Which Netbook for the Boat?

V1701

V1701

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Good morning all,
I have decided on a netbook, so which one? I'm looking for absolute minimum power use (runs off 12v), works well with Open CPN/GPS mouse. I'm thinking either Eee PC or Samsung N150. Should I go for the latest model with Win 7 or look for an older one with XP? Will dual core processor make a big difference to performance? Any other advice/comments welcome...
Thanks,
David.
 
I just picked up a second hand eeePC with Windows XP on the basis that is was 12V power.

I would say they are all pretty similar especially if it's mainly to use as a chartplotter. Windows 7 is a lot slower than XP so the extra processing power the machine has won't make much difference on performance.
 
Thinking of the same too.. So far thoughts are to go for longest quoted batter life to get the lowest power consumption - not scientific but not found detailed power consumption figures to compare; and is the difference of a few Watts going to make a realistic difference?
Here - http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-20019110-1.html - they suggest little difference between single and dual core - at least on this one.
OS - i'm leaning towards XP not W7 as, as far as I know, W7 on these is usually W7Starter which has alot of features unavailable.
As for running it I will either use 12V directly if available or use the Maplin 12V adapter which can give 15-19V iirr (I've got one for my current larger laptop and it works well).
I will probably be buying on price but the "best/latest" processor at the price.
I've not used OpenCPN so cant comment.

Son has a PB notebook & it seems to work well, surfs net, e-mail & the odd bit of school work. Worked out of the box. £199 from PCWorld.
 
They are all pretty much the same components inside and therefore similar power draw. If you plan to use unplugged then buy whichever one you like and get a 9 cell battery which will easily last all day on any of them.
Cheers
Dave
 
EeePC for me

Last year I bought an second hand EeePC for the boat, I'm very pleased with it. I bought the model with no hard drive so that there are no moving parts if it starts to get a bit bouncy out there :)

I prefer Win XP anyway, so getting an older netbook was the only way. It boots up quickly, runs Memory Map marine charts with no problems (£40 at the SBS). I also use it with a WiFi dongle for emails etc. Sorry, I have no experience of Open CPN.

Keyboard is a little cramped, but then all netbooks are the same.

'Disk' space can be limiting but more than enough for my uses.

Powered through a universal laptop / car adapter from a 12v socket (Ebay)
 
just typing this on my packard bell dot SE netbook which is very good and lasts about 11 hours off its battery. however it takes a few amps through a dc-dc converter and also the screen on any netbook is in my opinion too small for chartploter use.

the eee pc netbook is a good one but dont forget the 12v in needs to be a regulated 12v not your 12.5 to 14.4v that your yachts batteries will be. it might work for a bit but you'll fry it in time.

to play devils advocate. why not have a dedicated marine pc? netbooks go for silly money on ebay anyway. I have built one using a fanless mini itx mtherboard, a solid state disk, a waterproof stainless keyboard and a 12 inch sanyo monitor. its is silent, has no moving parts. current with usb gps on and win xp running with tsunamis or openCPN is 0.7amp and 1.6amp with monitor on stby or on respectively. I built the above with little computer knowledge (just plugging bits together) for about £120 all in. most bits off ebay. most expensive bit was a custom aluminium case for the computer bit.
 
I have the Eee PC 1000HG and it does everything I need it to... the most useful feature is being able to take the sim card out the phone and run t'internet at 7.2MB/sec for next to nothing (I've a Three sim with unlimited Internet for a couple of quid a month).. better than spending whatever it costs for a broadband dongle.... battery life is pretty good but not the best.
 
I am a well satisfied Samsung N140 user with a 2Gb memory upgrade and a tenners worth of EBay 12v power converter.
Sorted.
 
That Samsung is a great machine for efficient power usage:

http://www.expertreviews.co.uk/laptops/276895/samsung-n150

But as they point out, the keyboard is not the best. If you don't plan on typing a lot, it could be usable. The other thing to note is that it has a non-gloss screen, which some reviews have slagged as being "fuzzy" (all matte screens look that way), but it makes it ideal for outdoor use in the sun.

Asus machines come in a wide variety of models - if you chose one that has the same N450 Atom processor as the Samsung it should be similar in power usage efficiency.
 
