Originally Posted by
nkedel
Should the decision be that the Atom-based netbooks are underpowered, Dell has some of their last-generation 12" notebooks (D430, Core 2 Duo 1.2 or 1.33 ghz) available refurbished on their site for about $700.
Interestingly, they've now got a bunch of current-generation 12" subnotebooks (E4200, with up to a 1.4ghz, and all with SSD) refurbs starting just under $1000. New ones start at about $1650.
Not a super deal, but an option vs. netbooks worth considering for some.
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As an aside, I did a round of Netbook shopping/browsing this past weekend, and noted:
(A) the 10" models still have keyboards which are too hit-or-miss to buy without hands-on-time with a particular model. The ASUS 1002HA was the best I tried and might be worth a longer look, although the Lenovo S10 and Dell Mini 10v were just tolerable and a little cheaper.
(B) The "flush" keyboards on many HPs, and the "chiclet" keyboards on many models is apalling.
(C) Screen quality varied more than I would have expected.
(D) Could not find many Eee models to check out, despite the very broad model line. Nobody locally has Samsung NC20 nor the Acer 11.6" models, nor the Dell Mini 12 to try (although the big surprise was that the Mini 10v WAS available at retail and that Amazon now has Mini 12s as well.)