Netbook?

[MaryPoppins]

MP, you do sound to be the kind of person tablets are aimed at. Have you tried one, it might be worth playing with an iPad to see if you get on with it?

I...just....can't. I am not sure I'm enough of a tosspot to have one of those things.

Thanks all for your help though, not sure I know zaccly how small a netbook is, so I might have a look in the flesh first. Need to take Bunk's point into account about having to do work on it.

[MaryPoppins]

On my desk I plug it into a 21" screen I have for the purpose and it is nearly my main machine now.

Oh, right, good idea - that would solve the possible problem of doing work on it. Excellente.

[d000hg]

I...just....can't. I am not sure I'm enough of a tosspot to have one of those things.

Look at them in the flesh and get what you think is best. You're not that insecure as to base your choice on what people will think? If you get one that's not iPad, it'll be more a techy statement than a tosspot statement anyhow!

[MaryPoppins]

Look at them in the flesh and get what you think is best. You're not that insecure as to base your choice on what people will think? If you get one that's not iPad, it'll be more a techy statement than a tosspot statement anyhow!

iPad. Yeuch. I just see these tossers knobbing it up in Starbucks with their oversized iPods and just....no.

I will have a look round and report back on what I see, I will probably need further help when it comes to spec as I'm about as techy as a slug.

[Platypus]

If you have a John Lewis nearby, go in and compare the Samsung netbooks. I think they have iPads too.

Remember that with an iPad, you won't be fighting with MS updates, anti-virus, firewalls, things suddenly deciding not to work, weird and wonderful registry hacks, black screen of death...

I hope I don't sound like a salesman, as I haven't got an iPhone/iPad/mac myself, but the reasons for using these seems more and more compelling as time goes by (IMO).

Maybe some people buy these products because they're excellent productivity tools, rather than because they're poseurs.

[d000hg]

Remember that with an iPad, you won't be fighting with MS updates, anti-virus, firewalls, things suddenly deciding not to work, weird and wonderful registry hacks, black screen of death...

I don't get any of those and I use Windows... well I have firewall and AV but firewall is sensible on all platforms; exploits are getting reported on mobile devices more often these days so smug complacency is no longer valid. My Mac has system updates like my PC, yada yada. A tablet in comparison to any regular PC I'll buy as a simple option, but not specifically Windows.

Again MP, try an iPad or other tablet. It wasn't long ago that those tossers would have tiny sexy Vaio netbooks, before that mobile phones themselves were knob-bling, so buy what does what you need. I'm not too convinced myself but hating it on principle isn't objective.

[Clippy]

Done a search and can't see anything immediate, but sorry if this is a duplication.

I have currently got a hulking great Dell laptop which is close to death. I've had it about 6 years now, and it's an embarrassment.

I need something to replace it, but nothing anywhere near as big. All I do is a bit of work stuff online, online banking and shopping, and come on here. I'd need a decent size memory I guess, but size matters not. The smaller the better actually.

Is a netbook a good idea, and if so - where's a good place to look?

Ta folks.

Based on your requirements, I'm going to go against what has already been mentioned and suggest you go for the next step-up from a netbook and look for a laptop with a CULV processor.

These tend to be a bit more powerful than a netbook (but not as powerful as a full featured laptop), slimmer (typically 13" - 15") and reasonably priced (£300 - £400).

I've linked to previous posts where I have suggested similar to give you an idea of the type of laptop I am referring to as well as a starting point to research further if you should wish to.

1) CULV based laptops *

* Contains a link to a Guardian article which gives a good summary of CULV laptops

2) Toshiba T130-16W

[Clever Hans]

I understand the disdain of iPad culture as I feel it myself. The only problem is it is very, very good, and I am feeling more and more drawn to one myself.

Here's a demo that shows both the stunning functionality and the creepy, insanely arrogant, scary-eyed cult in one.

[Platypus]

I don't get any of those and I use Windows... well I have firewall and AV but firewall is sensible on all platforms;

Out of interest, are you an IT professional?

Have you ever been asked to sort out a friend or family's PC, as used by a non-expert, which is malfunctioning in some way, only to discover it's riddled with viruses or has some complex software fault which needs endless Googling and registry hacks or other trickery to resolve?

I really believe that for Joe Public users, Windows is not fit for purpose. I'll be the first to admit though that Windows 7 is a huge improvement on previous versions.

Anyway, that's just my opinion

[d000hg]

Out of interest, are you an IT professional?

No I'm just here for fun.

Have you ever been asked to sort out a friend or family's PC, as used by a non-expert, which is malfunctioning in some way, only to discover it's riddled with viruses or has some complex software fault which needs endless Googling and registry hacks or other trickery to resolve?

I've never had to do random registry hacks, in fact I've never played with the registry except in my capacity as a software developer. Viruses, sure... but I've always maintained Windows is not intrinsically less secure. Every year they have hacking contests and Mac/Linux PCs get hacked too.

Also, even using my PCs as a regular user, I don't get them screwing up. I have machines running XP and Vista without even AV, just Windows-firewall and router protection, and they work fine (sporadic checks reveal nothing serious). I'm not the kind of person who spends ages customising my OS, I just use it to install apps and browse the web so I am a real user in that respect... and STILL things don't screw up.

I bet one of the really hopeless PC users out there could bork a Mac. The ones who don't know what a "browser" is are pretty much clicking by rote or at random.