Netbook, cheapo

[macvisual]

Need advice please;

I need a really cheapo Netbook (to connect an external hdd) to run a Squeezebox Duet streamer into my hi-fi etc.

Do they come standard with a USB port and wi-fi? It don't need all singing all dancing top of the range, so where might be best place to look at buying one please? Any good reliable makes to aim for?

Anything for £150 or cheaper out there...?

[Tim]

Most Netbooks are pretty identical spec wise, they all have USB (normally 3) and WiFi. What alters the price is a dual core CPU, RAM, the battery life, HDD size and screen.

£150.00 is scraping the low end and you will struggle to get what I would call a good one for that, but check out Toshiba, Samsung and Asus base models - these are consistently the best makes. Prices are high right now (see below). What would be a good idea is to take a trip to PC World and try the keyboards out, as this can make or break a cheap Netbook. As the specs are almost identical, I would make a choice if you can at PC World, then do some hunting online for the best price.
Check out Amazon and Ebuyer.com, both will give you good service and no issues with returns. John Lewis can be good too, with their price promise.

I have a Samsung, but it was over 300, as it has an extended battery.

http://www.ebuyer.com/search?sort=pricelow&store=5&cat=299&filtermfr=148&limit=10&page=1

http://www.ebuyer.com/search?sort=pricelow&store=5&cat=299&filtermfr=40&limit=10&page=1

http://www.ebuyer.com/search?sort=pricelow&store=5&cat=299&filtermfr=26&limit=10&page=1

It's a personal thing, but I wouldn't buy an Acer.

This is a reasonable site for reviews, but there are so many out there. http://www.anandtech.com/

I'm not sure what price stability is like at the moment, as global hard drive stocks are incredibly low so new machines have gone up quite a bit due to this. Asus are reporting they are about to run out of stock! It's not a good time to get a bargain PC right now if it has a mechanical drive unfortunately.

[Reid Malenfant]

It's a personal thing, but I wouldn't buy an Acer.
:eyebrows: This Acer laptop is six years old & still going strong ;)

I have heard of other more expensive lappys having batteries that catch fire or explode...

Just putting things into perspective ;)

[synsei]

I'm writing this on my old ADVENT machine that I bought when netbooks were the new big thing and it's got the lot; Bluetooth, WiFi, it even has a slot for a 3G simcard. It's got to be knocking on 4 years old now and has consistently been the most reliable computer in the house over all that time, which can't be said for too many other ADVENT products I know of :eyebrows:

The point I'm making is you won't go far wrong buying one secondhand as long as it has been well looked after, which should save you a bit of dosh and you'll probably end up with a slightly higher spec machine for your money. Early ones (like mine) come installed with XP, 1gb of ram and a single core Intel Atom CPU. I strongly advise upgrading to 2gb of ram in these machines as it speeds them up significantly, Most modern Netty's, if not all, should come with Win7 Basic or Home Premium these days. I second the advice on keyboards. When reviewed my Netty was one of the fastest available at the time but it has a crap keyboard. They keys aren't full size so touch typing is definitely out. Having said that, it might be old with a few battle scars but I'll keep it 'til it dies, and even then I might fight to resuscitate it... :cool:

[Tim]

I would agree there Dave, there are plenty of bargains around and a good make which will do the job can be had for under 150.00 easily.