Netbook with great autonomy

[cobito]

Hello. I need advice on buying a netbook.

It will be used for browsing the Internet and editing spreadsheets. A simple and light task. So far it has been done with an Acer Aspire One 150 with an Atom N270 at 1.6Ghz, 1 gb of ram, etc which gave decent performance on Linux.

The new netbook will also run on Linux.

The choice would be very simple if it were not because now all netbooks with the Intel platform carry the PowerVR graphics chip and I must say that I do not want PowerVR even in painting. A few years ago I recommended a netbook with the GMA500 (from PowerVR) to a relative and at first everything was beautiful and pink since it had drivers for Linux. But they decided to stop giving support and now that Netbook can only work with Windows because the drivers are only compatible with the 2.6.x kernel. And yes, there are unofficial free ones but they work terribly.

The thing is that I need the hardware to have good support for Linux and it would be interesting if the drivers were released to ensure compatibility in the future. That is, that they have the support of the Intel GM950 or GMA3150 which have the drivers released and receive official support.

Looking at the Atom N2600 and N2800 I find the problem in the graphics section.

So the option is left to AMD: the famous C-60. The thing is that I know nothing about this chipset, processor and graphics. According to what I read around, it works on Linux but coming from AMD/Ati I suspect that the drivers are not free and also that these will not have great quality for Linux.

And finally the third and most desperate option remains: wait for Intel to release a new platform for netbooks and by some chance decide to include one of their graphics which are, by far, the ones that have the best support for Linux. The thing is that I can't find reliable information about Intel's plans for 2013 on the Atom.

And although the netbook is not urgent, in one or two months it should be bought.

Thank you.

[deeiivid]

What budget did you plan to spend?

I suppose it's not of interest to you, but I mention it just in case. Have you thought about going to the second-hand market? perhaps a second-hand ultrabook from the previous generation has an attractive price and a decent battery.
By long battery life, do you mean 3-4 hours of use? or 6-8?

[cobito]

@deeiivid:

What budget did you plan to spend?

I suppose it's not of interest to you, but I mention it just in case. Have you thought about going to the second-hand market? perhaps a second-hand ultrabook from the previous generation has an attractive price and a decent battery.
By long battery life, do you mean 3-4 hours of use? or 6-8?

I haven't thought about the budget until I saw what the market offers me, but no more than 350 € although if a surcharge, of any amount, is well justified, there would be no problem. Keep in mind that the use will be to browse the Internet and office work, so it doesn't make sense to spend large amounts for those tasks.

I had thought about the second-hand market, but I would have to buy a new battery of "numerous" cells and the final price would probably not be very different from that of a new computer. Although in case of need I will go down that path.

The PC would have to be small (maybe even 11.6" is too big) so the ultrabook is ruled out.

For now I am thinking about the C-60 from AMD. I saw that 4 or 5 months ago the C-70 appeared although there are still no computers that incorporate it. On the other hand there is no information about Intel's roadmap for the Atom series N although for the Z series it talks about introducing its own GPU in 2014, a date that is too late and for a series that does not cover netbooks.

First I would like to know which platform to go for and then to rack my brains with the issue of autonomy which would be good if it were around 5 or 6 hours in idle.

[thr1234]

¡Esta publicación está eliminada!

[cobito]

Vaya ascazo de mercado: tres mil marcas y modelos y todos son iguales. Además si me gusta uno por el rendimiento o el soporte para Linux tiene una batería demasiado pequeña. Si la batería es lo suficientemente grande resulta que no funciona bien sobre Linux y si la batería es grande y me parece razonable el soporte para Linux resulta que el PC consume lo más grande.

Candidatos por orden de preferencia:

1. HP DM1-4140SS

Procesador: AMD Dual-Core E-450 1.6 GHz
TDP: 18W
Puntuación Passmark: 822

Tarjeta gráfica: Ati Radeon HD 6320
3DMark 2011: 330
3DMark Vantage: 874
3DMark 06: 2467

Ram: 2Gb
Disco duro: 500gb
Batería: 6 celdas

Precio: 330 €

Soporte para Linux: inicialmente bueno pero con controladores propietarios.
Pros: Muy buen rendimiento para un netbook
Contras: Un consumo demasiado elevado para un netbook aunque incluya batería de 6 celdas.

