Talk me out of a Netbook

[NickDanger]

I have a special needs child who absolutely lives for her music, movies and connecting with friends on facebook. She will probably have a need for a bit of word processing and virtually nothing else. Is there any reason why a Netbook isn't ideal for her?

Hints on good deals wouldn't offend either.

 

[Orange&White]

Sounds perfect except that there is no place for a cddvdblu-ray drive on a netbook. So she'd either have to plug into an external drive or somehow get the movies already in a completely non-disc, digital format.

 

[NickDanger]

Well, I have a good external drive so that helps. I didn't know that, but was pretty sure there wasn't an internal drive.

 

[AhhhCraig]

I like the idea of netbooks, but I hate the atom processors that most use. Just not enough speed, and most of the time they only have 1gb of ram at the most and small hard drives. I would spend just a little more and get a true laptop. Better processors, more ram, dvd drives, better sound, etc. Overall, just a better buy imo.

Look in todays parade for the Dell ad, there is an Inspiron starting at $399. I would upgrade out of the celeron processor, and order something similar to that for your kid.

 

[TexasEd]

I prefer the true notebook computers in the smaller sizes for the reasons already mentioned.

internal CD/DVD drive
faster processor
more memory
larger hard drive

If you want her to have something more portable for the car, travel, etc I would get an iPod touch. My wife loves hers and checks e-mail/facebook on it and downloads music directly or watches youtube with wifi

 

[HornBud]

Unless she has a need to do all of this well away from any internet connection, I have to second the idea of a regular notebook.

Oh, and I don't know what the internet access prices are for a netbook, but $55/mo gets you Clear 4G WiMax all over Austin.

 

[NickDanger]

I see the wisdom of the notebook. I really appreciate the input. She has an old POS notebook that is maxed out and requires a wireless card. She keeps damaging the cards. I gave her a 32g iTouch for Christmas, but she is constantly burning party mix cd's for everyone she knows.

I won't let either of the kids (or the person I married for that matter) touch anything technological that I ever care to use. The notebook she has was loaned by my father and he cannot resiste loading all kinds of ridiculous **** on her computer like 10 year old bootleg versions of Excel or Quickbook, etc. I can't get him to stop and it IS his computer.

 

[OUEngineer]

NickDanger, how 'special needs' is she? I remember we talked about her before, but I don't remember her exact situation. If she's burning mixes and interacting on facebook, her disability can't be too severe, I'd guess.

I bought an Asus Eee netbook and added an extra 1GB of RAM after the fact. It suits my browsing needs fine. I wouldn't load iTunes on it, though, since the processor speed isn't ideal for such a heavy application. Word processing would be okay, I think, but I've never tried installing Word on it.

I, too, would go for a cheaper laptop. It's not as light and portable, but sounds like a better fit for your daughter. Good luck.

 

[NickDanger]

She's one point under the IQ cutoff for gov't services. I mean, she qualifies. No iTunes would be a dealkiller. After reallyooking at the deal, the netbook just isn't for her. The separate disc would always be getting screwed up And the extra cost of an external drive makes the netbook the same or more money than a notebook.

Once again guys, I really appreciate the thoughts.

 

[brntorng]

Make her day and get her a MacBook to go with that iPod Touch.