Is this a good setup? (Aspire 1410 w/ su3500)

I've been looking into buying a budget netbook, and this is what I've come up with (prices with shipping\tax for US):

Aspire 1410 w/ SU3500 Core2 Solo 1.4Ghz - $360
2GB Crucial DDR2 PC2-6400 800 Mhz module - $40
320GB WD Scorpio Black 2.5" SATA Notebook Drive - $66.50
Selling old 160GB 2.5" SATA Notebook Drive - ($30)

Total: ~$435, give or take $5. I'll use the RAM flashing method in http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=5333093&postcount=14 to take the stock module to 800 Mhz, then add in the Crucial for 4GB Dual Channel 8000 Mhz speeds. The HDD clocks in around 80 MB\s transfer rates with 12 ms access times compared to the 35 MB\s 18 ms times for the stock, so I think it's worth the extra $35 along with twice the capacity. Power consumption and noise are very slightly higher, but over double the speed and capacity are probably worth it.

The core 2 solo is the biggest issue. The core 2 duo costs about $50 more, and comes with 2x 1gb sticks meaning I either spend $80 upgrading the ram for a total of $130 more, or I end up with a (likely slower overall) 2gb ram.

I don't think the dual core is worth it. From what I've seen, each core is about 25% slower, making the whole thing run properly threaded apps around 1.5x faster then the solo, albeit with twice the power consumption. But for day to day usage, I don't think I'll be doing many multi-core programs or video encoding. I use my i7 920 4.4 Ghz w\ dual GTX 295s on water and 24gb DDR-3 1666 RAM for my standard desktop, and it does all the heavy lifting.

This will be something for the road that I can easily take to someones house and pair it with my iPhone for road trips (Here in northern Illinois, AT&T services is awesome - I see 2.6 down\.8 up from my house about 45 minutes from Chicago, and I can drive 2 hours in almost any direction without losing 3G. Tethered with my netbook, it should be great for train trips and the like.

Advice? Comments? Concern? I picked this because it seemed to be the fastest overall netbook in the price range; the HP 311 has better graphics but is far slower overall, and I don't want to spend more for a computer I won't use that much.

 

If I were in your shoes, I'd go one of two extremes: Either get the SU3500 and go cheap with 2GB & stock HDD OR go all-out an get a dual core version with 4GB DDR2 and the 7200rpm HDD. If I did leave the RAM at 2GB I'd definitely flash it to 800Mhz. IIRC all SU3500 variants have Vista standard and the free 7 upgrade offer has ended, so that pig of an OS is really going to impact performance and usability of that system ,regardless of RAM/HDD/CPU.

P.S. Awesome desktop rig you've got there. I actually have surprised myself at how much more I've used this little Acer than originally anticipated. I have a feeling you might find yourself doing a bit of moderately heavy lifting with it. I know I am certainly doing more with the Acer than I ever did with my old EEE PC.

I'd personally go with the SU2300 version of the 1410:
http://tinyurl.com/yzepgpr

$449.99 from Amazon (in stock again on the 10th). You get much better performance, Win7 standard and a larger 250gb HDD. Then sell the stock 250gb HDD and get the WD black HDD if you really need it. I personally have that exact same drive in my 1810T and it's fast, quet and does not impact the battery life much at all.

 

I have several copies of Win7 from MSDN subscriptions and friends who work in IT, so I plan to wipe whatever comes with it and put Win 7 Ultimate x64 on it - it runs awesome on my desktop.

Basically, here's my options: Single core with RAM\HDD (Both of them are awesome bang-for-the-buck options, and I wouldn't consider it without them) for $435, or dual core with RAM\HDD for $555 ($80 more for the netbook, $40 more for the RAM). Since I will be using almost exclusively single core programs Since I've gotten used to my desktop, I can hardly stand using Photoshop on anything less then 3 Ghz+, and with logmein, video encoding and other power tasks can be handled remotely through the netbook. I just don't see spending $120\30% more for a performance hit in most situations and a boost in a few.

 

I own a 3810T with a SU3500. It's not bad in terms of performance. It's definitely better than the Intel Atoms in netbooks, but obviously not as powerful as the dual core CULV alternatives.

Runs normal programs such as Internet browsers, videos and office applications fine, as you would expect.

Considering your other computer is more than sufficient for other needs, I think this setup would be fine.

 

Does it seem like the 5400 RPM hard drive is bottlenecking it? Obviously a 7200 would beat it by a large margin, but the 500 GB would help to some extent (around 50 MB\s to the 160's 30 and the Scorpio Black's 80), but random access would still be high.

I ask because I haven't owned a computer with a spinning drive in a while - my old 1720 had a 60gb Vertex SSD, and my new setup has quad Vertexes in RAID0. I was strongly considering getting a 30GB Vertex for this, but the size is just too small - 60gb would be a minimum - and the price for a large capacity SSD is too high for a 'cheap' netbook.

 

I had a Seagate Momentus 5400.5 in my old EEE PC and I briefly had my WDD Black in it prior to getting my 1810 this past November. I can safely say that the 7200rpm HDD gave the underpowere Atom CPU a nice kick in the seat of the pants. I honestly wouldn't use a current Atom machine without a 7200rpm HDD, though as you said, perhaps one of the latest generation of 5400rpm drives might be a reasonable compromise.

FWIW, the difference going from the stock 320gb Hitachi in my 1810 to the WD Black wasn't nearly as noticable in "feel" as the HDD upgrade on the EEE--I didn't run any benchies to confirm it, just going by general perception.

Sounds like you're set and have made a very good case for the SU3500 + the upgrades. Go for it and let us know how it all works out. An be careful when doing the HDD swap on that 1410! That ribbon connector is kinda fragile!

 

why not just get a laptop with the su2300? it goes for about the same price but has dual cores.

 

Shame on you for only reading the title. The dual core is $120 more and slower for most of my daily uses.

As for the HDD, hkklife confirmed what I suspected - manufactures are cutting costs, and a stock 160gb 5400 RPM drive is far slower then a $35 more expensive Scorpio, so it should be a good investment.

Larger HDD = faster read\write times due to higher density platters, so going from a 160gb 5400 to a 320gb 7200 is a bigger jump then a 320gb 5400 to a 320gb 7200. Plus, the 320gb on the 1810 may be a higher-end drive, as opposed to the budget-bin $360 160gb 1410.