Expert Netbook Advice Requested - Hard Drive To Ssd Switch

oK....Sold my XPS1340 and looking at building a smaller machine which seemed to be borderline netbook.

I am looking around this:

http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/08/gateway-pumps-out-ec-series-netbooks/#comments

but would be more than happy with a 11.6/Atom 1.66Pine (stretched to2Gb/2-4gb/Ion base/hdmi system....

Question... do most netbooks run a 2.5 or 1.8" drive? I ask because I have recently seen an HP 10" opened with the 2.5" hd easily switchable.

I would like to throw something like a 256gb Sammy ssd in there and am wondering if the bios would accept it or if there would be any other difficulties I might encounter...

Thanks ahead...

 

some have pcie-sata-minicard-strangers, some have 2.5". i don't personally know any having 1.8" drives (mainly as they're quite expensive => for netbooks not that well suited).

 

Does that means a simple flip to ssd then or would there be any bios issues with netbooks...

I am asking as I haven't much heard of this being done yet have seen some netbooks with very small ssds (16gb) yet not larger...

I know we are trying to keep ssdsdown at acertain price point but...well....a powerful/Win7 64bit/4gb systemwith an ssdis soappealing I think...11" screen smallest.

 

one main point is, too, the atom is very slow compared to the rest of the system in such a setup. i'd maybe suggest you some CULV based system instead? they are in 11" sizes, quite cheap, faster than the atom, and are sure 2.5" (or have specs actually).

the netbooks with 16gb ssd or so most likely have something like this in:

 

And thats why I was asking of the bios with the atom....I am curious whether a straight swap is possible.

Here is an Asus which got me wondering if all had the same hdsetup.

 

I agree. A simple CULV will be much faster than the fastest Atom.

A couple of days ago Acer 1410 with SU2300 (Dual Core, 1Mb cache) was selling for $349. The SU2300 scores about 850 in Passmark CPU Mark versus 300 for the Atom N280.

Btw, almost all CULV and 10" - 12" netbooks come with 2.5" drives.

 

Ok....once answer then.... now would there be issues with the BIOS at all when throwing in a ssd?

Also... would an atom 1.6 not run the same as a culv 1.6? And....the only reason for considering the atom is because I want the power with extended battery life....and yes I know that the Ion will kill that.

 

I don't expect any problems with SSDs. My HP DM1 had no problem with the Intel G2.

Atom and CULV CPUs use a different architecture. A single core 1.2Ghz CULV is faster than a single core 2.0GHz Atom.

 

I wasn't aware of this and was simply going by the speed regardless of type.

Are there any tests that could compare that you are aware of? I am going to do a bit of hunting as well.

 

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_list.php
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Processors-Benchmarklist.2436.0.html
http://techreport.com/articles.x/18167/6

This one is good too: http://techreport.com/articles.x/17637/6

 

Les with the discounts you can get i think you might want to take a look at the Alienware M11X. It will be around $999 but well remembering back to the discounts you got with the M1330 i wouldn't be surprised if you can get it for half price or something lol. Good luck.

 

Hmmm...interesting..... so.....culv at 1.6 may be interesting

battery life though...next concern

Best thing for me is I have 1300 to find the abs best system I can and throw an ssd in (ssd incl)....

Anyone wanna take a crack at it eheheh

I wish they wouldcome out with a reg touch screen netbook/laptop without the tablet swivels..that would be a huge bonus using the screen same as u would ur IPOD touch.

 

Rachel,

My discount days have pretty much run out since I have gotten away from spending times with ssds, reviews and whatnot.

I have been trying to find an in with Asus to test or get a lower system to review with the 512gb ssd they have been touting.

Just went through heart ache with their customer service and hoping this may help. My sons G71 has had its screen, graphics, hd's replaced inless than 3 months and I went through hell trying to get them to exchange. Their policy is very strict 1 month replacement. They did...and upgraded to a G72 which is sitting beside me still in the box (hes in Afghan now) but, the process was far worse than Dell ever was...

hoping I can use this...

