Netbook advice

[SoulsCollective]

Hey folks
I'm in the market for grabbing a new small portable netbook within the next few months, but have been out of the game for a while so haven't been keeping up with new releases. Consequently, I need a hand putting together a short-list.

Things I care about (in rough preference order):

• Takes standard 2.5" HDDs on a SATA interface. Whatever I end up choosing is going to have the stock HDD ripped out and an OCZ Vertex Turbo shoved in it, as I'll be upgrading my main rig to a Vertex 2 or a Corsair Force.
• Quality of keyboard. This is going to go to uni with me every day and have Law lecture notes typed out on it, as well as legal research done on it. Smaller keys I can live with, I was able to type on an EeePC 900 with relative ease - I just can't live with crappy keys or mushy keyboard action.
• Battery life. I would very much like not to have to lug chargers around with me.
• Physical size. Small is good.

Things I would like (again in rough order):

• Dual-core CPU. Atom is fine. Lag from multi-tasking as basic as running a word document and a web browser at the same time is not.
• Bundled with a non-crappy version of Windows. Seven HP or Pro preferably.
• Quality, non-blinged shell. LEDs sticking out everywhere = bad. Plasticky crap = bad.
• Screen quality. I don't mean picture quality - this isn't going to be a portable media player - I mean visibility in sunlight etc. I know it won't be a Kindle by any means, but there's average and there's poor.

Things it would be difficult for me to care less about:

• Anything HDD-related beyond that it supports standard 2.5" SATA drives. Whatever is in there to begin with is going to get replaced.
• GPU. Well, for a netbook we're talking IGP anyway, but I simply don't care. Only games this will be running will be emulated under DOSBox or ScummVM.
• Picture quality. Again, for intended usage - do not care.
• Gimmicks of any description. This includes stuff like online storage services, fingerprint readers, etc etc. Simply do not care.
• Webcam. See above.

Now the kicker - I would like the cost to work out at about AUD $450-500. For you Americans, this works out at about USD $350-400 after currency conversion and allowing for the usual middleman markups and shipping fees that Australian consumers suffer. For what I want I imagine that this could be done, but as I said - I've been out of the loop for a while. Also note that anything recently released in the US will almost certainly not yet be available for purchase down here.

Thoughts?

[RejZoR]

As far as HDD is concerned, buy SSD for it. 80GB should do it i guess. It works well on battery, heat, noise, access time. Only real downside is price at the moment.

[SoulsCollective]

As far as HDD is concerned, buy SSD for it. 80GB should do it i guess. It works well on battery, heat, noise, access time. Only real downside is price at the moment.

Er...yes. That's what I said I'd be doing, and thus why I don't care diddly about the stock HDD it comes with

[shoota]

in a very quick search this was about all i could find. it's gonna be really tough to find a netbook with your exact wants, even tho it shouldn't be so hard.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834220659

[SoulsCollective]

First, thanks for the responses folks

Thoughts on this? 9hr claimed battery life, LED backlit screen, Pineview Atom with hyperthreading (it's not dual-core, but I suppose it'll do), standard 2.5" HDD slot. AUD $430.

[PCDominator]

soulscollective, I have just recieved my HP mini 210here for $300 It is identical save for the battery which lasts only 5 hrs and the ram which could easily be upgraded to 2 gb cheaply. I have been very pleased with it, it never lags when running with several apps open including music. The case is very good quality and feels quite strong with not much flex. Never really checked the screen but seems good as any other IMO. The next model up uses the Pineview n455 CPU here for an extra $50. The chipset/mobo allows you to put in 4 gb RAM so you could really let loose on this. Off the shelf it is not overly powerfull but it's a neat package.

Let me know what you think

[kahuna321]

in a few days the asus 1215 is coming out- wait for it...

[SoulsCollective]

I ended up getting the 1001PX, 6cell Win7 version linked above. Very happy with performance (have pulled HDD and replaced with Vertex Turbo, upgraded to 2GB of RAM), decodes 720p content smoothly, keyboard is nearly full-size and a pleasure to type on, gets about 9hrs of battery life off a full charge. A little disappointed that there's no Bluetooth support, and the wireless performance and signal strength leaves a bit to be desired, but for just over AUD $400 I really can't complain.

@kahuna321 - perhaps in the USA. Tech takes much longer to penetrate down to Australia