Both my desktop and my laptop have kicked the bucket. Normally I would just go on since I no longer play games om the computer and use my ipad, but I am going back to school in 3 weeks. This means I need something else. I have decided to get a netbook for the size, weight, and convienence. I have mostly decided on this one:

http://www.amazon.com/Acer-AO522-BZ465- ... 760&sr=8-2

1) Do you agree? I don't need to play games or load a bunch of apps. Really just the Microsoft Suite. I will get another GB of memory.
2) How do I buy another GB of memory and install it?
3) I also need to get a portable Hard Drive to get all of my data off of my laptop and Desktop before wiping them and throwing them away. (I can still basically get to the safe mode, just not access the internet, it isn't even worth fixing honestly, they are old). What is a good one?

Thanks guys!

The problem with netbooks is that they are getting squeezed from both sides. Tablets are proving more popular when portability is the primary wish; at the other end low-end laptops are only a little jump up (especially if you need to factor in the cost of an external optical drive for the netbook) from the upper end of the netbook range and offer sometimes significant all-round (i.e. not just gaming) performance and greater breathing room should you find, as can happen, a need to do something beyond an office suite.

That's not to say netbooks are currently completely superfluous, it's just heading that way, the one you picked is well specced as netbooks go. Note however that Windows 7 Starter is ridiculously limited, you can't even change the desktop wallpaper, so you may or may not also want to factor in an anytime upgrade cost to home premium.

Ok, so after thinking about what you said, I looked at the comments and reviews and found one I think is better for the same cost. http://www.amazon.com/Acer-AO722-BZ454- ... pd_cp_pc_0

I definitely don't want a laptop. I travel a LOT and need something small and portable. I need a computer and not a tablet, so a netbook is my best option. I can always buy a laptop in a few years when I need one.

How is that one?

If I must choose for portability, I'd go for the tablet over the netbook. I can not possibly understand how you can view the netbook even for mundane tasks as looking at a Microsoft Office document.

I realize that the laptop is bulky but it's not so that bulky that you couldn't carry it around most every place.

iPad + Bluetooth keyboard such as in the Zagg iPad Bluetooth keyboard case and you've got a winning combination if you're just looking for a physical keyboard. But if you need to run actual Windows applications or something, I can see where a netbook might be a lot more useful...

Asus transformer. 18 hours of battery life and it's like getting a netbook and finding a free tablet in the box.

I have a tablet. I don't want another tablet. I don't want anything like a tablet. I know what I want, just trying to pick the right one within my budget ($300).

raptor9k wrote:Asus transformer. 18 hours of battery life and it's like getting a netbook and finding a free tablet in the box.

Do you have a link? Amazon doesn't have a listing. Is it also within the same price range?

ASUS eee transformer is on my wish list, but only the tablet portion is in your price range. If you want the keyboard dock, that's another $150.

Linky-dink

Yeah, it's $550 or so for the whole setup. I'm over the whole netbook wave. They're not good enough for most things and they really don't do anything better than a tablet with a bluetooth keyboard. Even the price point isn't really all that awesome anymore given the number of decent 11-12" laptops in the under $500 bracket. Most of the netbooks I've seen aren't even that great at running flash.

You could argue a lot of computers in general aren't great at running Flash. And that's probably Adobe's fault more than the computer's browser(s).

Way out of my range. I went ahead and bought the second one I linked with a 4gb upgrade. I didn't want a laptop and only a netbook because I only need it for school like I said. My school software won't work on my tablet. I don't need to worry about Flash. I won't be doing anything on this netbook except school. I think this will work out great. Thanks for the input everyone.

ampersand wrote:You could argue a lot of computers in general aren't great at running Flash. And that's probably Adobe's fault more than the computer's browser(s).

And HTML5 is working to eliminate the need for Flash as a result.

tnitnetny wrote:Way out of my range. I went ahead and bought the second one I linked with a 4gb upgrade.

Looks like a pretty good choice. Let us know what you think after you get a chance to use it.