seanmpuckett at 4:43 PM on June 18, 2012 [3 favorites]


Yeah. Ipad.
posted by saradarlin at 4:55 PM on June 18, 2012


Wildcard: Microsoft Surface, just announced
posted by Patbon at 5:02 PM on June 18, 2012


They still make netbooks?

We use our iPad for that stuff and it's great. Thirding the iPad.
posted by Ostara at 5:04 PM on June 18, 2012 [1 favorite]


Wildcard: Microsoft Surface, just announced

But without any date (so it's not actually "out there" right now, and we don't know when it will be) and no price (so we can't say it's under $400.)
posted by Tomorrowful at 5:04 PM on June 18, 2012


Response by poster: I'm gonna have to pass on the ipad. I just don't want a tablet.
posted by tylerfulltilt at 5:09 PM on June 18, 2012


I generally look for the most popular/highest rated netbook on Newegg.
posted by mecran01 at 5:22 PM on June 18, 2012


I like my Thinkpad x120e, which works fine for your purposes -- it's been recently discontinued, so should be available sub $400.
posted by seventyfour at 5:32 PM on June 18, 2012 [1 favorite]


I have an Asus EEEpc 1015px which I love, dual-core Atom (!), runs Windows 7 and Ubuntu fine, on sale at NewEgg right now for $279 refurbished. Upgrade to Windows Home Premium from Starter ($40), upgrade the RAM to 2GB ($15), and stick an 8GB SD card ($6) in the slot for SpeedBoost and you've got a great netbook for under $350.
posted by mendel at 5:48 PM on June 18, 2012 [1 favorite]


My Asus eee has served me well for the last 3-4 years or so
posted by Fig at 5:49 PM on June 18, 2012


I have a Sony VAIO Y Series laptop powered with an AMD chip that works well as a secondary computer I take to meetings, and you should be able to find one for around $400.

It's really light and has a long battery life (no solid-state drive, though), and, as a bonus, has an HDMI out. Indeed, we use the Y-series laptop as a media center most of the time (I don't go to many meetings anymore).
posted by KokuRyu at 7:44 PM on June 18, 2012


Chromebook.
posted by jmd97 at 7:52 PM on June 18, 2012 [1 favorite]


I've read that Chromebooks don't do Flash very well, even the newest builds, causing overheating and battery drain.
posted by KokuRyu at 8:28 PM on June 18, 2012


Another vote for the EEEpc - my old 900A does a good job of this for me. I'm running XP though.
posted by rfs at 9:00 PM on June 18, 2012


I have the x120e mentioned above. Great machine, typically thinkPad bombproof. Dropped it down a flight of stairs as it went to sleep, watched it bounce 5-6 times, no problems. Good battery life too, good keyboard. Slightly underpowered when I do cad stuff but that's my problem trying to do it on a netbook.
posted by wuzandfuzz at 11:31 PM on June 18, 2012 [1 favorite]


I just got the Acer Aspire One netbook. It's currently $280 on Best Buy's website (even though I detest them, they seem to be the cheapest), and it's a pretty quick little machine. Yea, it's got some bloatware that you have to uninstall, but it's got 2GB RAM (upgradable to 4), a 320GB hard drive, and a bunch of other things (HDMI output, webcam, 11.6" screen, multi-card reader). Good battery life, decent keyboard, and so far I really like it.
posted by bleachandink at 11:52 AM on June 19, 2012


Acer Aspire One. They come in a few different versions (mine is slightly weaker in terms of specs than bleachandlink's), but mine was only $220, and has served me well. I'm sure you could get a very nice one for under $400.
posted by Estraven at 4:58 AM on June 20, 2012


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