Dell.ca Deal Details

Thx for posting RFD ! been waiting for it

BUT

so many lacking features

no HDD option
no 6-cell battery option
no RAM upgrade option (and what is the maximum supported by the motherboard ??)
More color choice (i know Dell can)
Wireless N
GPS?? (im dreaming ^^ but i wish it so bad !!!)

Webcam should be included for free !!!

At $399.99 with XP it’s comparable to other netbooks. Nice and small AC adapter, touchpad and mouse buttons below are nice, and a fanless design. Easy access to upgrades through a back panel from what I’ve read as well.

This is not a deal. This pricing is more than for a comparable Acer One.

i would trust dell more than acer, at least dell’s support been ok

Most definitely not a deal, but it’s not over priced either. It’s just the generic price all the lower model netbooks are being priced at. Whether the spec vs price ratio is up to par is relative, not many people like netbooks and would prefer a full sized laptop, however, there are people who have netbooks as a true portable laptop or a secondary laptop

iamsamsamiam: yes true !

i think RFD is partner with Dell and they do get paid for posting their latest “""Deal""""

Sad but RFD has to same some money too

yeah as a quick comparison the Acer at FS
http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?sku_id=0665000FS10108699&catid=27003&logon=&langid=EN

is $399
1G Ram
120 GB drive
VGA out
Webcam
Windows XP - for those people whose software wont run under Vista or Linux (like mine)
8.9” UMA 1024*600 display system
Media card reader
3 USB
10/100 and 802.11b/g wireless
3 cell battery @ 2.2mAH for 3 Hour run time (I’m sceptical on the battery capacity number - I think someone farked a conversion somewhere)

I would wipe the Adobe reader and power producer first off though as bloatware

Downside is that the feasability of upgrading is near nill - BUT - then you have to ask “do I even bother upgrading a laptop in the first place?”
If you say yes and want to pay and extra $50-100 then go Dell. If not then pick what is right for you and your budget.

Glossy screen? No thanks for me.

8 GB doesn’t seem like much. How much of that is left after the OS is installed? Will I be able to delete MS Works and install MS Office (is there enough room for that)?

Picked up the Acer and it is noisy as hell!

Fan comes on at power-up and turns up as soon as you do any major disk-access...unacceptable for me.

The “bilingual” keyboard is confusing and poorly laid out.

The “scroll-bar” portion of the touch-pad is very hard to use and the “mouse” buttons are relatively loud.

Performance is fine and screen is quite decent if a bit glossy.

I returned it.

If you want one, hesitate while the FS employee tries to push the extended warranty on you.  They may offer a discount to induce your acceptance.  Mine discounted the Acer on the bill.  If I returned just the warranty plan, the Acer would be $359.99 + tax...not too bad.

I will try the Dell because it should be very quiet...I hope it isn’t a lap-burner though…

Why won’t more local shops carry the MSI Wind?  If you compare the prices of the different colours, you can see that the supply is constrained!

@Thrudd

The battery life is nowhere near 3hours.

2 if you are conservative.

I tried the Acer One Aspire with the 120Gb drive, and was severely disappointed.  The noise of the fan alone drove me nuts.  I may have got a bad one, but I also found that the hard drive made noises when you turned the unit to different angles, and the wifi card vanished from windows spontaneously, requiring a re-install of everything.  ...I wasn’t impressed.

Based on that I ordered one of these Dells maxed out and I’m expecting good things based on the reviews I’ve read.  For my needs it will no doubt be a better machine:  Solid State drive to withstand getting tossed around a bit, higher resolution webcam, easy upgradability of components, better keypad button locations, fanless so no noise at all.

I am expecting higher build quality with this (things such as metal frame inside for instance), and again reviews have been decent.  I’ve been digging into these netbooks for quite a while now.  Don’t let the list of must have features that others defined based on one machine versus another dictate your needs.  Think about your own and how you will actually use the device.  It’s not intended to be a main computer, but rather a highly portable pc away from your pc to do internet stuff and a few other basics.

My second choice would likely be either the Asus 901 or 1000h.  I didn’t take the 901 due to smaller keys and I didn’t take the 1000h because it’s bigger and I believe has a fan.  ( I was advised that all of these units that have fans are at least somewhat noisy, definitely more than larger laptops.)