Looking for a netbook

MrTRiot

I'm starting my quest looking for a netbook exclusively for college starting in January. All my classes are lectures so I'll be taking a lot of notes. My hand writing is absolutely horrible (people tend to think it's because I'm left handed) so the sole reason for my purchase is to be able to type stuff out rather than write it.

Any suggestions? The ONLY thing I need it for is Microsoft Office. Nothing else.

Straight_Man

Well, remember netbooks tend to have small screens..... But, 2.4 GHz or up, dual core will do, 8 GB RAM, 320 GB HDD is what I would shoot for for that. Display for office can be nothing fancy-- but for me with limited vision I need a 15.6 screen and thus have a laptop. Battery life, 4 hours maybe (out of a laptop) if you buy well--- remember classrooms will often not have plugin for charging student machines please. Remember an external HDD in the room to download things to via USB 3.0.

Um, do you really want a netbook??? I would look for a laptop with Win 7.0 Pro on it that will take Win 8 instead-- they will be discounted this time of year as retailers and mfrs are selling out win 7
Pro computers and laptops.

MrTRiot

Honesty, I would be happy with anything relatively cheap that can run office. If that's a netbook, laptop, or even a tablet with a keyboard.

midga

I really like my Toshiba netbook. It's a few years old, but still works just great. The keyboard is what really sold me on it. It's spaced just right so that it doesn't really feel like a tiny keyboard. I don't use it much at the moment, but that's more cause I haven't been traveling anywhere that taking my full-sized lappy is a problem.

With things as they are right now, though, I'd get a laptoptablet.

Thrax

You'd be better off recording lectures with a cheap recorder, then transcribing them later on a desktop.

Straight_Man

Here is a laptop that will last you with Microsoft Office work for 4 years:
Link to Lenovo's eStore.

I partly customized it for you. May be a bit rich for your budget, but since you did not specify HOW cheap I went medium low grade price on sale and good to very good quality. I did not include an office license, you can get Office cheaper at college probably than Lenovo wants. I am not necessarily a Lenovo specialist/advocate, but do have a second Lenovo laptop, and the first Lenovo I got lasted 10 years and is teaching someone the Linux basics last I heard.

You can get Win 8 or Win 7 with it, your choice, but recommend Pro of either.

John.

ardichoke

Thrax said:

You'd be better off recording lectures with a cheap recorder, then transcribing them later on a desktop.

+1 on this. Attempting to take notes on any computer during a lecture is an exercise in futility. I've yet to meet someone who was capable of paying active attention to the lecture while typing notes. Either hand write the notes (you're the only one that needs to read them anyway) or do what Thrax said.

midga

ardichoke said:

Thrax said:

You'd be better off recording lectures with a cheap recorder, then transcribing them later on a desktop.

+1 on this. Attempting to take notes on any computer during a lecture is an exercise in futility. I've yet to meet someone who was capable of paying active attention to the lecture while typing notes. Either hand write the notes (you're the only one that needs to read them anyway) or do what Thrax said.

I agree. I'm a big fan of handwritten notes just because it's so much simpler to draw and section and footnote and everything else. Yeah, you could probably do that with a stylus and a tablet, but it's very unlikely to be as fast or precise as a pencil and paper. That said, I've had classes where using my netbook made for good notes, but these weren't fast-paced classes.

MrTRiot

After talking to some people and thinking about this some more Thrax's suggestion is probably going to be the one I'm aiming for. Thanks @Thrax !

Signal

I did the same thing for college (bought a netbook for the soul purpose of taking notes). Was one of the best decisions I made college wise. I may be dating myself here, but I bought this little number when it first came out. Not the greatest specs, but it ran Word and had a 9.5 hour battery life. Those were the only two options I cared about. The keyboard is a little cramped, but the size and weight made up for that. I didn't have to haul around a second laptop bag like I saw other people doing. I also didn't have to sit by an outlet like some of the 17" laptop people.

The netbook was far greater than pen and paper because I can type much faster than I write. Also, notes were much more legible, even with making mistakes, you can go back and correct them. Finding typed notes is far easier than written notes. (Ctrl + F).

My advice is to go for the netbook option.

BlueTattoo

It’s been a few years decades since I was in college, but I remember how important the notes were and how sound recordings didn’t work for me. An audio tape digital recording takes as long to review as the lecture, can’t be scanned (much less, digitally searched, for info, can’t be highlighted, etc.) You have to take notes.

I have a netbook that I really like (Samsung N120 recently upgraded to 2GB RAM, SSD, and Windows 8), but sub-3 lb tablets weren’t available 3 years ago. I got it for its full-sized (less key pad) keyboard and long battery life. The slow processor is not a problem with word processing or Web browsing and it will run any Windows app, just slowly. You can connect a large monitor and keyboard, mouse at home. I have used it to remote to the office many times. Today, I’d probably get a tablet, but for the money, netbooks are a good value.

Select a device that meets your requirements for the classroom. Light weight, long battery life, usable keyboard, runs software that you need. Remember, the faster the processor and larger the monitor, the shorter battery life.