netbooks--XP vs. Win7

[Jo-Anne]

Just as I was gearing myself up to buy a netbook with Windows XP, I noticed
that some netbooks are being offered with Windows 7 Home Starter. From what
I've read about Starter, it doesn't sound like what I want--can't play DVDs,
can't change wallpaper or color, can't run in XP mode, etc. However, an
upgrade to Home Premium (the only upgrade from Starter that I could find on
the Microsoft website) would add $80 to the cost of the computer.

I'd use the netbook primarily for travel, so I want mainly internet
browsing, email, word processing, movie watching--and synching files to my
other computers.

Is it worth trying the new OS, with the upgrade, or would I be better off
sticking with WinXP? I know this is a matter of opinion, but I'm curious
what other, more experienced users have chosen.

Thank you!

Jo-Anne

 

[Shenan Stanley]

Just as I was gearing myself up to buy a netbook with Windows XP, I
noticed that some netbooks are being offered with Windows 7 Home Starter.
From what I've read about Starter, it doesn't sound like what I
want--can't play DVDs, can't change wallpaper or color, can't run in XP
mode, etc. However, an upgrade to Home Premium (the only upgrade from
Starter that I could find on the Microsoft website) would add $80 to the
cost of the computer.

I'd use the netbook primarily for travel, so I want mainly internet
browsing, email, word processing, movie watching--and synching files to my
other computers.

Is it worth trying the new OS, with the upgrade, or would I be better off
sticking with WinXP? I know this is a matter of opinion, but I'm curious
what other, more experienced users have chosen.

I wouldn't personally ever choose a 'netbook' of any sort. It doesn't meet
my needs (norr does it really sound like it will do much in meeting yours
either.) There are many laptops that are only slightly bigger that will do
much more, do it without the frustrations a netbook will likely present,
etc.

In any case - I cannot see trying to squeeze *any* version of Windows 7 (no
matter how much I like it, how well I personally think it works, etc) onto a
netbook and expecting much of an enjoyable experience. Now I could be wrong
and perhaps they have put better processors and faster RAM in the netbooks
since I looked into them this summer.

If you can get a NetBook that woudl run Windows 7 comfortably - Core2Duo
2+GHz with 2 to 4GB memory and 40+GB drive space - go for it. At least
you'd have something modern that would be fairly easy to use in various
wireless situations and will accept modern software for a long time to come.
However - if you are much like most people I personally have seen get
Netbooks - the machine will likely end up sitting idle most of the timeand
only be used in a pinch and you might have beenbetter off with an iPhone -
so go the least expensive (Windows XP) route. ;-)

 

[Jo-Anne]

I wouldn't personally ever choose a 'netbook' of any sort. It doesn't
meet my needs (norr does it really sound like it will do much in meeting
yours either.) There are many laptops that are only slightly bigger that
will do much more, do it without the frustrations a netbook will likely
present, etc.

In any case - I cannot see trying to squeeze *any* version of Windows 7
(no matter how much I like it, how well I personally think it works, etc)
onto a netbook and expecting much of an enjoyable experience. Now I could
be wrong and perhaps they have put better processors and faster RAM in the
netbooks since I looked into them this summer.

If you can get a NetBook that woudl run Windows 7 comfortably - Core2Duo
2+GHz with 2 to 4GB memory and 40+GB drive space - go for it. At least
you'd have something modern that would be fairly easy to use in various
wireless situations and will accept modern software for a long time to
come. However - if you are much like most people I personally have seen
get Netbooks - the machine will likely end up sitting idle most of the
timeand only be used in a pinch and you might have beenbetter off with an
iPhone - so go the least expensive (Windows XP) route. ;-)

Thank you, Shenan! I suspect that netbooks in general come with small
amounts of memory, but most of them have more drive space than they used to.
The specs for the Toshiba netbook I've been looking at (because it has a
decent keyboard) and that so far comes with WinXP:

Intel Atom N280 1.66GHz Processor
1GB DDR2 RAM
160 GB Hard Drive

I doubt that the RAM can be upgraded, at least not before I'd buy the
computer, since these netbooks seem to be sold as is rather than buildable.
The notebook computer that I currently have weighs about 6.5 pounds, and
it's just too heavy for me to lug around airports and when I'm walking to a
shop with WiFi. I tried a friend's netbook, and I think I could handle it
much easier. I agree, though, that they're pretty limited.

