I’m trying to decide if I should go for a netbook or a full-fledged ultraportable notebook. If you take your average netbook with Windows XP, 1.6GHz Intel Atom CPU, memory upgraded to 2GB, and 5400rpm hard drive, can I, without too much frustration:
Edit and run PowerPoint presentations with embedded MPEG movies
Play music in iTunes without stuttering
Play video in iTunes (e.g. TV shows purchased from iTunes) smoothly
I have just bought one with exactly the same specifications. The answer is yes to points 2, 3 and 4. I haven’t tried (1), but you can certainly watch movies with no problems, and I have successfully watched TV programs on the new HD BBC iPlayer.
My other laptop is a top of the range model. I’m now wondering whether I really *need *all the power it comes with. I bought my first laptop in 1988, and so am of the age where is was deemed to be a given that you automatically upgraded to the latest and greatest, because you might not be able to do something if you didn’t. I never really stopped to think what that something might be, and if I needed to do it. Note, though, that I don’t play games.
I am pleasantly surprised at how smoothly everything works on my Samsung NC10 (upgraded to 2GB). Also, interestingly, I only ran the netbook for a few days with 1GB, but I haven’t noticed much difference since putting in the 2GB.
Powerpoint should be fine. I’ve used it for a few presentations, some with moderately high-resolution images, but none with video, but that should work (as well as it ever does).
Playing music is absolutely fine. Normal resolution video is also fine, but anything HD will stutter. Still, HD would be pointless when the screen is at such a low resolution… Streaming is usually fine, but sometimes there are hiccups. IME, Youtube is fine, Netflix is fine, but streaming The Daily Show occasionally hiccups.
I can’t say about the RAW format… but my netbook is fine with Picasa with whatever format my point-and-shoot camera spits out.
I do have a few minor frustrations: Firefox is kind of slow to start up, and I’ll always have to wait a few seconds until it’s responsive. Big, script-heavy monstrosities of websites are noticeably slow. Might be worth it to try Opera, which is supposed to perform better, but I couldn’t get used to the interface.
The current Atom 270 processors in most XP based netbooks is about equivalent to the horsepower of mainstream pre-“duo” notebook CPUs of about 2 years ago approx akin to mid level Celeron. It will run everything you have listed fine with the exception of Crysis.
Crysis? That’s silly why on earth would you expect any netbook to properly run an app that gives most most high end desktop video cards a workout? Crysis isn’t even represented to support any integrated notebook versions of the more powerful video engine chipsets.
Sorry, I guess I should have written the “just kidding” message in a larger font. I really have no interest in PC games.
Anyway thanks for all the responses. It seems like one of these netbooks would meet most of my day-to-day needs for a portable personal computer. (I have a heavy-duty laptop for work, when I have time to do real work at home or during travel.)