laptop versus netbook

[snail]

Hi, we are going fulltime next summer and in an effort to start the planning off, we are looking at techical kit, so we can take advantage of the forthcoming sales, we have a 5year old laptop and looking for a replacement, am impressed by the size and battery life of these netbooks, questions are

laptop or netbook? is the only downside the lack of cd drive

we are definatly not computer orientated so need advice on minimum requirements a netbook would need, eg, processor speed and type,memory,graphics,hard drive etc, not cocerned about makes or models just the technical requirements to be able to use items below and make an informed choice

at present we have a mp3 player, digital camera,sony e reader, portable hard drive loaded with films,music,photos,sd cards, usb sticks, usb tv tuner, just in case the tv packs up! which will need to be able to use, we would also like to be able to do the usual things e-mail, on line banking,wifi, general surfing for site info etc, and have microsoft office for word processing and spreadsheets, also we have allways used Norton for protection however most times it won't allow a wifi connection, lots of people tell me it's very bossy,and to get rid of it, so which is the one to use? there are a lot of questions here and we do appreciate you good people taking the time to answer us, regards Brian

[ChrisK5]

I would use a laptop every time.

Have a serious look at the Apple MacBook or the Apple iPad which can accept a sim card for mobile internet access.

[Randonneur]

ChrisK5 - 2010-11-21 11:21 AM

 

I would use a laptop every time.

Have a serious look at the Apple MacBook or the Apple iPad which can accept a sim card for mobile internet access.

 

I would be careful with the IPad as it is not a replacement for a laptop/netbook as it has no USB ports in it.

 

This picture is very similar.

[Klyne]

I would be inclined towards a laptop. You can get one with a 13 inch screen so not a lot larger than a netbook. A couple of years ago when I replaced a previous laptop I went for a 17 inch one because I edit at lot of my photos and sometimes create webpages whilst away. However I am coming to the view that it is a bit big so may well go back to a 15 inch one at some stage. I notice that you mention have films stored on a hard drive. I would have thought that if you intend to watch these of the computer that for comfort you would need something larger than a netbook.

 

David

[Randonneur]

As far as films are concerned, we have put all of ours onto a Movie Cube which is a media player that plugs into the TV and will play films, music, photos and data, it had a 1TB hard drive inside so plenty of storage so you don't have to take the DVDs away with you.

[PCC]

Have a look at the laptops with the Intel ultra low voltage porcessors eg Acer Timeline, Lenovo Ideapad U series. They last all day on one charge, are light and fully functional. A 14 in screen is much lighter than the standard 15.4/15.6 screen but you wouldn't really appreciate it was smaller when you use it. Most at this size come with integrated DVD drives though it pays to check. Get a dual core processor if possible. I would also look for Draft-N wifi - its got greater range. These are way better than netbooks and not much more expensive.

 

As for Anti Virus programmes, Microsoft Security Essentials is free, very unobtrusive, and works well with all the other Microsoft software.

[Clive]

I replaced a elderly Laptop with a NOTEBOOK. A tad bigger than a netbook but still with no DVD drive. Its good but the wide screen is lacking in depth and the keyboard slightly smaller than standard. It fitted the bill at the time as it was far more portable especially when considering overseas travel on aeroplanes. BUT Now I also have a new phone, HTC TATTOO a free upgrade from Vodaphone and this seems to do everyting that an iPhone will do, including emails and internet browsing. So next time we upgrade it will be another laptop as the Tattoo does all we want for overseas travel by air and a Laptop is better for the MH and doing reports on the fly.

 

C.

 

 

 

[Guest JudgeMental]

net books for flying, backpacking etc...you dont need one. plus they have slower processors and worse performance in general .....stick to a nice compact laptop :-D

[hallii]

Acer Aspire 5741 laptop should do it nicely, I am pleased with mine (3 weeks in)

 

Hallii

[Basil]

Definately netbook for us (Acer Aspire One), but as usual you pay your money and take your choice. Have laptop and smartphone but we use the netbook with a 3G dongle when we are away, or any available WiFi Hotspot in preference. No worry about CD drive as a USB DVD/CD read/writer can be bought for under £20, ourSamksung was £19.99 inc..

The smatphone is ok for when you are walking about and want some info or GPS position but the Netbook has most of the advantages of a laptop but in a much smaller easily stowable (in the safe) package.

