Netbook advice needed please

[trem1]

My 14 year old son has decided he wants a Netbook/Web-book off Santa this year so i'm after some advice about them.
From what ive found out there all 10.1" screen and around about the same sort of memory size.They all come with windows 7 as operating system, but no other software. Can downloaded software be installed on these without any issues, as curry's wanted about £100 for office software which seems excessive.
I understand there is no cd-drive but dont think this would cause problem's

As i said it's for my 14 yr old son to basically use on facebook, minclip and general surfing, the idea is for him to do schoolwork/homework on it as well but he's the 4th child so were not that gullible anymore.

want a good deal as he's likely to break it,drop it, spill something on it so about £200 would be nice

any advice appreciated
Neil

[john_h]

with most netbooks and probably most laptops you will notice they tend to slow down after a bit of usage, this is down to the windows operating system.

from my experiance of working at currys (as customer services and sales) they over sell genuine microsoft products such as office...but why pay when you can download the free version from openoffice.org...its exactly the same, if not better than office itself. also stay well away from any techguys/insurance products as they are not worth the money/paper.

You can install any other stuff just like any other pc, but will have to be done via USB Cd drive or hard drive.

ebuyer have some good deals on netbooks. just looked myself and a good buy on offer is:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/193039

its from a company i havnt heard from but all the specs seem good and come with the software for office, well trial versions for 60 days...but between you and me...just restore the pc back to factory every 60 days and you will get another 60 days :P just back up files to usb pen

[Stubbo]

Guy i work with just used ebuyer, i'd never heard of them but yeah, great prices, free delivery and it turned up next day!

I myself wouldnt go for a netbook but thats personal preference

[math_307]

I've brought from ebuyer before, highly recommended. Cheap prices, huge selection and quality products. From my experience anyway. Good luck!

[trem1]

Originally Posted by Stubbo

Guy i work with just used ebuyer, i'd never heard of them but yeah, great prices, free delivery and it turned up next day!

I myself wouldnt go for a netbook but thats personal preference

thanks for the reply butits more about the nerbook im after advice on Rather than where to buy it from.

Why wouldnt you go for a netbook, and would you view change if you were 14 yr's old and just wanted it for in your bedroom and possibly carry it to school which also involves carrying it around all day.

[trem1]

@cck2k9 thanks John some really useful advice there

Neil

[yo_clarkie]

The small screen on a netbook makes them a pain to use, bought one, used it for a holiday trip to Hawaii, and its sat in a drawer since.

Great if you are a backpacker, or for watching movies on the plane, useless as a computer. However there are some netbook/notebook hybrids that are nice and light with 11-13 inch screens. I bought a MSI X-series on special with a friend a couple of weeks back - a black version of hte Macbook Air.... Very nice and around 200 pounds equiv...

[trem1]

right then we've bought one, whats the spec on this any good


and my next question is......................should i switch it on and get it up and running for xmas morning or leave it till then and sort it with my son. Whats involved in setting one of these up??

[john_h]

sorry for the late reply, its very easy to set up, plug it in and let it fully charge before using (do not switch on) and when you first use it, it will walk you through on what to do such as usernames, passwords and what not...any probs just give us a shout ill be more than happy to help...

[kaostheory]

Way too late for xmas but regarding the office software:

OpenOffice is a very good Open Source FREE alternative. Fully compatible with Microsoft Office formats.

openoffice.org