Disqus - Latest Comments for bradlinder

Re: Windows XP netbooks’ days are numbered

bradlinder — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 09:31:56 -0000

I'm sure this is true. But I've personally explained the difference to
several people and they've told me that they value size, weight and price
over battery life and they opted for the lower capacity versions. To each
their own.

Re: Windows XP netbooks’ days are numbered

zoltandragon — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 09:29:15 -0000

Brad, you are right - sorry. I am fully focusing on the battery issue as this is my top priority ( I don't really care about boot times, or if an os can run thousands of things and is flashy as hell), and I took battery _and_ responsiveness and general working as one, that's how I meant my comment. Although one never knows: some people say they have not experienced any battery reduction with windows 7 :)

Re: Windows XP netbooks’ days are numbered

michael — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 09:18:58 -0000

lots of people buy 3 cell due to ignorance, not really because they have different priorities. Most people get conned by the unscrupulous salesman. I think all netbook buyer aim for long battery life, that is why they buy something light and small. Otherwise, they would go for a notebook.

Re: Windows XP netbooks’ days are numbered

bradlinder — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 08:52:51 -0000

I didn't say the operating system doesn't run well. I said it takes its toll
on battery life. I've noticed that some netbooks also get better battery
life under Windows XP than Linux, but I wouldn't say that means that Ubuntu
or other Linux operating systems don't run well on the hardware.

What's changed is that Windows Vista was a resource hog that took a long
time to load and felt sluggish on netbooks with Intel Atom processors and
1GB of RAM. Windows 7 is quick and just about as responsive as Windows XP.
The battery life issue may or may not be resolved in future software
updates, but the operating system still runs.

The point of the posts I've been running about battery life are that if
battery life is the most important thing to you, then you should think twice
about using Windows 7. Personally, I'm a big fan of long battery life, but
I'm always surprised at how many people pick up netbooks with 3 cell
batteries knowing full well that they won't get the 5 - 10 hours of battery
life you can get with a 6 cell battery because the 3 cell versions are
cheaper and lighter. Everyone has different priorities.

Re: Unboxing the ASRock ION 330 nettop – Video

skuban — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 08:43:46 -0000

Awesome.

Re: Unboxing the ASRock ION 330 nettop – Video

bradlinder — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 08:32:22 -0000

Good point. There's no room inside for a full sized TV tuner, but I do have
a USB tuner I can give a try.

Re: Windows XP netbooks’ days are numbered

bradlinder — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 08:20:55 -0000

OK, to parse my poorly written sentence, (which I'm going to rewrite after this reply):

What I meant is that the new operating system (Windows 7) offers features that you don't get in Win XP... many of Windows 7's best features are not available in Starter Edition. So the list that follows wasn't necessarily meant to be a list of only the features missing in XP that are also missing in Win 7 Starter. It was supposed to be a list of Win 7 features that are missing from Win XP.

But I really could have phrased it better. And I'm going to go do that now. So that this comment thread makes sense, I'm copying pasting the original text below though. :)

"I’m sure that if PC makers stop offering Windows XP netbooks, people will move on and simply start using models with Windows 7. But while the new operating system does offer some nifty features that are absent from Windows XP, many of the best features (Windows Media Center, Aero Peek, backup and restore capabilities, and Windows XP compatibility mode) aren’t available in Windows 7 Starter Edition — the version that’s currently shipping on the vast majority of Windows 7 netbooks."

Re: Windows XP netbooks’ days are numbered

skuban — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 23:21:12 -0000

oh i realize that... it's just that you said that one of Win 7's "nifty features that are absent from Windows XP" is XP compatibility. I'm pretty sure windows XP compatibility is not absent from win XP.

FTW! ;)

Re: Windows XP netbooks’ days are numbered

bradlinder — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 22:31:31 -0000

That sentence could have been better phrased, but if you follow the clauses,
you'll see that I those new features refer to "the new operating system,"
not Windows XP.

Re: Netbook OS news roundup: Chrome, OpenSUSE, Mandriva, Jolicloud

bradlinder — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 10:30:20 -0000

Yep, but Ubuntu 9.10 was released a few weeks ago. This is a roundup of news
from this week.

Re: Windows 7 + netbooks = lower battery life?

bradlinder — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 08:36:34 -0000

Aero effects aren't available in Windows 7 Starter Edition, which is the
version I was running on the Toshiba NB205.

Re: Asus Eee PC 1201N up for pre-order, UL20A now shipping

bradlinder — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 21:14:19 -0000

I'm a bit behind on updating the database, but the Wind U210 and U200 are on
my list of notebooks to add. As for review units, complain to MSI. I've been
hounding them to send me demo units since CES in January, but they keep
putting it off.

Re: Qualcomm shows first Smartbook, announces AT&T as carrier

Alfredo — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:08:52 -0000

I want them unlocked on bestbuy or newegg for 180 dollars. with 10+ hours 1040p and be able to install ubuntu on it

Re: Qualcomm shows first Smartbook, announces AT&T as carrier

bradlinder — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 13:47:05 -0000

Excellent, thanks!

Re: More confirmation that Windows 7 takes a toll on netbook battery life

bradlinder — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 13:30:27 -0000

For my part, I tested the NB205 that shipped with Win7 Starter and compared
the results with Kevin's test of the NB205 with XP. He also installed Win7
RC himself and had the same results as me.