2. Acer Aspire One 725

Procesador: AMD C-60
TDP: 9W
Puntuación Passmark: 433

Tarjeta gráfica: ATI Radeon HD 6290 con 256 Mb dedicados
3DMark 2011: 200
3DMark Vantage: 497
3DMark 06: 1597

Ram: 2 Gb
Disco duro: 320 Gb
Batería: 4 celdas

Precio: 315 €

Soporte para Linux: inicialmente bueno pero con controladores propietarios.
Pros: Un rendimiento bueno. Un consumo contenido.
Contras: batería de sólo 4 celdas.

3. Phoenix Quasar 11.6"

Procesador: Intel Atom N550 1.5 GHz
TDP: 8,5 W
Puntuación Passmark: 603

Tarjeta gráfica: Intel GMA 3150
3DMark 06: 151

Ram: 2 Gb
Disco duro: 320 Gb
Batería: ¿?

Precio: 330€

Soporte para Linux: el mejor. Controladores libres con soporte oficial de Intel
Pros: Un consumo contenido con un rendimiento de CPU mejor que el C60.
Contras: desconozco el tamaño de la batería. Un rendimiento gráfico muy pobre. Plataforma antigua.

4. Acer Aspire One D270

Procesador: Intel Atom N2600 1,6 GHz
TDP: 3,5 W
Puntuación Passmark: 582

Tarjeta gráfica: Intel GMA 3600 (PowerVR SGX5)
3DMark 06: 274

Ram: 1 Gb
Disco duro: 320 Gb
**
Batería: 6 celdas**

Precio: 240 €

Soporte para Linux: pésimo en la actualidad (en algún foro he visto a usuarios dando saltos de alegría por una nueva versión del controlador que permite ¡el control del brillo de la pantalla! ¿Están de coña o qué?). Al igual que con la GMA500 probablemente se abandone el soporte para Linux en el futuro.
Pros: Un consumo muy reducido manteniendo un rendimiento decente junto con una batería de 6 celdas.
Contras: Rendimiento gráfico paupérrimo junto con un soporte para controladores que deja mucho que desear.

[kelven]

Didn't they say that netbook manufacturers were leaving them behind?...

Have you thought about ultrabooks like the Toshiba Z930 or similar? They go up in price but they are amazing.

And for small things, isn't a tablet worth it to you?, for browsing and office work you would have more than enough, wouldn't you?

[cobito]

@kelven:

Don't they say that netbook manufacturers have abandoned them?...

Have you thought about ultrabooks like the Toshiba Z930 or similar? They go up in price but they are amazing.

Triples the price of a netbook. It doesn't make sense to edit some spreadsheets and check email.

@kelven:

And for small things, isn't a tablet worth it to you?, for browsing and office work you would have enough, right?

An x86 tablet yes. A tablet with Android no. I've thought about it and it's another option but seeing what's out there and the prices, I don't see the overspending justified.

I'm going to wait a few weeks. If I see that there are no changes, I'll get one of the two AMD ones or some old Atom model.

EDITED: I've been reading and it seems that yes, netbooks have been discontinued. I was wrong then in focusing the issue.

[deeiivid]

Check this out:

Dual Booting Android and Linux on Asus Transformer Part Two « Stream #0

It's the closest thing to what you're asking for that I've found.

EDIT: I just remembered, the other day while reading MuyLinux I saw this:

http://www.muylinux.com/2013/01/17/kite-tablet-ubuntu-android/

EDIT2: Also, if you're interested, the Nexus 7 and 10 are starting to get traction in Linux, especially with Ubuntu. Although I know you're not a fan of this distro xD

[cobito]

@deeiivid:

Check this out:

Dual Booting Android and Linux on Asus Transformer Part Two « Stream #0

It's the closest thing to what you're asking for that I've found.

