Best netbook out there?

Basically, I need a netbook/laptop for school in the immediate future, and I would like to hear some CAG opinions on what the best bang for the buck is.

I'm currently about to pull the trigger on ASUS Eee PC 1005HA-PU1X-BK, which has a purported 10 hour battery life and is on special right now on Amazon.

Has anybody had a good experience with this model? Bad?

Please share!

Netbooks are terrible if you try to do multiple things on them on them. I suggest a laptop if its for school as I'd rather have something that is reliable than super light.

...I owned a netbook and quickly traded it in after I saw how slow it was; ended up getting a laptop instead.

Yeah, if it's going to be your main school computer, get a laptop. Netbooks aren't good for much beyond light web browsing (no streaming video--especially HD--etc.), e-mail and light word processing.

They're just too slow to do much more, and the small keyboards aren't very comfy for typing up long papers etc.

They're more meant to just supplement a desktop or laptop for light web surfing etc., not be someone's main computing machine.

I have the 1000HA I picked up last January. Got it mostly to take notes in class as my laptop would only get 3 hours on the lowest settings. I just though, hmm, should I buy a larger 9 cell battery for $150 or just snag a new toy all together for around $300? I went the latter route obviously. I get about 6 hours on the highest settings when ASUS advertises it as 7 hours max. Not too sure about the 1005HA but 1000HA works wonders. It's quick enough for my educational needs. Runs all the Office software easily and as opposed to what other people are saying, the video streaming is a little bit under par compared to a traditional notebook. Just make sure you to disable some of the unnecessary bloat ware the thing comes with. The keyboard is 95% of a normal notebook so it's not very hard to adjust to and yeah, I can't say anything but good things about it. I have a 120gb hard drive and many people swear by SSD as opposed to a normal HD but I've dropped my netbook about twice onto hard concrete and nothing was wrong with it after all the abuse.

So yeah, from one student to another (I'm assuming), it's great. I seriously go a whole day of classes (11am to 9pm) having the netbook open and running programs for 5 hours (with WiFi on) and on standby for the rest of the time without ever needing to charge it. Note that mine only guarantees 7 hours as opposed to your 10 so you'll be getting a lot more life of out of yours.

If you can get it from a good price, good god, jump on it.

Thanks for the advice, mis0! I went ahead and got the Eee, and I think it'll be just fine for what I need it to do (word processing, net surfing, music).

It sounds like your earlier model already gets great battery life, so the 1005HA should be a real beast.

I recommend the Asus 1005HA-P. It has a very generously sized keyboard, as well as a battery rated for 10.5 hours (I own it and have myself gotten 9 hours out of it playing video, and still had some left). They now ship with Windows 7 too.

Edit: I didn't actually read your post when I recommended this netbook. lol....

Wow...next time I should actually read the thread. Lol, congrats on your purchase. I have the blue one.

Good choice, i have the asus 1000he, slightly older model that get about 8-9 hours of battery life.

Wait for the Nokia 3G its going to be a beast of a netbook. 12 hour battery, windows 7 on ship, HDMI out, and 3 x USB 2.0 Yeah this is gonna be a sweet netbook

[quote name='TastyMouthful']Wait for the Nokia 3G its going to be a beast of a netbook. 12 hour battery, windows 7 on ship, HDMI out, and 3 x USB 2.0 Yeah this is gonna be a sweet netbook[/QUOTE]
Yeah, it's $600. For $600, you can buy an actual laptop.

its 299.99 with the att contract price. not everyone has wifi everywhere in their city.

[quote name='TastyMouthful']its 299.99 with the att contract price. not everyone has wifi everywhere in their city.[/QUOTE]
No, but still - $300 for an underpowered netbook & a two year, $60/month contract, or $300 for a better equipped netbook and no contract. Not really a tough call.

Plus I'd suspect that most people who live somewhere that's lacking in WiFi hotspots is probably also lacking in 3G coverage. Though I'm sure there are exceptions.

Set either way here in Atlanta. Tons of WiFi hotpsots like most big cities, and full coverage with Clear 4G if you want to go the mobile broad band route.

But yeah, I couldn't see the $600 netbook myself...of course I find them pretty pointless anyway as I need more power and a bigger keyboard. And I'd probably never get a mobile broad band plan as I seldom take my laptop outside the house anyway (just for business trips a few times a year).

[quote name='TastyMouthful']its 299.99 with the att contract price. not everyone has wifi everywhere in their city.[/QUOTE]

Anybody who buys a netbook with a 2 year contract is ing retarded.

They should have their genitals mutilated so they don't reproduce.

wait for the asus eee 1201, comes with intel atom 330 and nvidia ion, comes out in december. even though it's a 1.6ghz dual core, you can easily clock up to 2ghz. and you can play games on it as well

[quote name='zxghost']wait for the asus eee 1201, comes with intel atom 330 and nvidia ion, comes out in december. even though it's a 1.6ghz dual core, you can easily clock up to 2ghz. and you can play games on it as well[/QUOTE]

That is the netbook I am waiting for. I'll probably pick it up with the Amazon credit I built up from trading games it. The dual core atom and Ion along with the 12" screen will give you the portability of a netbook, with the power of a laptop, at a price in between the two. It is supposed to have a 5-hour battery life, and should be able to play games like Call of Duty 4 and fairly new games.