Looking for a Netbook

[plue]

Hey guys, I've never bought one of these before, but I need one for running Office 2007 and some net browsing. I've been looking at the Asus 1005PE, and the Toshiba NB305, which both seem pretty decent and on-par. I don't think they sell the NB305 here in Canada right now though.

Any suggestions for a netbook in this price range. Maybe I've overlooked something, or am completely out of the loop?


Thanks in advance,


plue

[Minions]

From a prior post I made:

I recently bought an Asus EeePC 1005 HA-H and upgraded the RAM and I absolutely love it and can recommend it to anyone who wants a netbook.
It even plays FFXI pretty well, wrote a blog post about it:

Buttons, Adventures of a Tarutaru: FFXI and Netbooks

Just purchased one of these as well.
Amazon.com: ASUS Eee PC 1005HA-PU1X-BK 10.1-Inch Black Netbook - 10.5 Hour Battery Life: Computer & Accessories

Had to order it online as I did not want the ghetto version they had in frys/best buy. There is 3 models of this laptop on the market currently.

(from the comments anyway)

Best Buy offers the low end version, with shit battery life, and no bluetooth.

Offers the 1005HA-B for $299 (plus tax). It features the N270 (1.6GHz 533FSB) cpu, glossy display, 3-Cell 23Wh Li-ion Battery (4 hrs), and a 1.3MP webcam. Excluded are the Bluetooth module, 10GB online Eee storage, and netbook sleeve. This is obviously the "Basic" model. I was able to demo this unit at Best Buy on June 27th, and IMO you are giving up quite a bit for the ~$60 savings over the 'P' model. Not to mention that as of now Asus will not sell you a spare 3 or 6-cell Li-Ion battery.

Did not see this model anywhere I went, both Frys and Best Buy had the top one

- The 1005HA-V is in the middle of the bunch and the only one with a matte display. Those that frequently work outdoors or despise reflections will appreciate the matted display. It also features a N270 cpu, 6-cell 48Wh Li-ion Battery (8.5 hrs), 0.3MP webcam (according to Amazon specs, but it may in fact be 1.3MP), no Bluetooth, and absent again is the netbook sleeve.

This is the one I ordered from Amazon, some people had complained about them having QM problems, and I am not all that surprised as all of the net book manufacturers seem to have QM issues. Some times you get a dud, chose to do amazon because they make RMAing simple.

The 1005HA-P offers the faster N280 cpu, glossy display, 1.3MP webcam, 6-Cell 63Wh Li-ion Battery with a whopping 10.5 hrs run time, Bluetooth v2.1, and a black net book sleeve. Realistic battery numbers are between 8.5-9hrs. of battery life if you're using wifi & doing email/word processing/YouTube/web surfing.

Just be sure to do research before you buy a netbook. Though you have have instant gratification by buying it from a retail chain, for about 50~ more you get over 2~ more hours of battery life (not a stupid 3 cell battery) and bluetooth.

I still recommend this laptop as I've had no problems with it in over a year, and the battery life is still amazing
That being said I've had no need to buy a new net book and I am aware many of the new ones are beginning to focus on graphics further blurring the line between net book and notebook. The black one is no longer sold new on amazon, they do still have a new blue version. The model numbers mean very different things as some models are glossy, some have 3 cell batteries etc. Just research model numbers before ordering a net book. They often have a lot of SKU's.

[Cheerios]

$215-$250 deals pop up frequently for netbooks if you want to go that route

[Critical]

I bought the NB305 back in August of last year and couldn't be happier with my purchase.

My previous laptop died right before a 6-week trip and the best my local Base Exchange had was the NB305. (I'm stationed in Okinawa)

I was skeptical at first because I had my eye on the Acer models, but this seemed to win in sheer specs. My first impressions were that it was speedy, could more than handle Office '07 with winamp & Avast! running in the background.

However, this thing really shines on the move. I'm constantly flying all over the place (in the Air Force) and I no kidding was able to get about 7.5 hours off a single charge on this. Auto settings for different powersave settings is beastly, was able to watch 2 movies and the first season of the office before it died.

My only complaint is that the touchpad recently started to randomly not register touches at all. Usually it would work after 3-5 seconds of fiddling with it, but I'd say it happens about once a week. I use a cordless logitech mouse most of the time and it's hardly noticeable.

In the end, can't beat this netbook for traveling. Also, it's small form factor make it a Godsend with the guy in the seat in front of you in the airplane decides he wants to recline -- you can still get a good viewing angle.

[plue]

Thanks so much for the replies guys.

Also,I'm quite amazed that you got FFXI to run so well on one of these suckers, never would of thought that possible haha!

[Kainos]

can anyone recommend a netbook around $300? mostly will be used for traveling. Checking web, photo viewing and work email. I will need outlook and will be sending alot of work emails with multiple attachments. Thx in advance if anyone can help