Jo-Anne

 

[Cari \(MS-MVP\)]

I have an MSI Wind Netbook for travelling, because it's so light and small,
and I got rid of WinXP and put on Windows 7 Ultimate and OSX in a dual boot.
I did upgrade the 1gb of RAM to 2gb and got a bigger hard drive, but that's
about all I did to the hardware. Obviously Netbooks do not come with built
in DVD drives, so I got an LG external drive, which works perfectly and it
would be needed to do a reinstall of whatever O/S you desired. I also have
a 17" Toshiba with all the bells and whistles for everyday use and a Toshiba
14.5" for when I did a bit more hardware but not as much as the 17".

I'm very impressed with the Wind. And it's so light, you don't notice
you're carrying anything, which you must certainly do with the other two.

The Wind will also support Virtual XP on Windows 7 if you really still want
an older O/S, yes, I did test the Atom CPU with Intel's Identifier.
Virtualization got a big YES in the column.

And it's pink. It's so small I could put it in a purse. Battery life is
much better than either notebook. If Toshiba had been making netbooks at
the time I purchased it, I would probably have gone with theirs, but they
weren't, so Toshiba's loss was MSI's gain.

 

[Jo-Anne]

Thank you, Cari, for your thoughtful and positive response! I'm VERY tempted
to get the Toshiba right now, with WinXP, and upgrade the RAM and the OS
later. At least for now it'll match my other computers. I suspect I won't
need to get a larger hard drive, with this one being 160 GB. I know I'll
need an external DVD drive, which I'll order too.

Thank you again,

Jo-Anne

 

[Bubbi]

Just my 2 cents but I got a Netbook last year for Christmas (an Asus) and I
love it. Very light and has more memory and everything else than my ancient
PC. I love using it with windows XP. There is not much I can not do with
it--it is simply smaller than a standard lap top. I seem to have 3
sizes--my PC, Netbook, and My Dell Axim which works just fine as well
(without the phone bill).
Have fun...
Bubbi

 

[Jo-Anne]

Thank you, Bubbi! I'm looking forward to getting mine!

Jo-Anne

 

[Richard]

I've been thinking about the same purchase. (My 17 inch Gateway laptop is a
beast to travel with.) I love Windows XP but I don't feel comfortable going
with an operating system that's clearly on the way out, and Windows 7 runs
just fine on netbooks.

In its December 2009 issue, Consumer Reports gave a high rating for the
Toshiba Mini NB205-N230 which runs Windows 7 Home Starter. It looks nice and
ABT has it for $349 plus tax.

Windows 7 Home Starter's inability to play DVDs is outrageous. I have to
believe there will appear down-loadable freeware patches to correct this
problem. And thereby save the $80 upgrade fee.

On the other hand, you could just buy a netbook with Windows 7 Home Premium
pre-installed. ABT has the HP Mini 311 for $399, so you don't pay much for
the convenience of forgoing the upgrading hassle.

Or you could wait. I'm sure there will be more netbooks coming with Windows
7 Home Premium once the deficiencies of Windows 7 Home Starter become more
widely known.

Good Luck,
Richard

 

[Rick]

I've been thinking about the same purchase. (My 17 inch Gateway laptop is a
beast to travel with.) I love Windows XP but I don't feel comfortable going
with an operating system that's clearly on the way out, and Windows 7 runs
just fine on netbooks.

In its December 2009 issue, Consumer Reports gave a high rating for the
Toshiba Mini NB205-N230 which runs Windows 7 Home Starter. It looks nice and
ABT has it for $349 plus tax.

Windows 7 Home Starter's inability to play DVDs is outrageous. I have to
believe there will appear down-loadable freeware patches to correct this
problem. And thereby save the $80 upgrade fee.