 

Bas

[tonyishuk]

Do not forget to add;

 

USB tabletop drive for backing up.

 

A laptop with SECURE entry in case it gets stolen. Finger print readers are now quite reliable.

 

It amazes me that laptops are sold with no automatic encryption facilities.

 

I use McAfee antivirus, better than Norton (so are others !)

 

As far as specification goes, the more you pay the better (in theory) the latop gets. There is no end !!!

 

If you have managed satisfactorily with a 5 year old laptop, I would suggest than any modern laptop, will suffice.

 

Rgds

 

[RogerGW]

tonyishuk - 2010-11-21 5:39 PM

A laptop with SECURE entry in case it gets stolen. Finger print readers are now quite reliable.

A thief or his mates can soon take the disc drive out of a machine whatever log-in security there might be.

 

For me, the data is more valuable than the machine, so I use TrueCrypt (and some long passwords) on my machine's internal and external drives, with backups stored away from the van. If the laptop does get stolen, there's little chance of the contents being misused. (And all my kit's insured.)

 

Roger

[robertandjean]

We have 2 netbooks (one each!) a Samsung NC 10 and Acer Aspire One. We find these ideal to take out and about when looking for Wi-fi hot spots and using in bars etc. We have portable external CD/DVD re-writer, portable external hard drive, plus various USB flash drives, SD memory cards and adapters etc. This enables us to undertake photo editing and similar tasks. At home we also have a Lap Top for speedier burning and more serious editing but to be honest mainly use our net books even at home (we use a 3 dongle through router). So to sum up, for use when in van without doubt net book is best, maybe at home a lap-top but not so sure. (But advent of "new" tablets may make these best for web surfing when away, provided are compatible with voice over protacols such as Skype).

[Solwaybuggier]

Surely the answer has to depend on what you want to do with it?

 

For simple web browsing, why would you need more than a netbook? Cheaper, smaller and (generally) better battery life. But they struggle with games or video editing, and the smaller keyboards can be a pain (literally!) to type on. And if you want to install software from a CD or DVD you'll have to buy an external drive - although as people have commented, they're not dear.

 

Laptops tend to be a bit dearer, and the bigger screen and keyboard may work better for you.

 

There's quite a good article on pros and cons of all types of computer in current Computeractive magazine - issue 332. (Sorry, can't find the article on their website, but they do have loads of reviews of both types of pc available there, www.computeractive.co.uk.)

 

We use a netbook in the van (Samsung NC10) and it's great, but predominantly use it for browsing. Of the tasks you list, I'd have thought that any issues may come with the usb TV tuner (no idea what demands it makes!) and you'd need to check there's an SD card slot, I guess.

 

 

 

 

[lennyhb]

Netbook wins every time, providing you happy with the smaller screen.

 

The most basic Netbook / Laptop will meet your needs, most netbooks come with the Atom 1.6 gig processor which is fine. You can get a portable USB DVD writer for under 30 quid.

 

Since getting my netbook (samsung NC10) 2 years ago stopped using laptop & gave it to my daughter. The only time you might need something more powerful is if you are into video editing or very heavy number crunching.

 

AS for Norton it's a pain in the back side, all my PC's have AVG Free Edition on them works fine without any problems.

 

 

[sooty10]

When traveling always take my samsung nc10 netbook. When at home I often use my laptop as it has a dvd drive and a larger screen. The netbook is great when flying and have used it with voip cheap to contact family and friends when we are away.

 

Sooty

[tonyishuk]

RogerGW - 2010-11-21 6:11 PM

 

tonyishuk - 2010-11-21 5:39 PM

A laptop with SECURE entry in case it gets stolen. Finger print readers are now quite reliable.

 

A thief or his mates can soon take the disc drive out of a machine whatever log-in security there might be.

 

Roger

 

Something I was not aware off, as my finger print reader does act to encrypt part of the disc as a seperate partion, which does not show up as a partition when booted up normally.

 

I suppose you get what you pay for :-)

 

Rgds

[Amanda]

Samsung NC 10 for me. I have extra memory in mine but still have not used anything like the full capacity. I use it for everything, games, surfing the web, e mails even do the company accounts on it!! Its small compact, lasts 5 hours on battery and you get use to the 10" screen very quickly. I wouldn't go back to a 15" now!