FullCircle said:
I am a well satisfied Samsung N140 user with a 2Gb memory upgrade and a tenners worth of EBay 12v power converter.
Sorted.
Click to expand...

yup, we're the same - just used over hols last wk- great in marina for wi fi-not sure how to link to a better phone to pick up signal in other areas-got it on amazon inc 2gb upgrade and case-then a 12v plug in -the e passport ext hard drive means we can store loads of music etc without slowing netbook down-think it's samsung n145 - ?
 
seascape1 said:
yup, we're the same - just used over hols last wk- great in marina for wi fi-not sure how to link to a better phone to pick up signal in other areas-got it on amazon inc 2gb upgrade and case-then a 12v plug in -the e passport ext hard drive means we can store loads of music etc without slowing netbook down-think it's samsung n145 - ?
Click to expand...

Waiting for mine to arrive :) .. Samsung N145 with 2GB Upgrade. Intend to run XP and bought a Solid State Hard Drive which should make it sing. Bought a case for external HD so will fit the Samsung Drive in that. In theory it should work and the SSHD should use less power and be considerably quicker starting up.

SolentBoy said:
Netbook!!!!!:eek:

Or you could not waste your money and just get an iPad with Navionics or some such. :D
Click to expand...

So you can watch DTTV on yours without access to WIFI then .. :p

Had a demonstration of one of the NEW SCREENS in Curry's. The guy was very good. He found that holding the touch screen at the side while he typed did not work very well and it really needs to be on a flat surface. The onscreen keyboard was a joke and to top it all he gets out a KEYBOARD and stands the screen on it. So you have a TOUCH Screen on a keyboard. Price for the screen was £430 + a keyboard + a cover to PROTECT the screen and a cover for the keyboard :confused:

So I said I was better off with a NETBOOK as it comes with a keyboard and has a built in screen protector just by folding it down :rolleyes: + it is some £200 cheaper :cool:
 
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exfinnsailor said:
Waiting for mine to arrive :) .. Samsung N145 with 2GB Upgrade. Intend to run XP and bought a Solid State Hard Drive which should make it sing. Bought a case for external HD so will fit the Samsung Drive in that. In theory it should work and the SSHD should use less power and be considerably quicker starting up.



So you can watch DTTV on yours without access to WIFI then .. :p

Had a demonstration of one of the NEW SCREENS in Curry's. The guy was very good. He found that holding the touch screen at the side while he typed did not work very well and it really needs to be on a flat surface. The onscreen keyboard was a joke and to top it all he gets out a KEYBOARD and stands the screen on it. So you have a TOUCH Screen on a keyboard. Price for the screen was £430 + a keyboard + a cover to PROTECT the screen and a cover for the keyboard :confused:

So I said I was better off with a NETBOOK as it comes with a keyboard and has a built in screen protector just by folding it down :rolleyes: + it is some £200 cheaper :cool:
Click to expand...

Yes, but it runs Windows and falls over half the time.
How many fingers did the guy have? The onscreen keyboard is excellent, and in the new release they even have a split keyboard for the young amongst us who have learned to type with their thumbs.

It is such a joke they have only sold 25 million so far.
 
oGaryo said:
I have the Eee PC 1000HG and it does everything I need it to... the most useful feature is being able to take the sim card out the phone and run t'internet at 7.2MB/sec for next to nothing (I've a Three sim with unlimited Internet for a couple of quid a month).. better than spending whatever it costs for a broadband dongle.... battery life is pretty good but not the best.
Click to expand...
So do you run the sim through a dongle & usb or can you put in in the PC directly? If so where??
 
Well it turned up. Samsung N145P. Took about 30 minutes to work out how to get it apart. Its not easy. Changed the hard drive for a SSD and reloaded Windows 7. Upgrade to 2 Gig Ram and then had a debate about Win 7 or XP. Installed XP after finding drivers on Samsung site. Now reloading Win 7 after finding update codes on Internet.

So far it boots from a standing start in 20 Seconds :eek: Our workshop pc which has a good spec takes 50 seconds so looks good so far :cool:
 
The Samsung should do you well, I am a lighthouse technician an have killed 2 net books with just the salty atmosphere, the Samsung has lasted 18 months so far.
 
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