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From: JD on 16 May 2010 23:49
Gorby wrote:
> On 9/05/2010 1:43 PM, JD wrote:
>> Hi Experts :-)
>>
>> I am thinking of buying a Netbook, as a substitute for Internet Radio,
>> and for taking with me while traveling. Costco recently had a Samsung
>> N150 that was priced at $280 and they sold out quickly. This (2010) June
>> issue of Consumer Reports rated about 28 models and the Samsung came
>> first. The price they quoted was $350.
>>
>> If anyone has had experience of this Netbook I would appreciate some
>> comments.
>> In particular, how "gutted" is version the Windows 7?
>>
>> This is the manufacturer's URL:
>>
>> http://www.samsung.com/us/consumer/office/mobile-computing/netbooks/NP-N150-JA01US/index.idx?pagetype=prd_detail&tab=spec
>>
>>
>>
>> TIA
>>
>>
>> The following is a list of the "specs."
>>
>> Operating System Operating System Genuine Windows® 7 Starter
>> Processor Processor Intel® ATOM™ Processor N450 (1.66 GHz, 667 MHz,
>> 512 KB)
>> Memory System Memory 1 GB (DDR2 / 1 GB x 1)
>> Display LCD 10.1" WSVGA (1,024 x 600), Non-Gloss, LED Back Light
>> Graphic Graphic Processor Intel GMA3150 (Int. Graphic)
>> Multimedia Sound HD (High Definition) Audio
>> Sound Effect SRS 3D Sound Effect
>> Multimedia Player No
>> Speaker 3 W Stereo Speaker (1.5 W x 2)
>> Integrated Camera Web Camera
>> Storage HDD 160 GB (5,400 rpm S-ATA)
>> ODD No
>> Communication Wired Ethernet LAN 10 / 100 LAN
>> Wireless LAN 802.11 bg / n
>> Bluetooth No
>> I/O Port VGA Yes
>> HDMI No
>> Headphone-out Headphone-out
>> Mic-in Yes
>> Internal Mic Yes
>> PC CardBus Slot No
>> USB (Chargable USB included)
>> 3 x USB 2.0
>> Multi Card Slot 3-in-1 (SD, SDHC, MMC)
>> Dock Port No
>> RJ11 (Modem) No
>> RJ45 (LAN) Yes
>> DC-In (Power Port) Yes
>> Input Keyboard Type 83 Key
>> Touch Pad, Touch Screen Touch Pad (Scroll Scope, Flat Type)
>> Power AC Adapter 40 Watt
>> Standard Battery 6 Cell
>> Dimensions Dimension (W x D x H inches) 10.4" x 7.4" x 0.97" ~ 1.37"
>> Weight (lb) 2.73 lbs
> Comments regarding Windows or Linux on Netbooks.
>
> As people won't really want to play the high powered 3d games on a
> netbook, the need for Windows OS becomes very small.
>
> I purchased an EeePC Netbook with WinXP, last year before going on an
> overseas vacation. I found I had a learning curve as the small screen
> meant I had to be careful opening windows. Managing the space.
>
> So I thought "I'm really noticing the difference in using this PC! Let's
> try Linux!"
>
> First, let's just be sure what we are going to do on this thing:
> 1)Web Browsing - and this includes Gmail.
> 2)Storing digital photos.
> 3)Skype.
> 4) Accessing my email.
> 5) being able to open attachments in email.
> 6) a bit of word processing.
>
> Linux (Ububtu - I'm a bit new so don't know many distros- I've since
> heard there are better distros for Netbooks) turned out to be fine. It
> did not hog as much screen real estate as windows.
>
> I used Open Office for Word Processing, Firefox for browsing and
> Thunderbird for email, and Skype.
>
> It all worked! It was quick. It was easy. I didn't use any command-line.
> I simply used the Netbook on my vacation.
>
> I don't use it at home as I have my Workstation (Windows 7, Office 2007,
> etc).
>
> I would have to say I found the Netbook better with Linux than WinXP.
> Windows 7 is better than XP (in my opinion), but the small amount of
> screen space really matters on Netbooks. I think Linux gave me more
> space to play with.

Thank you Gorby,

That was a considerable help. I am not planning to
travel for another 3 months and, from what you
say, I think it would be a good idea to install
the Linux and play with it for a while. Is it easy
to find reasonably recent versions of Open Office,
Firefox and TBird?
I'm familiar with all 3 in Windows, so that aspect
would make things easier for me.

Yesterday I visited Pricewatch.com and found that
Amazon had the best prices but I had some bad
deals from it in the past. I visited it last night
and found that the only way I could ask questions
about the Netbook was to buy it first. Then I
visited TigerDirect and, although they cost
another $20 or more there + shipping. The wierd
thing is that the red and blue colored Samsung
N150s cost $300 and the black costs $330.