On the other hand, you could just buy a netbook with Windows 7 Home Premium
pre-installed. ABT has the HP Mini 311 for $399, so you don't pay much for
the convenience of forgoing the upgrading hassle.

Or you could wait. I'm sure there will be more netbooks coming with Windows
7 Home Premium once the deficiencies of Windows 7 Home Starter become more
widely known.

Good Luck,
Richard

I did not know that netbooks had cd/dvd drives. I bought an external
for mine ant it has proved to be very satisfactory.

 

[Rick]

I wouldn't personally ever choose a 'netbook' of any sort. It doesn't meet
my needs (norr does it really sound like it will do much in meeting yours
either.) There are many laptops that are only slightly bigger that will do
much more, do it without the frustrations a netbook will likely present,
etc.

In any case - I cannot see trying to squeeze *any* version of Windows 7 (no
matter how much I like it, how well I personally think it works, etc) onto a
netbook and expecting much of an enjoyable experience. Now I could be wrong
and perhaps they have put better processors and faster RAM in the netbooks
since I looked into them this summer.

If you can get a NetBook that woudl run Windows 7 comfortably - Core2Duo
2+GHz with 2 to 4GB memory and 40+GB drive space - go for it. At least
you'd have something modern that would be fairly easy to use in various
wireless situations and will accept modern software for a long time to come.
However - if you are much like most people I personally have seen get
Netbooks - the machine will likely end up sitting idle most of the timeand
only be used in a pinch and you might have beenbetter off with an iPhone -
so go the least expensive (Windows XP) route. ;-)

Everyones needs are different. I have found that a netbook is very
useful when I travel. It is light, wireless, and relatively good all
around. It sure beats hauling around a Laptop.

 

[Jo-Anne]

I did not know that netbooks had cd/dvd drives. I bought an external for
mine ant it has proved to be very satisfactory.

Hi, Rick,

Netbooks do not have DVD drives. What Richard is referring to regarding
playing DVDs is movies (and maybe music too). With an external drive, you
can read and write DVDs, but you can't play movies that are on them--a
ridiculous limitation. I've read that there's no Media Center and no remote
media streaming either.

Jo-Anne

 

[Jo-Anne]

Hi, Richard,

If you're looking at the NB205-N230, check out the NB205-N330. The keyboard
is much better. What's weird is that when I check Amazon for the N330, it
shows up for most of the colors of the netbook. If I click on black,
however, the price goes down and the number changes to N230. From what I can
see in the photo, that means the cheaper and nowhere-near-as-good keyboard
comes with the black netbook, whereas the color ones get the better
keyboard--at least as far as I can tell.

Jo-Anne

 

[Bill in Co.]

Hi, Rick,

Netbooks do not have DVD drives. What Richard is referring to regarding
playing DVDs is movies (and maybe music too). With an external drive, you
can read and write DVDs, but you can't play movies that are on them--a
ridiculous limitation.

Why is that? Are you sure? What's to prevent someone from using any of
multitude of DVD player programs from doing that?

 

[Jo-Anne]

Why is that? Are you sure? What's to prevent someone from using any
of multitude of DVD player programs from doing that?

Hi, Bill,

I'm not sure what you'd have to do to get DVD playback, but it's not in the
Windows 7 Starter Edition. Nor is the ability to change wallpaper--and there
are a few other missing things. I Googled

netbook windows 7 starter dvd playback

and got lots of hits. One site said something about "3rd party codecs" to be
able to play videos.

Jo-Anne

 

[Bill in Co.]

Hi, Bill,

I'm not sure what you'd have to do to get DVD playback, but it's not in
the
Windows 7 Starter Edition. Nor is the ability to change wallpaper--and
there
are a few other missing things. I Googled

netbook windows 7 starter dvd playback

and got lots of hits. One site said something about "3rd party codecs" to
be
able to play videos.

Jo-Anne

You *may* need some codecs.

But you certainly would need some DVD player program too, say like PowerDVD,
or Zoom Player, or Media Player Classic, or perhaps even the regular Windows
Media Player can do it now (not sure about that one).

I don't know what Windows7 includes. (I'm still using XP, and want to stay
there).