I’m thinking of picking up the Asus 1215n netbook, and I wonder if there is a better net or notebook out there for $500 or less. I don’t need a large screen, but it should have decent graphics, a fast processor and 250 gig or more hard drive.
I do light to moderate gaming, but I’d mostly use it for websurfing and movies.
With an atom processor and an ION, that had better be very, very light gaming, or at least nothing 3D. That’s a very low-powered machine (pretty much all the netbooks are, unfortunately). It’s a fine machine for websurfing, but I’d hit a Fry’s or somesuch to test it out for movies: that’s typically a borderline case for netbooks.
I thought that until I read this Maximum PC article.
FWIW, I can play early 90s games on my MSI Wind U100(the original!). Specifically, I just finished sticking Planescape Torment on there and it runs pretty good, including all the patches and mods.
I haven’t gotten round to trying more recent games, though. Mostly because the more popular ones tend to be FPS style games which really don’t mesh with my tendency to motion sickness.
Given this and the linked article, I would be unsurprised at what more recent netbooks can manage without melting.
From the lack of responses concerning alternatives, can I assume that the Asus 1215n is the best I can do for $500?
I’m happy with my $270 Asus netbook, but I don’t think I’d use it for gaming. I bought it for size, since it fits handily in my motorcycle mini-trunk.
I have used it for DVD movies, but I carried an external DVD drive and headphones for that. It worked fine.
Have you seen the specs on this model, though?
You mean mine? Not recently. I bought it about 5 months ago, when I was looking for the cheapest model that could still be called a laptop (barely – not looking for an iphone-sized device) yet provide basic Internet capability. Lack of DVD drive wasn’t a serious drawback (with flash drives, I don’t use DVDs anymore, anyway). It has 1GB RAM, which I should double, and the screen is 1024x600, which puts it a hair below the 1024x768 that some graphics routines require. So that might not meet your needs. I couldn’t pass it up for that price.
Also has a rated 8-hour battery, which means it lasts for about 3 hours if you don’t use it much. Never get the 4 hour battery, which lasts for 1.5 hours under minimal use. Just figure a 3:1 ratio of rated:actual and you’ll be safe.
No, I mean the specs on the Asus 1215n.
A quick glance looks like it is beefier than mine (should be, for twice the price!). Found this review:
Looks like it might be what you are looking for if economy is paramount.
I bought one in March and enjoy it. My husband thinks the screen’s too small for viewing films and I’ve pointed out to him that at a comfortable distance it appears no smaller than a conventional TV screen viewed from across the room.
I use it mainly for watching films in bed. I think the quality is fine. But I have to admit that my appreciation for such things is not as fine-tuned as it is for younger folks these days.
I’m not sure how comfortable a touch screen would be for gaming. So I imagine you would buy the appropriate whatchamacallits for that. It works okay for Freecell and simple games like that.
It’s all personal preference but I would not pay almost $ 500 for a netbook. I can get decent netbooks around around 250 - 300 or so. At 500 I can get a light 14 inch low power CULV CPU unit with a lot more CPU horsepower than the ATOM offerings. [I picked this up new](http://www.slashgear.com/lenovo-ideapad-u450p-on-sale-now-14-inch-culv-ultraportable-1252002/) for around 450 on closeout last year.
I can’t find it for anywhere near that price now, and I’m not sure the stats are that much better than this particular Asus. Most of the reviews I’ve read say that, for the price, it’s damn near impossible to find a notebook with better features.
Depends on what features you’re looking for. You can get a faster laptop for $500 (e.g. Dell Inspiron 14) but it will weigh a couple pounds more.
I have an Asus Eee PC 1001P and for the most part it’s great. The only real problem I’ve had with it is the touchpad, which sucks balls. It has a single mouse button which tends to stick. At present I can’t even use the button, because whenever I click it the entire touchpad stops working. It looks like the 1215n might potentially have the same problem, judging by the design (which looks identical to the 1001p). Of course if you use a separate mouse it’s a non issue.
I figure on using a mouse. BTW, I might go for something different-this Hannspree 12.1 inch with 2 gigs of ram and the Intel Dual Core SU4100. I can pick it up at Costco for $399, a hundred bucks of the regular price.
I think those both look pretty nice, Czarcasm, for netbooks. If you’re running Win7, you need 2gb of ram, which those both have. I’ve never heard of Hannspree but Asus is a well-regarded name in hardware. Id’ probably spring for the Asus.
I have no opinion of nVidia’s Ion for gaming. What games are we talking about, here?
I looked at Newegg for netbooks with dedicated graphics card, and found a few - like this one, for exampel link, for $339.
But that one has only 1gb of ram, so you’d need to upgrade, and Win7 starter instead of Home Premium, so that’d be another $100, and overall the prices don’t make sense.
Me either. You can get a real laptop for $500, so unless it being tiny and light are the biggest things you wanted in a computer-thingie, I’d look into a lower end laptop which would almost certainly have better specs than a $500 netbook.
That’s what I’m asking. Can you show me a notebook for the same price with better specs?