[Tfug] Netbook with a good screen? y3a6a3a9

[Christopher Robbins]

John -

<snip>
>> Greetings TFUG,
>>
>> I'm looking for some recommendations on an upgrade to my
>> netbook/laptop.  Something with a better and/or larger screen.
>>
>> Back in '06 or '07 I replaced my (badly) aging laptop with a Dell
>> Inspiron E1405.  This has a Core 2 Duo running at, I think, 2.2 GHz
>> with 2 GB of RAM and a 1440x900 pixel display.  It's a good machine,
>> but I found its weight in my backpack (5.5 pounds, 6.4 pounds with AC
>> adapter) rather uncomfortable.  About 2 years later, I also bought an
>> Asus EeePC (1008HA) with a dual-core Atom (32 bit version) running at
>> 1.7 GHz with 2 GB of RAM and a 1024x600 pixel display.
>>
>> I like the EeePC quite a lot.  It weighs much less (2.42 pounds, about
>> 3 pounds with AC adapter), it's small, the battery life is quite good,
>> and it wasn't very expensive.  There are some minor issues, of course,
>> but overall it has been a good machine.  The display resolution, on
>> the other hand, is by far the biggest problem.  It's tiny.  *Very*
>> tiny.  I have also encountered more than a few poorly designed GUI
>> programs, often dialog windows, that do not handle small displays well
>> at all.  The most common problem is buttons (OK, Cancel, etc.) being
>> cut off because the window is taller than the screen.  This is a
>> problem in both Linux and Windows, and even though windows generally
>> default to being resizable in X (unlike Windows), that usually isn't
>> enough to fix the problem.
>>
>> The display resolution on the Dell laptop is better, but it's still not
>> great.
>>
>> So, my problem is trying to find a small laptop with a good display
>> with good resolution.  In general, I'm happy with the specs I
>> currently have with the two existing machines.  There's enough CPU
>> power, enough battery life, and so forth.  I usually get by with 2 GB
>> of RAM with no problems, too.  The only time 2 GB becomes an issue is
>> when I'm doing some development work.
>>
>> What I would like is something comparable to my current netbook, but
>> with a better display.  Obviously, a new machine would certainly be
>> more powerful than my existing netbook, and that's fine.  Looking
>> around online, however, I just don't seem to be finding anything that
>> matches this and doesn't cost over $1000.  Netbooks are still around
>> and still inexpensive, but they all *still* have tiny displays.
>> Larger laptops have better displays, but they still weigh a lot more
>> than I would like to carry around.
>>
>> There exists a new category of portable computers now called
>> "ultrabooks" and this, as best I can tell, is the name given to
>> machines that wish to compete with the Macbook Air.  They are
>> certainly nice computers, but they also carry rather hefty price tags.
>>  For example, most of these computers are ultra slim and have nice
>> brushed metal or aluminum body construction.
>>
>> Does anybody make an inexpensive netbook-like machine with a good
>> display?  That is, a plastic body, a non-SSD hard drive... things of
>> that nature.  Features (or non-features, I suppose) such as these are
>> why netbooks are inexpensive.  Does such a class of machine even
>> exist?  Maybe I'm just not looking in the right place?
>>
>> The computer that is closest to what I would like is the Asus Zenbook
>> UX31.  It has a Core i5 CPU, 4 GB of RAM, weighs less than 3 pounds,
>> and, best of all, has a wonderful 1600x900 pixel display.  The
>> downside is, of course, the price.  At just over $1000 for the most
>> basic model, it's definitely up there.
</snip>

Have you considered Acer's Timeline X series?  Acer seems to be
reviled for feeling a bit "cheaper" than the rest, but I've had good
luck with the last Timeline I bought.  The new ones come in i5 and i7
flavors, with 4 GB of RAM and a 500GB hard drive, in a footprint that
is less than an inch thick and weighs only 3.1 lbs.  The resolution,
as Harry mentioned is tough - these max out at 1366x768 with Intel HD
graphics (you didn't mention if that was an issue...).  They have a
standard notebook size (14"), but also have a netbook-sized model as
well (11.6").  The i7 model starts at $699, but you can get the i5
online for around $550.

Here's a link to Amazon for the 11.6", and one to Acer's TimelineX homepage -

http://www.amazon.com/Acer-Aspire-TimelineX-AS1830T-68U118-11-6-Inch/dp/B0042X8W0Q
http://us.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/series/aspire-timelinex

-- 
Christopher P Robbins
P: 480.336.3043
C: 928.257.6368
Email: robbinsc at gmail.com