Back again soon and you, have a great week ahead :-)
From: J G Miller on 17 May 2010 13:14
On Mon, 17 May 2010 11:41:08 -0500, Joel wrote:

> So to me, Linux may be ok and could be great choice if
> there is no better choice.

How do you know whether it may be "ok", when you next write

> I have never looked at Linux

And then you ask

> (or may be it has GUI interface now?)

which proves how totally clueless any advice you have to offer really is.

So your statement

"I would say forget about Linux or similar."

is totally worthless and should be completely ignored.
From: Gorby on 18 May 2010 05:30
On 18/05/2010 2:44 AM, J G Miller wrote:
> On Mon, 17 May 2010 11:41:08 -0500, Joel wrote:
>
>> So to me, Linux may be ok and could be great choice if
>> there is no better choice.
>
> How do you know whether it may be "ok", when you next write
>
>> I have never looked at Linux
>
> And then you ask
>
>> (or may be it has GUI interface now?)
>
> which proves how totally clueless any advice you have to offer really is.
>
> So your statement
>
> "I would say forget about Linux or similar."
>
> is totally worthless and should be completely ignored.

I think Microsoft would like to kill the Netbook.

Netbooks are small, both in power, capacity and physical size.
Windows does not neatly fit in a Netbook. Netbooks have a smaller amount
of RAM and slower, single threaded, CPUs. Vista does not run well on a
Netbook.

Secondly, Netbooks have a smaller screen. Windows easily gets cluttered
in small real estate.

Anything that threatens MS dominance in PC OS's is usually dealt with
very quickly, and harshly, by MS.

I like Netbooks for what they are! Small, easily used temporary light
weight PCs. And they do it well! You don't do your daily work on a
Netbook. You use the work PC or home PC. I used my Netbook on vacation
and it did everything I wanted it to do.

I updated my Facebook page so people could see where we were. Added
photos. Used Skype to talk to family and friends. Cranked out a letter
on Word (actually Open Office). Looked up our itinerary that was stored
on Excel (Open Office again). Booked Hotels, cars and tours via the
internet.

I did not tend to open a lot of windows. As I said there is not a lot of
space on a Netbook.

It made me rethink the way I use my PCs. At home I tend to keep a lot of
windows open at the same time. There is no real need to. I don't use
even a quarter of the features that MS Office has.

I have not given Linux much thought before. I tried it once a few years
ago, but found it too finicky. Windows is not a good fit on Netbooks. I
have a Windows 6.1 based cellphone. And I don't think that is a good OS
for a phone, either. If it wasn't for Windows 7 (which I think is good),
I would look more seriously at Linux on my home PC. I'm not upgrading my
MS Office until it becomes totally unsupported. Maybe then going Open
Office, as MS Office is expensive, when I don't use most of the features.

Oops! A bit of a rant there. Sorry.

Cra


From: kony on 22 May 2010 13:57
On Mon, 17 May 2010 11:41:08 -0500, Joel <Joel(a)NoSpam.com>
wrote:


> Me? I would say forget about Linux or similar. Unless you don't want to
>use your laptop for anything else but staring at the Linux.
>
> Or if Linux is that great then most people would dump Windows for free
>Linux years ago. So to me, Linux may be ok and could be great choice if
>there is no better choice. I have never looked at Linux, but I started with
>Unix, CP/M, DOS, OS/2 etc.. so I think Linux probably similar to either Unix
>or CP/M (or may be it has GUI interface now?)


Linux makes a lot of sense on a netbook. Consider:

1) Most people aren't trying to use the netbook with ALL
the apps they might want on their desktop, it's mainly for
one purpose, and/or surfing and email, maybe a bit of light
office work, all of which is fine on Linux if, as the prior
reply indicated, the user is already familiar with the same
apps on windows.

2) Netbooks at low price have Win7 starter version, a
castrated OS with only one goal - to try to encourage people
to pay a premium for yet another upgraded Win7 license which
is WAY too expensive, far too high a % of the total cost of
a netbook.

3) Netbooks have slower CPU, usually less memory and
storage. If win98 had contemporary hardware and app support
(and was stable), it would be the ideal netbook OS.
Unfortunately it doesn't, and XP also falling out of support
so there is no Windows OS remaining that is fit for a
netbook. Sure you can run Win7, and make what could have
been a snappy system for the intended purposes, run like a
snail instead.

Main point is, no netbook should ship with Win7 starter, if
someone wants a slug of a netbook then a higher Win7
version, or Linux install as the default OS then let people
buy Win7 without the Win7 starter version tax already paid
as part of the netbook price.
From: J G Miller on 24 May 2010 13:12
On Mon, 24 May 2010 12:08:46 -0500, Joel wrote:

> and I am real sure most people use notebook more than Linux has to offer.

On what evidence do you base this conlusion?

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