Wireless Netbook prices and comparisons

[cookie_monster]

We will soon be looking for 30+ wireless netbooks, we currently use some Stone Neo's which are pretty good but i'm just casting the net around for units to compare with the NEO.

 

I'm looking for units under £300 with 5+ hours battery life that are fairly rugged with 3 year warranty. Ideally with XP Home as i've got ThinXP running nicely on our current netbooks which is more straight forward to setup compared to our Debian units.

 

I've seen a few threads on this subject but they rapidly go out of date.

 

Any suggestions?

 

Thanks.

Edited January 13, 2010 by cookie_monster

[robit247]

Hi,

 

There are number of Netbook options which will give you wireless connectivity, Windows XP Home and that will give you at least 5 hours battery life. I would suggest look at the below models which are all under £300 inc VAT:

 

HP Compaq 110c - 6 Cell Battery Option

Toshiba NB200 - The 6 Cell Battery Option can you give you upto 9 hours of battery life

Samsung N130 - The 6 Cell option battery option will give you upto 6 hours of life

[cookie_monster]

Forgot to mention that the NEO has a 3 year warranty.

[vikpaw]

I recently got an awesome hp mini 5101, it's business class and much better than the hp 110, but it's too expensive, though if you go for low spec, and with ex.VAT you may get on budget. also has an option with suse linux. i used select technology who i found via the edugeekbuy link above. i would suggest you try putting out to tender via the edugeekbuy facility as the quote i got was £100 less than the nearest online price.

 

anyway what i was going to say was the hp 110 in comparison to my 5101 is very low spec, and my alternate choice was going to be the toshiba.

 

i like the samsungs too, and have also seen some nice LG i think the model is XE130.

[vikpaw]

just had a thought, the hp 2133, is pretty rugged, it's the predecessor to mine, so good spec, aluminium case ... if you can get a supplier they should be at a good price. have a nice 6 cell battery option too that stands comes beneath the unit making it sit up and easier to type, i don't know if all large battery packs do this.

 

EDIT: HP 3d guard makes it drop protected for the hdd and data, prob not an issue for you, but the splash proof keyboard is nice. actually the HPs generally have nice keyboards.

Edited January 13, 2010 by vikpaw
addition

[robit247]

Most Netbooks come as standard with 1 year warranty but you have the opiton to extend both the Toshiba NB200 and Samsung N130 unit from a 1 year warranty to a 3 year warranty which should still keep you under your £300 price.

 

Although the HP 2133 is a great netook these are now End of Life, the replacement from HP would either be the Compaq Mini 110 or HP Compaq Mini 5101 although the Compaq Mini 5101 would cost more than your £300 budget.

[vikpaw]

Although the HP 2133 is a great netook these are now End of Life, the replacement from HP would either be the Compaq Mini 110 or HP Compaq Mini 5101 although the Compaq Mini 5101 would cost more than your £300 budget.

 

I think i've still seen quite a few 2133s around. bigoffers was getting rid of 1 for £150 with 6 month warranty, but i think there stock is often 2nds or refurbs, not to say it's not an absolute steal at that price.

 

As for the 5101, i was very dismayed to read on the hp.com site that they were discontinued, only to go to the HP stand at BETT and find a new HP mini 5102 with touch screen technology to be launched around March. They could have informed prospective customers! It's even more awesome than the 5101 and the starting price point is supposedly £350 which though over budget does give you a superb machine for the money.

 

Also saw these nice zoo tablet devices at BETT that were dust proof, splash proof and very robust for student usage, that would come in on budget. Will try and find the bumf from company and post it later, though it was the manufacturer not a distributor i spoke to .