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General discussion

Looking for a new computer

May 6, 2009 12:48AM PDT

Hi, I'm in the market for a new computer. I'm torn between a netbook and a full laptop. I would like to be able to browse the web, create word and excel documents, watch movies, and listen to music. I was looking at the msi wind netbook which I could hackintosh to have OSX and also several laptops. My price range maxs out at $900 but I'm looing for something less than $700. I was looking at: the msi wind, the dell mini 9, the HP pavilion dv2, and the dell studio xps 13. Any suggestions for my needs? thanks

Discussion is locked

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I would get a laptop because
May 6, 2009 1:29AM PDT

having too many resources is worse then not having enough and the price difference isn't that extreme. Nowadays you can find a good laptop for 700.

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Go Notebook
May 6, 2009 4:33AM PDT

With your price range you can afford a Centrino or Centrino 2 notebook that will give you great battery life and performance. I see the netbook as a companion to not a replacement of a notebook. I have used the Dell Mini and the early Asus EeePC. I found that I quickly needed more than a netbook had to offer. HP, Tosh and Dell all have some great notebooks that have smaller screens and quality components, Asus? notebook lineup is pretty nice too! Hope this helps.

TimWoodChip
#tomorrow

======================
Full Disclosure: TimWoodChip is an Intel employee and self-described consumer PC expert

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Get a Laptop
May 6, 2009 4:42AM PDT

The crappy too small keyboards on Netbooks get in the way of typing and real work. Unless your work is all point and click.

For 999 you can get the cheapest MacBook and then put Windows on it for dual boot. No Hackintosh required.
For 800 you can get a refurbished Lenovo X200.

HP perhaps has the best Netbook keyboard. Try before you buy though.

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Check this page out before you make a decision
May 7, 2009 1:23AM PDT

I?m tempted to say laptop over netbook, but I have gigantic hands, so that?s me.

I?d suggest you maybe try checking out this site from Microsoft called ?Laptop Scout?:

http://forums.cnet.com/5208-7587_102-0.html?threadID=341821&tag=forums06;forum-threads

You can toggle things like screen size, price, processor, RAM, etc. and the site will spit out a list of laptops that fit your need. If nothing else, it?ll let you know what?s out there.

Cheers,
Ron
Windows Outreach Team

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Wrong link, sorry
May 7, 2009 1:57AM PDT
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Netbook? Probably
May 9, 2009 12:01AM PDT

Netbook? Probably, but as you like to watch some movies, netbook is going to struggle though. Too small real-estate for screen would lead to less enjoyable movie experience, audio-wise, not much of a difference.

If you are going to do most of it simultaneously, I will recommend a normal size laptop, being not only it can handle movie well, but you can run more programmes without much slowdown in response time from the laptop.