Can I justify buying a netbook?

[bigdaddyp]

Rememer to turn off compression...

Mm, hopefully mine won't disappoint (dell mini 9) - I think the new processors can deal with better and better video.
And although drive capacity isn't huge, the SSDs seem to improve speeds, load times; speeding up swap speed is helpful too.

If you are running xp on it remember to turn off disk compression. When I first got my mini9 I thought it was pretty slow. I went ahead and installed os x anyways and was very pleased with its performance. The problem is that dell ships the mini9 + xp with disk compression on which slows performance down considerably.

Jim

 

[DAMAC3]

Just not enough HD and the speed of these netbooks is ridiculously slower than slowest. Just start it up and see how long it takes to hookup to the internet. If you like small, light, cheap, something just for checking your email, and a keyboard that you can't type on, then I say get it. Some of you may say that it feels just like a regular keyboard, but after missing a couple of keys and watching your fingers slide off the side of the entire keyboard, hopefully you'll think twice about the move...

I purchased an MSI Wind just after Christmas, and it is nothing as you describe. I had XP & OS X loaded on it for awhile and have recently installed Windows 7. Each of the operating systems I've tried boot up fast and connect to my wifi router (at work or home) very quickly. I wouldn't use it to type a really long document or use something like Photoshop heavily, and it doesn't handle 720p mkv files or HD on Hulu. But it handles DVD-quality MPEG2 and AVI files without a problem. It is very fast at browsing the web.

These atom processors are designed to run non-labor intensive programs very fast with very low battery consumption.

I have the U100 version of the Wind. It has a 160GB hard drive, and I added an extra GB of RAM to put me at 2GB. My battery is a 6 cell and easily lasts 4.5 hours unless I spent the whole time putting the machine through its paces or turned the display to the highest setting (too bright anyway).

If you want a netbook that runs OS X very well, you want the MSI Wind, Dell Mini 9, or Advent (can't remember the model number). These are all basically the same machine having been manufactured from the same company. The MSI Wind forums are fantastic for information. There are unofficial drivers out for the Wind and OS X. The only thing I am waiting on is an audio driver to allow the headphone jack to work without the workarounds that have been created. The only thing I don't care for as much is the touchpad. I have installed new drivers, and it is much better is OS X than it was. But it obviously doesn't compare to the Macbook (and I wouldn't expect it to).

@original poster

I already have the netbook, and I am looking to purchase a MBA. I think they definately have different purposes. After using OS X on my Wind, I have decided to get a Macbook or MBA as my primary computer and ditching my PC. My only dilemma is whether the revB MBA can be my primary computer or not.

But anyway, get a netbook. They are a lot of fun. I take mine places that I wouldn't take a MBA just because it isn't as valuable and the footprint is much smaller even if it is thicker and only slighty lighter.

 

[NewGenAdam]

@original poster

I already have the netbook, and I am looking to purchase a MBA. I think they definately have different purposes. After using OS X on my Wind, I have decided to get a Macbook or MBA as my primary computer and ditching my PC. My only dilemma is whether the revB MBA can be my primary computer or not.

But anyway, get a netbook. They are a lot of fun. I take mine places that I wouldn't take a MBA just because it isn't as valuable and the footprint is much smaller even if it is thicker and only slighty lighter.

Well to reassure you, my Air is my primary computer, and it does a fine job of it.
Admittedly I have spare computers with disc drives etc lying around which I occasionally use, but for 95% of my computer time, the Air is no-quibble perfect.

Seems we're doing the same thing, in the opposite direction!

 

[DAMAC3]

Well to reassure you, my Air is my primary computer, and it does a fine job of it.
Admittedly I have spare computers with disc drives etc lying around which I occasionally use, but for 95% of my computer time, the Air is no-quibble perfect.

Seems we're doing the same thing, in the opposite direction!

Thanks for the reply! We're definately coming to the same end from different directions as you say. I've never owned a Mac before, and I am really looking forward to it. What is the most labor-intensive task you do on your MBA?

I am about to install Visual Studio 2008 on my Wind today. We'll see what it can handle.

 

[NewGenAdam]

Thanks for the reply! We're definately coming to the same end from different directions as you say. I've never owned a Mac before, and I am really looking forward to it. What is the most labor-intensive task you do on your MBA?

I am about to install Visual Studio 2008 on my Wind today. We'll see what it can handle.

My Air (Rev A 1.6GHz HDD) runs Sims 2 pretty acceptably, though far from very smooth. Can play HD video, mkvs without too much trouble, but beware it might not go too well if on a duvet!

Now, I don't want to put you off, but the only significant limit is flash video, like Youtube, Hulu (which I don't get, UK) etc - these work in lo def, but in HD the fans will spin and they'll eventually stutter.

BUT this is due to software in OS X - in Windows on the Air these videos play fine. So maybe Snow Leopard will fix this.

^_^