Love my little pink netbook (lol)

[tonyishuk]

Just for fun I have been browsing the thread with my iPod touch works well but fiddley (too lazy to work with caps!!

 

By accident I pressed printer friendly version at the bottom of the page and can see the whole thread width on 3.5 inch screen thisay help some with small screens.

 

Rgds

[Station Master]

When we were fulltiming we used and still do, an Acer Aspire 9500 lap top. It has Arcade which allows you to pick up tv programmes and play dvd's and cd's. If you are near to an unsecured wifi hotspot you can use the internet. We have had it since 2005 and still works well as per this message! For anti virus consider COMODO its very efficient and effective and a free down load.

We are not computer buffs but this pc system is simple enough for us to use and enjoy. We had a secret hidding place for it when not in use along with other valuables.

Hope this helps

 

SM

[snail]

thanks to all of you for your answers, some interesting points have been made, seems that the samsung nc10 is a clear winner as far as netbooks are concerned, and acer a favourite laptop, we have a avtex tv which only has a 10" screen so are used to that , the tv tuner was bought before we had a seperate tv installed and is one of those items thats left in van just in case, the seperate hard drive won't run on the avtex so would watch via the netbook, we will have to see what bargains there are after santa's been, safe travelling to you all, regards Brian

[Mel B]

You might like to read the below previous threads on the subject of netbooks too:

 

http://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=19258&start=1

 

http://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=18889&posts=58

[RogerGW]

tonyishuk - 2010-11-22 7:18 PM

 

RogerGW - 2010-11-21 6:11 PM

A thief or his mates can soon take the disc drive out of a machine whatever log-in security there might be.

Something I was not aware off, as my finger print reader does act to encrypt part of the disc as a seperate partion, which does not show up as a partition when booted up normally.

 

I suppose you get what you pay for :-)

Better than that in this case, as TrueCrypt is free. 8-)

 

See http://www.truecrypt.org/ .

 

Roger

[Brian Kirby]

snail - 2010-11-23 11:42 AM thanks to all of you for your answers, some interesting points have been made, seems that the samsung nc10 is a clear winner as far as netbooks are concerned, and acer a favourite laptop, we have a avtex tv which only has a 10" screen so are used to that , the tv tuner was bought before we had a separate tv installed and is one of those items thats left in van just in case, the separate hard drive won't run on the avtex so would watch via the netbook, we will have to see what bargains there are after santa's been, safe travelling to you all, regards Brian

I'd forget the distinctions, because I think they just get in the way!  Ultimately, what you want, is a computer. 

If you are mainly going to use it in your van, the only reason for getting a small computer would be storage space, and possibly ease of concealment.  You will know whether either is critical.

If you want MS Office you'll have to load it, plus any other programmes you want to use, so you will find a DVD drive useful, which then means you can watch DVDs in case of boredom!  :-)  You could use an external DVD drive, but that is just something else to carry and buy.

SD cards and flash memory sticks can now have huge capacities, so external hard drives for data storage aren't necessary, are again something to cart around, and are in any case bulky.  SD/flash drives are also easy to carry and hide (and lose!).

A large hard disk is, however, probably worth opting for, if available.  Unless you are proposing to take computer games, almost any chip should be fast enough.  I think about 2Gb RAM would be helpful.

If you intend viewing or editing pictures, I wouldn't personally go below a 13" screen.  Unless you up the spec on the screen, I wouldn't actually edit pics on a laptop though, they aren't really up to the job.

Almost all will have in-built WiFi, meaning you can get online wherever WiFi is available.  I wouldn't personally bother with so called 3G dongles if you are going abroad, roamed data rates are punitive. 

Stick to reliable machines, and buy from reliable sources.  If you aren't happy to fiddle with its set up etc, I'd suggest buying from a shop you can take it back to, rather than buying on-line - even if that means PC World!  :-)  Just don't go at the weekend, try to go when the little darlings are all safe and sound in school, and you should get someone a bit more mature, who knows what they are on about.

PC will be cheaper, almost invariably with pre-installed Windows 7.  Mac more costly, and maybe a bit less versatile with Microsoft programmes.

