Sorry for yet another netbook thread, but prices and technology changes so quickly that previous answers may be out of date.

SWMBO wants a mobile device to do some light Word, Excel, email and net. Must have wireless internet (I.e. connect to our wireless router, not mobile broadband).

DVD not strictly necessary, usb ports desirable.

Would like it to come with Office of some sort.

Will a netbook be sufficient for all this? Want the cheapest possible option for a (preferably) new device.

Thanks,

Martin

Open Office is a great alternative and free option to the very expensive boxed version from Microsoft.

I can't expect that a netbook wont come with WiFi

All will come with USB ports as well.

Cos of their size they dont normally come with DVD/CD, but some do.

Get some extra RAM for about £20 as most come with just 1GB

This one from Argos comes in Pink, Red n black - its made by HP and comes with bluetooth, wifi, SD slots, USB slots, webcam and Mic. and a 10 hour battery life.

Oh and its now only £199

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/5085068/c_1/1|category_root|Office%2C+PCs+and+phones|14418968/c_2/2|14418968|Laptops+and+mini+laptops|14419039.htm

Edited 29 June, 201115 yr by prolfe

thanks for that, that looks great.

Argos also have a netbook by MSI, are they any good?

thanks for that, that looks great.

Argos also have a netbook by MSI, are they any good?

My money would go on a big brand. I've not heard of MSI unless its the motherboard people, if it is then they've not been making notebooks for long, on the otherhand they've been making motherboards for PC's/Laptops for years.

nah - HP, decent enough brand.

Yes, that's what I was thinking!

Sorry for yet another netbook thread, but prices and technology changes so quickly that previous answers may be out of date.

SWMBO wants a mobile device to do some light Word, Excel, email and net. Must have wireless internet (I.e. connect to our wireless router, not mobile broadband).

DVD not strictly necessary, usb ports desirable.

Would like it to come with Office of some sort.

Will a netbook be sufficient for all this? Want the cheapest possible option for a (preferably) new device.

Yes, they can do this. It is worth looking out for the dual-core versions, they are a good bit more responsive. The only downside is their size. Great for portability, but not so good for working on for long periods.

Most will come with Office 2010 pre-loaded in trial form, which can be activated as "Office Starter" for free (Word and Excel only). They will have at least 2 USB ports, often a SD card slot and even a VGA port. Size means no DVD drive, but external USB DVD drives are easy to add.

For something this low powered, go through it and uninstall all the useless bloatware, set Windows to Classic mode and do as much as you can to keep it streamlined. Once that is done they are pretty decent

Or install Ubuntu on it and use Open Office. Then it's a lot faster!

do grab the extra RAM once you get it, makes a big difference.

As above, get rid of the hp software, free Antivirus etc. install something like Avast or Mircosoft Security Essentials.

Use Crucial.com and order the RAM.

Ooh, also grab a nice neoprene case so you can chuck it in any bag.

Nothing wrong with the MSI netbooks either, they were one of the first to produce them... (and yes, it's the company that's been around fro years producing motherboards and other components)

They've maybe fallen a bit behind some of the bigger brand names with some of the features but they're generally reliable and solid, just need the extra RAM mentioned by previous posters

Helped the mother in law find a netbook recently. She went for a HP one in the end. Mainly due to price and the 10hr battery life.

It's a decent little machine but absolutely full of bloatware (as usual these days!)

Also feels like it would benefit from an extra gig of RAM. Even the netbook that I got had 2GB and still benefitted from more RAM.

Have a look on here too:

http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/Products/cat/netbooks

Got myself a good deal from there. There's a couple of Samsung's at the same kind of price too and some even cheaper if you're not too fussed about over 8hr battery.

You can't go wrong with most of them these days as they usually have the same components and a very similar spec etc inside them.

Phil

Edited 30 June, 201115 yr by philje123