Alternative to the Eee?

[Kieren]

Well my 5th Eee PC 901 has just developed another fault in it's keyboard so I'm sending it back for a refund. It's a shame because I really tried to like the Eee but I think they have a design fault in their keyboards

So, I'm looking to get a different notebook. I'm after one with a good battery life (5 hours+) as I'm going to South Africa for a month at Christmas and need it for the flight and so I can download my images off of cameras when I'm at a game reserve where it'll be likely that I wont get much access to power supplies

Any ideas on note books to look for or beware of?

[reed9]

I'm quite happy with my Dell Mini 9. The keyboard is better than on the eee, in my experience, although the layout is a little non-standard to accomadate slightly larger keys.

[Kieren]

Thanks, I'll check it out although the place I bought it is claiming they can only repair/replace as it is over 7 days old

[waterhead]

So, these things have a reputation of keyboard problems? I thought that maybe I did something to mine.

I wanted to try a different wireless card, a wireless-N card that was in my Zotac ION mobo. To get at the slot, I had to disassemble the entire Eee PC! Talk about poor design!

This included removing the keyboard, and when I reassembled it some of the keys no longer work or are different. The top row (Fx, Pause, Del) and the character keys on the right side don't work correctly. Is this the same problem that you had? I thought that maybe removing the keyboard and cleaning the contacts might help to fix it.

As for a better make, maybe the HP Mini would be better. The Mini 110 is your basic netbook. The Mini 311 has the nVidia ION graphics chip, which is much much better than the crappy Intel video chip.

I have been waiting for a netbook version of my Zotac ION mobo:
Intel Atom CPU 1.6 GHz Dual Core
nVidia ION graphics (9400M) chip

It looks like ASUS has something in the works, that is along the line of what I am looking for.

Asus Eee PC 1201N, 1201HA specs leaked

I have decided that I want to have internal Wireless Broadband, and ASUS doesn't offer that on any of their products. So I'll need to wait until HP or Dell comes out with one. Until then I may be stuck with my Eee PC 900 and the crippled keyboard.

[waterhead]

If Point of View products are available in your country, they also have a line of netbooks.

:: Point of View - Mobii ::

They also make a nVidia ION version.

:: Point of View - Mobii ION ::

I will never buy another computer that has Intel video in it. It limits what you can do with the computer.

[Kieren]

Thanks for all that advice! My keyboards generally develop faults on the right hand side so things like the return key don't work. However, this time most keys don't work anymore and pressing a key such as 'h' would output 'kqv' so I can't log in without using an external keyboard.

It looks like the HP Mini isn't available new any more and it looks as if Point of View isn't available in Blighty either

[reed9]

The Samsung NC10 looks like it gets good reviews.
Samsung NC10 Review
Samsung NC10 10.2-inch Netbook: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics & Photo

[waterhead]

It looks like the HP Mini isn't available new any more...

It isn't??? The HP site has several buttons to click on to buy. Maybe the UK site is different.

...and it looks as if Point of View isn't available in Blighty either

I looked at the POV page on "Where To Buy". They give two retail outlets.

:: Point of View :: WHERE TO BUY

But only Overclockers seems to have it:

Point Of View Mobii Intel Atom 230 1.6GHz ION 10.2" Netbook - Windows 7 Starter Edition (NB-ION7010-B) [NB-ION7010-B] Netbooks

When I checked for USA availability, the single supplier has a Linux version available. Naturally, it is much cheaper than the Windows version. It is referred to as a "Barebones" version.

www.mydigitaldiscount.com Browse By Brand:Point of View Category

[Kieren]

The Samsung NC10 looks like it gets good reviews.
Samsung NC10 Review
Samsung NC10 10.2-inch Netbook: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics & Photo

That does look nice and the reviews suggest that it's battery life is a massive 7 hours! On the downside looking at the pictures it does have a rocker for mouse buttons so pressing both at the same time wont be possible.

Anyway I think this one is winning at the moment

[Kieren]

It isn't??? The HP site has several buttons to click on to buy. Maybe the UK site is different.


I looked at the POV page on "Where To Buy". They give two retail outlets.

:: Point of View :: WHERE TO BUY

But only Overclockers seems to have it:

Point Of View Mobii Intel Atom 230 1.6GHz ION 10.2" Netbook - Windows 7 Starter Edition (NB-ION7010-B) [NB-ION7010-B] Netbooks

When I checked for USA availability, the single supplier has a Linux version available. Naturally, it is much cheaper than the Windows version. It is referred to as a "Barebones" version.

www.mydigitaldiscount.com Browse By Brand:Point of View Category

Looks like I fell into the trap of expecting Amazon to have it if anyone would :P If I went for one of these I would probably go for the Barebones version and import it from America but with the luck I have with Laptops at the moment I would be wary of this in case it develops a fault