EDIT: I just remembered, the other day while reading MuyLinux I saw this:

Kite, the 10-inch tablet that works with both Ubuntu and Android

EDIT2: Also, if you're interested, the Nexus 7 and 10 are starting to gain traction in Linux, especially with Ubuntu. Although I know you're not a fan of this distro xD

I've been looking at those links and along with other things I've seen, I have an idea of how the circus is going. And the truth is, I don't like the situation at all.

Let's see, in terms of decent options, there are hundreds of thousands of ARM models at prices not lower than 300€. For me, ARM is not an option today because the only thing that runs well there is Android. There are Linux distros compiled for ARM, but the performance is not the best and the support for certain drivers leaves much to be desired at times. This, combined with the fact that the gadgets are not cheap, makes me not want to buy them (for 300€ I can get a netbook that has a billion times more possibilities than an ARM tablet).

Why not Android? Well, because I think it's an excessively limited operating system in many aspects: only applications made for Android work (I can forget about expanding uses in the future with specialized software), it doesn't have an office suite on par with Libre Office (which is not too much to ask) despite many rumors that LibreOffice will be "soon" available for Android, etc. As a "home use" system, it's correct. For a "productivity" environment, it's not an option at all.

What I want is an x86 machine, where I can install the operating system I want. If today I like Mageia, then Mageia. What if tomorrow I switch to Mint? Then I install Mint. And if next year I become a Windows user, I want to be able to install Windows. And that's something an ARM tablet, no matter how dual-boot it is, doesn't allow.

So for me, the only options are three:

1. Stop being silly and get myself a netbook before they run out.

2. Get a tablet PC with Atom from the Chinese along with a keyboard-case (which have started to be an option because they include Intel GPUs that I like).

3. Wait for the x86 tablet market to stabilize because the main manufacturers were going to start selling x86 tablets with Windows 8 this month. This means that in a few months, "low cost" models are likely to start coming out that replace what are now netbooks. This possibility is a bit risky because in a few months it may start to be difficult to find netbooks and it's possible that the assemblers' goal is not to fill their gap with a tablet.

I'm leaning towards option 1 or 3.

What I really would like is something like the Acer Iconia W500, but it's too expensive.

[cobito]

I've been watching the market over the past few weeks and it's been quite a movement. The models with AMD C-60 have been dropping in price almost daily until they were 30€ cheaper than a week ago. On the other hand, equipment with the C-70 has started to be sold, although I'm not clear that there is the slightest difference with respect to the C-60 in either consumption or performance.

I've realized that the tablet PC market is still too green: in ARM there is only Android (except for a few exceptions) and in x86 the prices skyrocket.

Moreover, a few months ago the Linux Kernel 3.7 appeared with full compatibility with ARM so it is no longer necessary to compile it for each ARM processor of each brand so probably ARM versions of numerous distros compatible with any device based on this architecture will start to come out.

Not to mention that in a few months Intel will release its new Atoms with their own graphics (based on the HD4000) so there will be an interesting skirmish between both architectures. So I will wait at least a year to get a tablet.

For now I will buy this netbook: http://www.asus.es/Eee/Eee_PC/Eee_PC_1225B/

AMD C-60
2 gb of ram
320 gb hard drive
11.6"
6-cell battery

For 300€.

I'll order it in a week, so until then I continue accepting suggestions.

[Yorus]

I've only had three laptops so far, two netbooks (an Asus and a Compaq) and my current Asus laptop, and having a clear idea of what to look for in each one, the most satisfactory was the Asus Eeepc 901, a little gem that I now miss :llorar:

It was very good in general, but what was amazing was the battery life which I think I remember reaching perfectly 5 hours. It had the old Atom N270 with the Intel 945G chipset that was fatally optimized in terms of consumption. In exchange it had two slow and low capacity SSDs instead of HD, which would balance the consumption a little.

I imagine that the 11.6" screen will penalize the consumption a little (although it is LED and mine was not) but it is worth having a normal resolution and not 1024x600.

I don't know, it looks great, I think it would be a very good buy.