Back To School Technology Buyer's Guide
by Zach Throckmorton on August 4, 2011 8:55 PM ESTNetbooks
Small, lightweight, inexpensive netbooks featuring exceptional battery life started becoming popular in 2007, largely due to ASUS' successful Eee PC line. In order to achieve great longevity while unplugged and low price tags, these netbooks sacrificed processing power. The CPU featured in most netbooks until the recent advent of AMD's Brazos products was Intel's Atom and its derivatives. The new AMD APUs typically offer CPU power on par with or exceeding comparable Atom chips, and far superior graphics performance. That said, even the lowliest single-core Atom is sufficient for basic web browsing and office productivity. I've found inexpensive netbooks make near-perfect 'daily drivers' for campus use. They weigh less than a hardcover textbook, are small enough to be typed on in cramped lecture halls, and they often don't need to be recharged at all during the day.
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ASUS' Eee PC 1001P is a standard, mostly unremarkable single-core Intel Atom-based netbook that deserves your consideration for two reasons: it's cheap and its battery lasts a ridiculously long time. Tests here at AnandTech show the 1001P can stay unplugged for nearly 11 hours if idling and over 7.5 hours during heavy web browsing. You can expect it to last well over 8 hours if you're typing notes and occasionally browsing the web. At $260, it's one of the least expensive netbooks.
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Since their original NC10, I've been a fan of Samsung's netbooks. I like their keyboards better than the competition's, and they're particularly well-built. The NF310 features a dual-core Atom CPU which can help with multi-tasking, offering a level of performance that's a step up from the single-core Atom netbooks. That said, trying to do anything more than web browsing and basic office productivity can quickly become aggravating. At the time of writing, its pricing on the web isn't particularly competitive, but I've seen it as low as $300, and at that price, it's an excellent product.
As alluded to above, AMD's Brazos APUs that came on the market at the beginning of 2011 changed the netbook landscape. The E-350 APU in particular offers substantially better all-around computing than any Intel Atom. Furthermore, most Intel Atom-based netbooks feature 10.1" screens while most AMD E-350-based netbooks feature 11.6" screens. More display real estate isn't just easier on your eyes—I've found my fingers fatigue slower using the 11.6" netbooks' keyboards. Finally, most E-350 netbooks come with Windows 7 Home Premium installed instead of the Windows 7 Starter Edition that comes installed on most Atom-based netbooks. Windows 7 Starter doesn't let you change your wallpaper, nor does it support multiple monitors. These might not be relevant to your netbook usage, but I'd much rather get more memory and a "real" OS.
Dustin reviewed HP's dm1z here on AnandTech, and as you can see from that review, the dm1z offers great battery life (over 8 hours idling, about 7 hours while browsing the web)—and it can game! Or at least produce playable frame rates on lowered settings on many popular titles like Left 4 Dead 2 and Starcraft 2. Starting at $400, the dm1z is definitely worth the extra hundred or so dollars compared to an Atom-based netbook if you are looking for more than bare minimum adequacy for the most basic tasks.
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At almost $500, Lenovo's Thinkpad X120e is more expensive than many more powerful, full-sized laptops. It's more expensive than the dm1z, and in my personal testing, its battery life and performance are (unsurprisingly) very similar to those of the HP E-350-based netbook. However, I bought an X120e because the dm1z's screen is glossy while the X120e's is matte. Considering how much time I spend inside lecture halls and labs, I try to get outside as often as possible—and glossy screens are simply not as easy to see as matte screens in the sun. The keyboard on the X120e is also perhaps the bets "netbook" keyboard around.
If you're looking for something more capable than the above netbooks, or for a larger screen, we take a look at a number of full-sized laptops on the next page.
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Gigantopithecus - Friday, August 5, 2011 - link
After thinking about this and on the advice of Ryan, our GPU guru, I edited the article to recommend nothing more power-hungry than a 6870. That's a more comfortably conservative recommendation, and I think it's better to err on the side of caution.mariush - Saturday, August 6, 2011 - link
That's indeed better.A lot of the pre-built computers still come with very cheap power supplies based on old designs with lots of amps on 3.3v and 5v and not so much on 12v, so those 220 watts could be a bit too much for these power supplies.
Someone might get mixed up and think that any kind of 400w power supply would be capable of this, which is of course not true.
Hrel - Thursday, August 4, 2011 - link
I would like to add a set I've had some personal experience with that are excellent. Sound is crystal clear, I'm not kidding. NO distortion even at max volume! Satisfying Bass.http://www.amazon.com/Onkyo-HTX-22HDX-Ultra-Compac...
