Ok, I know this is probably a step-down for most of you in terms of tech, but hear me out...
My dad is looking into getting a netbook, mainly as a replacement for a laptop that was stolen earlier this year and I've been aiding him so far in the searching process. He already has a suitable laptop replacement (courtesy of a free one given to my brother from some ex-girlfriend...hell who cares, it was a free laptop), so we have roughly up to $650 or so from insurance money, so pretty much we're looking for the cream of the crop within that price range (so please, no suggestions above ~$700).
So really, what I'm looking for is pure performance and up-to-date tech, it's the key issue here; I know no netbook will ever beat out a midsized laptop in power, but I see no reason it can't at least almost equal one with enough money thrown at it. Screen size is preferably within the 10-12 inch range, with the smaller being preferred. Battery life, longer is nice, but likely this will be plugged in for quite the bit of time outside of travel, so it's not as much as an issue.
Right now, this is the one we've been looking at heavily:
http://reviews.cnet.com/laptops/asus-eee-pc-seashell/4505-3121_7-33893147.html#reviewPage1
It has a dual core processor (not common in netbooks, so it definitely gives it a speed kick compared to the single core 1.6 ghz models) and the newer Nvidia Ion graphics, which (while still integrated) beats the pants off the usual crappy standard stuff. However, it is a tad larger than he'd prefer, which is why we're keeping our eyes open and why I've come to you all.
So with the above as a basic guideline, what other options are there? Pretty much everything else I've seen seems to be of lower technical specs, and we don't have a spare $400 more to drop on that 11.6 inch Alienware model. So yeah...anyone else have some suggestions or ideals? Thanks in advance.
My dad is looking into getting a netbook, mainly as a replacement for a laptop that was stolen earlier this year and I've been aiding him so far in the searching process. He already has a suitable laptop replacement (courtesy of a free one given to my brother from some ex-girlfriend...hell who cares, it was a free laptop), so we have roughly up to $650 or so from insurance money, so pretty much we're looking for the cream of the crop within that price range (so please, no suggestions above ~$700).
So really, what I'm looking for is pure performance and up-to-date tech, it's the key issue here; I know no netbook will ever beat out a midsized laptop in power, but I see no reason it can't at least almost equal one with enough money thrown at it. Screen size is preferably within the 10-12 inch range, with the smaller being preferred. Battery life, longer is nice, but likely this will be plugged in for quite the bit of time outside of travel, so it's not as much as an issue.
Right now, this is the one we've been looking at heavily:
http://reviews.cnet.com/laptops/asus-eee-pc-seashell/4505-3121_7-33893147.html#reviewPage1
It has a dual core processor (not common in netbooks, so it definitely gives it a speed kick compared to the single core 1.6 ghz models) and the newer Nvidia Ion graphics, which (while still integrated) beats the pants off the usual crappy standard stuff. However, it is a tad larger than he'd prefer, which is why we're keeping our eyes open and why I've come to you all.
So with the above as a basic guideline, what other options are there? Pretty much everything else I've seen seems to be of lower technical specs, and we don't have a spare $400 more to drop on that 11.6 inch Alienware model. So yeah...anyone else have some suggestions or ideals? Thanks in advance.
