advice needed for low cost netbook replacement

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kiwifruit58

12 posts

Geek

#119370 29-May-2013 16:42

I'm gutted, my daughter 4-month-old Asus 1225B netbook died last month, looks like that ASUS is not going to provide a replacement but give me my money back. I need to find a replacement asap as daughter uses it daily for school.

I paid $500 for it, as it had win7, which I upgraded to win8. I'm gutted as with win8 used to work really well, now I have to find her replacement urgently.

Basically, the main requirement is small display (11.6'' best) and long battery life; the asus netbook used to run for about 5 hours, which was great. I had a look at the new asus model: F201E, but the reviews on its battery life look quite low (as low as 3 hours!).

Other than that, the new netbook needs to handle normal daily tasks like browsing and word processing well.

Wouldn't hurt if it looked cool too (the old one had a red cover which helps when you are 13

Anyone has suggestions?

technicaljoe

248 posts

Master Geek

#830120 3-Jun-2013 17:17

Here's my 2 cents... How about get a low cost netbook with at least 2GB RAM, and replace its HDD with a SSD. That worked well for us, my wife is pretty happy with the result.

kyhwana2

2566 posts

Uber Geek

#830129 3-Jun-2013 17:29

PBTech has this on special atm.
http://www.pbtech.co.nz/index.php?z=p&p=NBKHNB2138460&name=HP-Pavilion-dm1-4305AU-AMD-E1-1200-1.4GHz-2GB-320G

technicaljoe

248 posts

Master Geek

#830220 3-Jun-2013 20:38

Noel Leeming has the same unit as kyhwana2 mentioned at $399.20, but sales end tonight...

I won't be surprised you could talk them into give you that 20% regardless. I have lots of luck with the Henderson branch, good for me and good for them, repeat business!

http://www.noelleeming.co.nz/shop/computers/netbooks/hp-dm1-4404au-11-6-netbook/prod121589.html

* 1.4GHz AMD E1-1200 Dual Core Processor
* 2GB RAM
* 320GB Hard Drive
* 6 Cell Battery
* AMD Shared Graphics
* Windows 8

kiwifruit58

12 posts

Geek

#830492 4-Jun-2013 14:04

Hi guys,

Thanks very much for your help. I got the HP DM1 at Noel Leeming. I have done a minimum restore to get rid of the bloataware, looks good so far!

technicaljoe

248 posts

Master Geek

#830741 4-Jun-2013 22:42

Put an SSD in there next :)

You can get something like this for $170 (http://pbtech.co.nz/index.php?z=p&p=HDDSDK2122&name=SanDisk-120GB-Extreme-2.5-SATA3-SSD--Sandforce-228).

Regardless of like/dislike of Windows 8, IMHO, it does speeds things up, and I think it better utilize SSD. (Other gadget geeks might want to correct what I just said!)

kiwifruit58

12 posts

Geek

#830861 5-Jun-2013 10:56

Thanks for the advice technicaljoe, I wish I knew how to install an SSD, I'm ok with sw but do't know much about hw. Yep, love Win8 speed, it puts a smile on my face every time I log in (takes about 16 secs for the lock screen to come up and another 30 sec after login to be able to work) and daughter isn't complaining :-)

technicaljoe

248 posts

Master Geek

#831401 6-Jun-2013 00:53

Well, should you desire more speed, just keep an eye out for SSD sales at PB or others, then take the netbook with you and get them to install it. They are usually OK to do that, it's literally a few minutes job, you might even find a step-by-step on youtube. The only extra work would be you have to re-install the software, or unless you clone the drive.

Anyway, have fun with the new toy!
Feel free to ask on the forum if you need more help.

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dman

953 posts

Ultimate Geek

#837853 16-Jun-2013 22:57

Have you thought about getting a chinese tablet for her?

Depends on what her school needs are, but quite possibly a tablet with bluetooth and a keyboard case would be all that she needs. Has the benefits of being cheaper, longer battery life, lighter, cooler, touch screen, and more.

https://www.youtube.com/c/SoundSpeeding