Internet banking?  Why?  You'll have to use relatively insecure open, or virtually open, WiFi to connect.  I'd suggest getting a home accounts programme, like MS Money, and setting that up to replicate your account/s.  Then there is no need to keep any personal details on the laptop, and all the data can be backed up to a flash drive.  Don't enter any real account details, and if it gets nicked, all someone can get from it is numbers.  They'll maybe find out how much you have, but not who you are or where it is.

I assume you'll maximise the number of direct debits for services, Council Tax, etc.  All can be built into MS Money as regular payments, as can income items, so once you set the opening balance to equal your actual account/s, it will model what is going on at home.  Same applies to credit card.  Set the card to clear its balance each month, and set up credit card accounts in Money, which will allow you to set payment dates etc and also run budgets.  Ditto cash.  If you remember to record all payments as you make them, you will have a real-time working model of all your accounts.  The only thing you will really need to monitor is exchange rates, so that you know roughly how much your credit card bill will be each month in Sterling. 

You can also generate reports from MS Money that can be exported to Excel, so that you can keep a record of the spend on each trip for reference/future budgeting, and then archive the actual Money files so each trip starts clean.

That way, you don't need to access your actual accounts at all while away, and when you get back, all you should need to do is check for any inaccuracies.  Credit card for everything possible, and debit card only to get cash from facilities on, or preferably inside, banks.

Not related to computers, but make sure you have two credit cards on separate accounts, not two cards on a single account, because if one gets lost/nicked, the account is closed so the other card is u/s.  Debit cards should be individually numbered, but check this also.  Consider Card Protection insurance.  Lost/stolen cards all stopped with a single phone call, and an element of insurance against lost cash. 

Think about where you will carry passports, cards and cash.  Popular destinations attract pickpockets, many working in very slick gangs, with one to distract you with innocent questions while another lifts your purse/wallet etc.  Crowded places and public transport etc increase the risks.

[RogerGW]

Brian is right that a public wifi network is not as secure as a properly set-up home network but that needn't stop you doing online banking while on the road.

 

The answer is to use what's called a virtual private network or VPN. This encodes the link between your computer and the bank's, so that snoopers can't interpose themselves.

 

This one -- http://tinyurl.com/msyh7s -- is the free version of a more complex product for companies. It's easy to set up and you don't notice it's there. It does the job, though.

 

The other actions I suggest you take, whatever you're doing, are:

 

1. Use the (free) Firefox browser (see http://tinyurl.com/6a37pp ). It’s faster than Microsoft’s Internet Explorer and less of a target for hackers. (Google’s Chrome is faster still – and also free -- but doesn’t have as many optional extras.)

 

2, Use the free Force-TLS add-on (see http://tinyurl.com/362qmjn ). This ensures that Firefox will use its secure mode when connecting (if it’s available on the service). Banks’ servers do this anyway but some email services don’t do so automatically.

 

3. If you buy a machine running MS Windows (see below), download and install the Windows Defender software from Microsoft (see http://tinyurl.com/5q36co ). It’s a very good anti-spyware tool and it’s free.

 

4. The free firewall software than comes with modern versions of MS Windows is plenty good enough.

 

5. You will also, of course, need some anti-virus software. Many suppliers put Norton AV software on their machines as a matter of course but it’s not to the taste of many experienced users. A lot of people instead use the free version of AVG Anti-Virus (see http://tinyurl.com/yddsb7h ).

 

6. You might while shopping around see machines running something called Linux instead of MS Windows. Generally speaking, this is less demanding of machine resources than Windows and, like Firefox, less of a target for hackers. It has a reputation for unfriendliness but that’s only if you start messing around with it. For ordinary users, it’s as easy as Windows.

 

7. You can run MS Office on Linux but it’s a rigmarole to install and the result’s sometimes not as fast as on a Windows machine. Instead you might consider the (free) OpenOffice (see http://tinyurl.com/kodg ). This is compatible with the various Office products (although, to be fair, sometimes not all the transfers are 100% accurate).

 

8. All the other software I’ve mentioned has versions or equivalents available for Linux. It’s very popular, and you can run it from a USB drive if you want.

 

You will have noticed that I like free software. Propping up Microsoft’s profit margins has never made much sense to me.

 

And if all this has gone over your head, just carry on with whatever you buy and do as Brian suggests -- bank from home. These suggestions might be useful to other people.

 

Roger