I also tested the Eee PC 1008HA with WinXP as preconfigured by Asus a few
months ago and compared the results with the Windows 7 Home Premium model
they just sent me.

Re: First impressions: CLEAR WiMAX

DougC3 — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 12:05:09 -0000

Too bad dongles are one of the few things where men think a smaller one is better ;)

Re: First impressions: CLEAR WiMAX

bradlinder — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 11:25:46 -0000

Yeah, technically it's not any faster than my Verizon DSL at the moment. But
the fact that I can get mobile and home broadband for just a few bucks more
than I'm already paying made it too good a deal to pass up. The promotion
will probably end soon and the price will jump up to $65 for the deal I
have... until another promotion comes along. But I signed up partly because
I'm locked in at this rate "for life," whatever that means. :)

Re: Acer Aspire 1410 review (dual core version)

gman — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 03:56:22 -0000

I appreciate what you're saying. To clear up my point about optical drives, the appropriate term for a large laptop without optical drive would be "ultra thin" or "thin and light". Again, why confuse consumers? It was hard enough teaching them that netbooks don't have optical drives. Laptops = optical drives. If it doesn't then it's a thin and light.

I do ask though, why the other great big site tell me that netbooks are call such because of their processor. So, the other biggest site differs in view from the other biggest site. What does that do for the general public? Think about it.

Netbook are not laptops in the sense that towers are not laptops. You don't take your tower out as a portable pc. Why? It's too heavy and big. Laptops, in reality, as those computers that sit at home on your table or desk. Why would you take that out in public when you have the netbook option? That's my point. Perhaps you still feel like "laptop" indicates a portable PC, but that's old school thinking. Since netbooks have showed up, those are the new portable, whether you choose to accept that fact or not. Guarantee, like the iPods of years past, things will get smaller and more powerful. This first generation of netbooks were weak, but guess what? The industry will and has responded. They can and are making netbooks extremely powerful in terms of graphics and video. That's all people really want for a portable. Graphics, video, and a full size keyboard. Nobody cares about how big the hard drive is. Nobody cares about 3 gigs of ram. Maybe if it was that stay at home PC, but a netbook is the new go between.

Revisit your labeling of laptops and netbooks please. Here is my check list, and please tell me where or what doesn't make this 1410 a netbook. (not trying to spam, just wanting your take)

-light (check)
-thin (check)
-cheap (check)
-no optical drive (check)
-weak graphic/video performance (check)
-long battery life

Did I miss something here? Seriously, walks like a duck, quacks like a duck..... Are you big sites under some pressure? You have to be sheep? In a sense, you owe it to the general public to be clear. If you want to call this 1410 a "laptop", then have the decency to include "ultra thin" or "thin and light" so that people will learn what computers do or do not come with optical drives. People out there aren't as smart as you think.

Re: First impressions: CLEAR WiMAX

bradlinder — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:59:17 -0000

Not sure about ports, but you have to pay $10/month extra for a static IP.

Re: First impressions: CLEAR WiMAX

John Morris — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:57:39 -0000

I guess if they list caps on the other plans that would really make it extra hard for them to weasel out later. Excellent. Of course the odds of them making it far enough out into flyover country where I'm at before they wise up and stop offering unlimited contracts is pretty much zero. :(

Of course there are the other questions you have to ask these days about Internet service. Do they offer static IP? How many ports do they block?

Re: First impressions: CLEAR WiMAX

bradlinder — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:48:24 -0000

It is in Philly, but I'm not sure if it's available on my block. More importantly, it's pretty expensive if you don't sign up for TV and/or phone service too and we do over the air TV and don't have a landline. So we're on DSL for now which is the cheapest broadband option, but pretty reliable overall.

If CLEAR performs well over the next few months I might cancel the Verizon line though, as $50 for home *and* mobile broadband is an even better deal.

Re: First impressions: CLEAR WiMAX

bradlinder — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 18:55:56 -0000

Neither. It's unlimited. They also have cheaper plans that do have caps. But
the plan I'm on is capless.

Re: Deals of the Day

bradlinder — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 14:56:24 -0000

Sorry, my bad. It was always a 3 cell version. Enter the coupon code to get
the discount though.

Re: Unboxing the Asus UL20A 12.1 inch laptop

bradlinder — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:52:53 -0000

It does not seem to.

Re: Acer Aspire 1410 review (dual core version)

bradlinder — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:47:12 -0000

I've spent the last two years thinking about these issues. There have been
laptops without optical drives that are most certainly not netbooks. The
Asus UL30A I reviewed recently lacked one. But it has a 13.3 inch screen.
Would you call that a netbook?

I've written several manifestos over the years describing what I think a
netbook is, and while it may not entirely be up to me to decide, I've been
pretty consistent. If you check the "about" page, you'll find the
description I wrote over a year ago and it's the same as the one I just gave
you in terms of size, weight, and price.

I'm not sure why you're insisting that netbooks aren't laptops though. Are
they smartphones? If it has a nearly full sized keyboard, folds in half, a
battery, and can rest on your lap, I'm pretty sure that makes it a laptop.