I am looking for an inexpensive laptop replacement for my wife. It will be used for internet surfing, email, and maybe some light word processing. No games, no programming, no scientific analysis, etc. I was looking at the new Lenovo S10 @ $400. I think it will work just fine, but haven't used any UMPCs. What about some other "normal" laptops that are in the $400 range? Suggestions?
I recomend the Ausu Eee Pc 1000h. 5 hours of battery with a huge hard drive and for $530 I got it with a 2gb ram upgrade.
I wouldn't get anything with a screen less than 15.4". My work laptop has a small screen and I hate doing anything on it unless I have a monitor hooked up. This is me, others are fine with tiny screens.
I've used as small as 13" and it's quite easy to read. It depends on the screen resolution more than anything else.
if you are just using it to mess around with the internet on the go, then most of these are probably going to be fine to use. i've grown accustomed to browsing the web on a Blackberry and iPhone screen, so 13" would be simple. i would not, however, get one as a multi purpose laptop unless it has the ability to plug in a regular keyboard/monitor/mouse along with a decent resolution.
but you can do that. this is what i want: a (ultra) mobile laptop (as in small, good battery life, and wireless including hsdpa/3g for mobile broadband (im still waiting)), but I still need to get work done. I need a big monitor to hook it up to (got it) and a keyboard mouse and speakers setup in my room.. but all laptops can do that anyhow. Infact there needs to be docking stations for these subnotebooks on the market or coming soon.
Yeah you can plug them into a monitor and keyboard via usb and get a bluetooth mouse for when it's at home. There's also a difference between a sub notebook (netbook) and an ultra mobile PC. UM is like a Macbook Air and a netbook is like a Eee Pc.
The eeepcs aren't really that competitive anymore now that more manufacturers are coming out with Atom-based computers. $530 is more than 30% more than the S10.
Yeah but for the 30% more you get 2x the hard drive, 4x the ram, and a six cell battery. To me, that's worth it.
if you're gettin a netbook, just make sure it has a 6 cell battery. other than that it's kind of personal preference.