[kwlug-disc] things to look for in a netbook

[john at netdirect.ca]

kwlug-disc-bounces at kwlug.org wrote on 06/26/2009 11:41:34 AM:
> 6 cell battery.

One thing that I've seen when I looked at these was the differences in 
pricing. 

When I looked for netbooks I wondered how a Windows and Linux version 
could be so close in price. It turned out that the Windows version had 
skimped on things like the battery to make up the cost of the license. 
Regardless of what a users initially says battery life is important for a 
device as portable as a netbook. Pick a 6 cell battery. It'll be a little 
heavier and bulkier but you'll get twice the life out of it and when it 
starts to slowly die, you'll still get more life out of it.

When you price these things out don't forget to add in the cost of 
Antivirus, anti-spyware and other Windows necessities. Don't forget that 
you'll probably have to re-install and reconfig it a few times because of 
she will likely let those licenses expire. At least with my netbook, which 
I totally whacked while hacking on it, the image tool on the CD put it 
right back to factory in short order.

P.S. you may need an optical drive handy for re-imaging. My Acer Aspire 
One can make a recover USB key that makes restoring the netbook to factory 
defaults much easier since an optical drive is not needed. I wonder if 
MS's DMA crippled system and licensing allows that.

John Van Ostrand
Net Direct Inc.
 
CTO, co-CEO
564 Weber St. N. Unit 12
map
 
Waterloo, ON N2L 5C6
 
john at netdirect.ca
Ph: 866-883-1172
ext.5102
Linux Solutions / IBM Hardware
Fx: 519-883-8533