Woot is running a great deal ($150) for an Asus 900. Not very powerful and runs Linux, but I would be very tempted if I thought I had a prayer of convincing Clancy that what we needed was another portable computing device.


Category: Server Room

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4 Responses to Looking for a Netbook?

  1. David Alexander says:

    It’s a little underpowered and small for my preferred tastes, but at $150, it’s a good deal for somebody just looking for a cheap laptop for basic Internet and e-mail use. I’d consider it as a supplemental travel laptop, but not as a replacement for my ThinkPad R50e which is now joined two other ThinkPads in the useless brick department.

  2. trumwill says:

    I would say that you can get a used ThinkPad for pretty cheap, but sounds like it wouldn’t do you much good. Man, I wonder why you’re having such bad luck with ThinkPads. My luck remains strong. One of them (from 2003) has a damaged monitor, but that was user-generated damage. One of them (2006) overheats every now and again, but is otherwise still running strong. I’ve never had any of them brick. Maybe IBM and Lenovo hate you…

  3. David Alexander says:

    I’d kill for a cheap, lightly used T-Series or another X-Series for about $200 to $300 or so, as you’ve noted I seem to have some degree of bad luck. The 570 held up rather decently for at least three years, and it was nearly a year old when I received it as a gift from my godmother. It’s relatively usable except for the broken LCD and monitor hinge. The X20 is usable too except again for the dead LCD. The R50e is still usable except for the reasons I noted early. While the 570 sorta failed on the account of just being old, the X20’s LCD crapped out since like an idiot, I left it on the floor of my crowded bedroom and in the middle of the night, I stepped on it. The R50e probably shouldn’t have been in the hands of my younger and thus slightly irresponsible brother and my niece and nephew, but I let them use it so I can use my desktop in my room in peace…

    Maybe I should try my luck with the more robust T-Series since I’d really prefer not to leave ThinkPads. The keyboards are conducive to writing reports and essays for some reason, and “clitmouse” is leagues better than a touchpad. And other laptops seem even junkier…

  4. trumwill says:

    R40’s can be got for about $200 including shipping, though you’d need to add the cost of a battery and maybe RAM to that, so it would be closer to 300. I generally prefer the R-series to the T-series, though I have some of each.

    If you’re feeling ambitious, you might consider just replacing the LCD on an existing machine. They’re not cheap, but they’re cheaper than a new laptop. If you can do the assembly work on it, that is. I’ve considered doing that for the dropped-one-too-many-times-in-a-Starbucks R32, except that a perfectly-working monitor (there’s a big black splotch in the middle of it) isn’t entirely necessary since it’s attached to a TV.

    I’ve thought in the past of switching away from ThinkPads, but every time I look at an HP or Dell, they just look to me like they’re itching to be broken. And I’m really good at breaking stuff.

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