 

if you have it as tablet, you don't even need the ipod touch anymore

how big of an ssd you want? that defines the the price for the laptop

 

The ssd would have to go in seperately and I have a Sammy 64Gb I can try out first. From there I will def be looking 256gb but I am looking for a system without ssd (unless its part of the configuration initially) for around a grand max but cheaper the better... Looking at Asus 1201n as largest screen that I would go to although the ULVT30 has had me coming back for more looks. Size, weight and battery life are important factors.....and it has to have abilty to run 64Bit and hdmi for my screen.

 

Oh next question....

Do netbooks utilize the same size ram modules as laptops???

 

Yes! (They do).

 

Wonderful....so my ssd and ram will be easy swaps then...tx.

 

I would get a CULV laptop... its not crippled like atom... also if u're willing to wait for a few weeks , u might be able to get the new core i5 and core i7 CULV laptops... with the Intel HD Integrated GPU which is way better than 4500MHD.... IMO getting the m11x is waste of money... gaming on such a small screen would be a headache... of course a 13 inch screen would be better...

 

Thanks Sean and yes....I may do that for a few weeks after CES. The prob is the loop we get into which is always stalling and waiting if something better will come up next week. I see on the SSD thread there is still one who has been playing that game for 2 years now...

 

Here ya go.....

Lets squeeze this into a 11.6 or...Ide even jump at a 12 incher with this!

Best I have seen yet by far....even for the price!

http://zedomax.com/blog/2010/01/08/asus-ul30jt-hands-on-review-ces-2010/

 

Don't hold your breath, CULV makers love designing form factors that make no sense. While I'd love to see a decent 11.6" (or even smaller) CULV, the pickings are pretty slim since most models are 13"-15".

It's almost ironic how most of these supposed netbook killers are the size of full laptops.

 

Most SSD based netbook use either PCIE flash storage or ZIF 1.8" PATA flash storage

 

I've seen 11.6-12.1" CULV offerings from Acer, Toshiba, Hewlett Packard, Asus, Packard Bell, Gateway and MSI.

And I'm probably forgetting some.

 

Most of them are gimped in some way relative to the larger models. For instance, the 12" Asus UL20 is the only member of the UL family where the G210M is not available.

 

Oh you're looking for an 11.6" CULV with decent graphics? Well you did not say that. But in that case Alienware seems to be the only option with 335m in a 11.6".

A lot less powerful would be MSI U230 with HD3200 in 12.1"

 

Actually, I'm looking for a 9" or 10" CULV and am currently very disappointed by their complete nonexistence, hence my complaints about form factors and my mocking of the idea that the CULV is a "netbook killer". It's just that if I'm going to have to put up with an 11.6" one, I'm expecting full feature parity with the rest of the series, otherwise that would mean making so many compromises that I might as well not bother with a CULV.

Besides, the switchable graphics is the main distinguishing feature of the UL series. Without it, it's no different from any other CULV.

 

Well......Im kinda getting itchy and really like the look of the Asus UL20 here:

http://www.anitec.ca/product/625149...mium-64bit-centrino-2-notebook-silver-ul20aa1

I question whether I can get a 1201n Asus with ulv processor...

I am also wondering if I can simply switch my 2x2gb sdram modules from this Dell M1330 to the new UL20 which I know has the capability of 2 slots. I figure if I can do that and swap out the hd for my Samsung ssd and a fresh install of Win 7...life would be good in 64 bit...

Thoughts?Word on systems equal or better available?

 

You might like the Asus Eee 1201N. I just got mine, and it's quite nice. It's got the dual-core Atom 330 (1.6GHz) and nVidia ION graphics, and comes with 2GB of DDR2, upgradeable to 8GB, along with a 250GB 2.5" SATA hard drive. It's 12.1" and has full 720p resolution, unlike a lot of netbooks/CULV ultraportables. And unlike most netbooks that come with XP or the crappy 7 Starter edition, the 1201N includes 7 Home Premium (32-bit).

 

I am wondering if the 1201 will come out with a ULV processor as I have become kind of stuck on them since checking out performance specs...

Nice system though..