Top 10 Netbooks For Going Back To School

Fantastic Netbooks — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 21:58:10 +0000

Rounding up the top 10 netbooks for students heading back to school or off to University – we’re looking for lightweight and stylish netbooks whilst making sure they have great battery life and are made from strong stuff – does such a netbook exist?

I know it feels like the summer holidays have only just started and there is a long time before school starts again in September. You don’t want to think about it but you need a netbook to help you with your school work when the new term starts. Or perhaps you are heading off to college or university in a month or two and need a portable computer for writing essays, reports and conducting research.

So if you are thinking about a new netbook to start the new school year in September then I hope this roundup of the best 10 netbooks will be as welcome as an A+ mark in your first test.

I reckon that the main features to look out for when choosing a netbook for a student at school, college or university are the following:

Good battery life – having a decent battery life is essential if the netbook is going to be used throughout the day, not always where there is a power supply close to hand.
Lightweight – nobody wants to carry a heavy laptop around with them all day. Having a lightweight netbook will ease the burden and have you skipping between lectures, lessons or lunch.
Good value for money, i.e. cheap – whoever is paying for the netbook will appreciate it if you get a lot of netbook for your (their) money.
Good design – nobody wants a netbook that looks like a brick or an old Amstrad from the 1980s.
Comfortable keyboard – if the netbook is going to be used properly to write essays, reports, conduct research and prepare for exams then having a comfortable keyboard to type on is pretty important.
Screen – we’re not so concerned about having a screen that looks good when playing DVDs whereas something you can view when outside or under bright fluorescent lights means that matte screens rather than glossy screens would probably be better.
Build quality – it is fair to say that a netbook carried around a school or college is possibly going to get knocked about a bit. This means a flimsy netbook will not be much good so we are looking for one with some sturdiness and good build quality.

So now we have an idea of what we are looking for, let’s have a look at the top 10 netbooks.

Continue reading: Top 10 Netbooks For Going Back To School

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Asus Eee PC 1001P vs Asus Eee PC 1005P vs Asus Eee PC 1008P

Fantastic Netbooks — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 08:11:01 +0000

The Asus 1008P is beautifully designed, lightweight but expensive. How does it compare with the Asus 1005P and Asus 1001P netbooks?

An Asus comparison for the latest 10 inch netbooks from the prolific manufacturer. The Asus Eee PC 1001P, 1005P and 1008P have their features presented side by side.

Asus release a lot of netbooks, many with only minor differences between, and the purpose of these comparisons is to easily see exactly what the finer details between netbooks are so it is possible to make a choice.

The Asus 1001P is the baby of the group, with a slightly lesser specification that its more illustrious siblings. There is a smaller hard drive, no draft N and you get Windows XP instead of Windows 7 but you are still benefiting the same processor and graphics that you are for the 1005P and 1008P netbooks. All packaged up in a lightweight and cheap netbook that still have an excellent battery giving over 8 hours of life.

I’m surprised at the scores this netbook got from leading reviews, which currently leave the 1001P in 31st place in our overall netbook rankings. Overall, the 1001P but have one of the best weight to battery life ratios out of any netbook, only weighing 1.1Kg yet benefiting from over 8 hours in battery life.

The Asus 1005P ups the specification details a little bit, you now get Windows 7 Starter Edition and Draft N plus you get a slightly bigger battery but it weighs a bit more (1.27Kg) plus it also that little bit more expensive to buy.

The 1005P is very similar to the 1005PE although is slightly cheaper than its better equipped big brother. That possibly explains why the 1005P is just ahead of the 1005PE in our netbook rankings, achieving a position of 15th with the 1005PE in 18th.

Now, the Asus 1008P does not quite fit the mold determined by the 1005P and 1001P before it. It has a sleek design and is thinner than the other two netbooks but manages to cram in a bigger hard drive and better webcam but at the expense of a USB port and battery life. The 1008P is also significantly more expensive so you are paying for looks and design rather than specification.

Reviewers were not so keen on the 1008P as there were on the 1005P and 1001P, only gaining an overall score of 71.7% from 7 reviews in our netbook rankings, which leaves it in a lowly 50th position.

But which one of these 10 inch Asus netbooks do you prefer? Have a look at the full comparison below.

Continue reading: Asus Eee PC 1001P vs Asus Eee PC 1005P vs Asus Eee PC 1008P

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Top 10 Netbooks For Going Back To School

Asus Eee PC 1001P vs Asus Eee PC 1005P vs Asus Eee PC 1008P