It's got a 1% THD rating, so you can believe me when I say there really is no distortion. The bass isn't quite as good as those klipsch, which I've also used. But it is full and satisfying for 90-99% of uses. Not quite as penetrating as the Klipsch so your neighbors will thank you. Also doesn't get quite as loud as those Klipsch, but more than loud enough for realistic uses. Especially in a dorm/apartment. Has a night time mode that's actually usefull and many settings. And unlike all the other systems you linked it has a full receiver built into it. Full HDMI support and all the hookups you could ever want. That way you can get your game system and pc and laptop all running through it. With a remote so you don't have to get up every time you want to change devices. On top of that it supports 3 more speakers than the ones included so you could have a full 5.1 surround sound set up down the road if you chose to. Maybe after college, or once you get a bigger apartment or house or something. I often find them on newegg for 250 or less. Right now they're 230 on amazon. Really amazing deal for everything you get. Chintzy controller, but at this price all that matters is it works, and it does. If that matters to you get a Logitech universal remote.
Personally I use this when I want music streaming from my computer but I'm playing a game online over xbox. I don't really care about the explosion sounds of the game, but I need to visuals going to the tv. But I can have the sound coming from the computer without ever getting up or moving any cables. Pretty convenient and very fairly priced for everything you're getting.
If you're building a dedicated home theatre room you need to spend more; period. But if you don't want to spend more than 250 or so. Or you have limited space or don't want to fuss with cables or just want quality sound and bass without too much hassle or money; that's what these are for. The only other option I think is the Klipsch, which have slightly superior sound but have no receiver, and don't even have optical audio. That last one was a bid deal to me; too much distortion over RCA. I think the Onkyo offering a full receiver with every connection you could ever want, remote, 2 quality speakers with a good sub-woofer and the option to go 5.1 surround sound later more than makes up for the "just slightly" inferior sound. I mean, honestly unless you're completely OCD about sound like I am, you probably won't even notice a difference. Anyway, I think they're a great set of speakers and wanted to spread the word where the word just might be listened to, and appreciated.
Chinoman - Friday, August 5, 2011 - link
I agree with getting a system which has a low-powered sub for decreased penetration. As a current college student, it seems to me that a lot of kids who move on campus don't realize that their 10" subwoofers can be heard just as well on the other side of the wall.Leave the "loud music" to the clubs, don't bring it to the dorms where people next door might be trying to sleep or study.
Zoomer - Friday, August 5, 2011 - link
I would recommend picking up a cheap but decent receiver from craigslist for $50++ and using that. It just needs to do at least 2 channels (or 5), and there are many receivers out there that are good quality, but doesn't support hdmi switching or what not. It's not really necessary anyway. Save the money for the speakers; you'll find that HDMI switching, crazy fancy features and what not doesn't matter as much as the speakers.Roland00Address - Thursday, August 4, 2011 - link
They were planning to but they removed it before it was released (May of 09 they removed the 3 app limit, windows 7 starter like the rest of windows 7 was released to oems in July of 09 and to the general public in Oct of 09.)Gigantopithecus - Thursday, August 4, 2011 - link
Thanks Roland! Edited the article accordingly after confirming with a friend who just got the 1001P. The first thing I do when I buy a new machine (or as happens more often, a friend brings me their new machine) is install one of those heavily discounted W7 Ultimate licenses. Admittedly I have little experience with W7 Starter. ;)Roland00Address - Friday, August 5, 2011 - link
If you are a student and you can get W7 Ultimate or W7 Pro for cheap through your campus book store, then you will want to hop onto it.W7 Premium, Pro, and Ultimate add back the Windows 7 Media Center functionality.
W7 Pro and Ultimate add the remote desktop so you can log back on in your Desktop at the Dorm and grab the file you forgot to save, and have it sent back to your netbook.
Zoomer - Friday, August 5, 2011 - link
Or Pro for free through MSDNAA.johnnywa - Friday, August 5, 2011 - link
I find it wrong to assume that you can't get a desktop-like experience out of a laptop, but the article does seem to reinforce this notion. With a laptop, you can still purchase a monitor (or small TV), keyboard, and mouse, and you can end up with essentially a desktop that you can unhook and take around with you when you need to. I tried this solution for the last 2 years (minus monitor, although sometimes I hooked my lappy up to our apartment's 37" TV), and it was a very comfortable setup. Of course this isn't an end-all-be-all solution, but I'd say it's another alternative to desktop + netbook.