The rest of the world has moved on to tablets, now I'm looking at netbooks.

September 1, 2012 12:10 AM

Must every 2GB netbook have a glossy screen? Netbook shopping woes.

I am in the market for a netbook & am hurting for advice.

I'm expecting something that can handle the MS Office suite, Internet, and occasional movie (720 & 1080p if possible but not a requirement). I know I don't want a tablet & lugging around the laptop is getting to be a bit much.

I have tested two & found both wanting:

Asus 1025C-BBK301 - 10" Eee PC Netbook - 1GB Memory - 320GB Hard Drive - Matte Black Stats Page


I like this Asus model for its sleek design & matte finish, could do without the chrome (much prefer the Acer's style touchpad) but other than that the size is great. Unfortunately after stripping the crap/bloatware it performs sluggish with only a couple Chrome or Firefox tabs open. However at around $200 I am still considering it.


Acer AO756-2623 - 11.6" Aspire One Laptop - 2GB Memory - 320GB Hard Drive - Ash Black Stats page

While this Acer model is not as sleek in design as the Asus 1025C, the larger screen is nice & it doesn't sport the annoying chrome. The touchpad is a single large surface which includes hidden left/right mouse buttons which is quite nice. Having 2GB in memory is showing a difference, I have yet to notice any of the slowdown I was with the 1GB Asus model. However the gloss finish is annoying. The reflections are distracting & it is never clean of dust bits which are very noticeable.

Well, have at it.

posted by MeatyBean to computers & internet (5 answers total)

I have the Asus 1015 EEE PC and am very happy with it. I upgraded to 2GB memory, and it has a matte screen. I dual booted linux and almost always use that instead of the Windows 7 Starter it came with. Linux (Peppermint) worked out of the box for everything except for automatic disabling of the touchpad when typing. (I found a fix for that). Under Windows it's not noticeably more sluggish, except when it is doing automatic shit in the background that I can't disable. It is fine even with 20 tabs open, which is what I have right now :)
posted by lollusc at 12:58 AM on September 1, 2012

I would seriously wait for october. Microsofts surface rt will be coming out in october along with a lot of other new windows 8 netbooks,tablets and other machines.
posted by majortom1981 at 6:55 AM on September 1, 2012

Unfortunately, most devices now come with those annoying high-gloss screens - I've heard that the manufacturers do this because it looks "better" and brighter sitting on a shelf in a store, even though in the "real" world it means you'll need to jack the brightness up (and thereby eat the battery faster) to see the screen rather than the scene behind you.

You do, however, have one simple solution - Get a screen protector. Aside from helping keep your screen clean and damage-free, they usually have a wonderful matte finish, perfect for actually looking at the screen rather than using it as a mirror. :)
posted by pla at 7:48 AM on September 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

About four months ago, I spent ages agonising over my next netbook (I owned an eee901 which I loved) and looked at quite a few Acers. Here in the UK you can buy a 11.6" acer for about £270. Or for about £80 more, an 11.6" Lenovo x121e. If you can afford it, it will be £80 or equivalent very well spent. The Acers I looked at felt like toys; the Lenovo is a proper computer, with a great keyboard, good build quality and a matte screen If you spend a bit more, you can get an i3 chip too.
posted by rhymer at 9:32 AM on September 1, 2012

I would seriously wait for october. Microsofts surface rt will be coming out in october along with a lot of other new windows 8 netbooks,tablets and other machines.

Or not. After reading about Windows 8, I ran out and bought Windows 7 to make sure I'd have the most recent usable version. And RT isn't going to run the same Windows software. Not to derail, but I seriously believe that 8 is the new Vista.

More on topic ... I was wary of buying a glossy screen laptop, but I've been fine with it. YMMV. Double the RAM and a larger screen sound pretty appealing to me, though.
posted by pmurray63 at 12:11 AM on September 2, 2012