eepc question

[Mark J. Dulcey]

Jarod Wilson wrote:
> On Tue, 2008-09-30 at 11:31 -0400, Jerry Feldman wrote:
>> I'm just asking for a recommendation for a decent low-end laptop. I
>> don't think I could talk her into Linux, but I would probably recommend
>> a Vaio, Thinkpad, HP, or even a Dell with XP if she could get XP
>> commercially.
> 
> Ah, so my earlier suggestion of the $330 Acer Aspire One might not be
> ideal, but for a few bucks more ($400, iirc), you can get an AAO with a
> sata disk instead of an ssd, with Windows XP installed.

$350 at Micro Center with a 120GB hard disk and 3 cell battery, and they 
have plenty of them. About $400 with a 160GB disk and 6 cell battery if 
you can find someplace that has one; that version is scarce. If I were 
going to buy an Aspire One (which I'm actually thinking about but don't 
have the cash right now) I'd go with one of those versions, shrink the 
XP partition to 10 or 20GB, and make it a dual-boot system that runs 
Linux most of the time, keeping the XP in reserve just in case I needed 
to do something that required it.

Netbooks like the Aspire One aren't the fastest systems around and the 
screens are a bit small, but they're light and easy to carry so they 
might be a better choice for a serious traveler than a 6-7 pound laptop, 
and they're a lot cheaper than a Lenovo X300 or similar full-featured 
ultralight system. The Aspire One is probably the best bargain in the 
category (though it has forced down the prices of its competitors); its 
only misfeature is the awkward trackpad with the buttons on the sides. 
(That's not a dealbreaker for me because I hate all trackpads and use 
them only when it's inconvenient to use a mouse.) But there are a lot of 
options now; the various Eee models, the MSI Wind, and the ones from 
Lenovo and Dell. The HP MiniNote seems overpriced and underpowered to 
me, so I'd stay away from it.

Right now, the only new systems you can get with XP installed are 
netbooks; XP is discontinued except for the system builder edition 
(available for small white box builders of desktop systems) and the 
ULCPC edition for netbooks. You can still find some old stock or 
refurbished systems with XP but likely not for long.