Laptop / Netbook that runs cool and has long battery life

April 23, 2013 3:08 PM

Interested in a Netbook or lower power laptop that runs cool (doesn't require external cooling like this) and has long (6-8 hour) battery life. Would like to run Windows 7 so Chromebook is not a good candidate for me. And of course want to come in around $200. I know there a lot of candidates here but would really appreciate user's real life experience. Thanks.
posted by gilast to Computers & Internet (6 answers total)

My Asus Eee does all that. If I turn the screen brightness down a few clicks, I easily get 6 hours. Probably closer to 9 if the wifi is only occasionally on. It really doesn't get warm at all, runs W7.
posted by Lyn Never at 4:12 PM on April 23, 2013

It's a couple years old now but my Samsung NF110 is pretty great. Still gets great battery life, varying a lot depending on what you're running, but 4-8+ hours, more like 10h when it was new and with wifi off, screen down etc. I don't think it runs hot, although I rarely use it on my lap.

It's also small and light enough to carry in a medium-sized purse, which is pretty awesome.
posted by randomnity at 6:16 PM on April 23, 2013

Look for something with a Z-series atom CPU, like the aspire one za2(great screen on that one as well). Those are a bit dated now, so if you want brand new go to the intel ARK for atom and look for the ones with the lowest TDP wattage.

I use one of those aspires at work, with the extended battery it runs for about 10 hours. It generates no appreciable heat even with light gaming.

Oh, and that ten hours is with wifi on and the brightness up.
posted by emptythought at 7:04 PM on April 23, 2013

No laptop that is functioning correctly needs external cooling. Those things are a waste.

As for recommendations, yeah, Atom is the best for power usage. But I kind of doubt you are going to find one that will run Windows at that price point.

A big part of battery life is the actual battery itself. Most notebooks come with "regular" batteries that will give you the 2-4 hours of normal use. But if you buy the extended life battery, you'll get far more time out of it, and with no, or barely no, size difference. The regular ones are just not completely full of batteries.

I believe you are also going to want an OLED or LED backlit screen. The older CCFL backlights use a lot of power. But again, that might push you out of your price range.
posted by gjc at 9:44 PM on April 23, 2013

Seconding an Asus eeePC, you can pick them up secondhand for pretty cheap. I got mine a year ago, with its original battery (from 5 years ago), so it doesn't last very long, but that still means 3-4 hours. You can find replacement batteries with double the capacity, that aren't much bigger than the regular battery.

I run Android-x86 on it, btw, and just love it. There are also tutorials for putting Win7 on one.
posted by fraula at 1:19 AM on April 24, 2013

Thank you ALL so much for taking the time to respond. I learned a lot from your input. I bid on and ASUS EEE today on Ebay but was outbid...it does look the ASUS will do what i want it to do. And great tips about your experiences with extended battery.

Thanks again.
posted by gilast at 9:50 AM on April 24, 2013