Netbooks for flash games

I am looking at purchasing a netbook for the wife to use, as our HP laptop continues to overheat and shut down (already been repaired once). She uses it only for web browsing, facebook, loading pictures via sd card, and playing flash based games. My questions are: Do these stay pretty cool when left on for extended periods of time, and would this netbook be able to play flash games like Bejewelled, Farmville, etc?

The followin is what I am looking to buy, as it is $250 on Dell for the next 48 hours!

Genuine Windows® 7 Starter for Small Notebook PCs, 32bit, EnglishIntel® Atom® Processor N450 (1.66GHz, 512K L2 Cache)160G, 2.5inch, 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive1GB DDR2 SDRAM56WHr Lithium-Ion Battery (6-cell)10.1" Widescreen Display (1024x600) Integrated 1.3M Pixel WebcamHigh Definition Audio 2.0Intel® NM10 ExpressInspiron Mini 10 (Inspiron 1012)Integrated 10/100 Network CardAdobe® Acrobat® Reader 9.0No Internal Digital TV Receiver

Yeah, that should work just fine, for flash games at least. I'd advise doing a fresh install and eliminating all possible excess processes though if you want things to run smoothly.

Does she watch a lot of flash videos on hulu, youtube, etc? Because the atom tends to be really underpowered for that kind of thing, and you may experience a lot of stuttering in full screen. Flash is supposed to support GPU acceleration in the near future, so ION based netbooks may catch a break, but it's still something to think about.

I looked at getting a netbook for myself, but decided they were just too underpowered for my (very basic) needs for a laptop.

I ended up going with a refurbished IBM Thinkpad from TigerDirect for about the same price. Much sturider, and far more powerful. They have some that are either Pentium M or Core Duo based for about the same price as a netbook. The Pentium M and Core Duo are old, but they're still way, way more powerful than an Atom. And the old IBM notebooks are some of the toughest computer's you'll find. They can take all kinds of abuse that would kill a normal notebook.

Link

We went with an HP laptop last time to replace our desktop (space saving). What a mistake! The screen went black about 14 months after we purchased it. I called HP and they actually replaced out of warranty for free (must have had a lot of those models (DV 2000)do the same thing). Anyway, we have had it for about another year and it works pretty well, but I tried to burn a DVD disk through DVD maker and it shuts the computer down completely every time (tried 4 times). I assume it's overheating again. I know while trying to watch a tv show on it, it sometimes freezes and gets choppy. The specs are decent (Turion 2.1, 2gb ram, nvidia 6150) and it's not like I am trying to run crysis or anything.

I guess I am just concerned about overheating and have heard the netbooks do not over heat. Can anyone confirm this?

A quick upgrade to Windows 7 and an extra gig of RAM wouldn't hurt and they are pretty easy upgrades to do yourself.VespertineStar

Can't up the RAM, the 1GB is soldered onto the board. As for you TC I have a Dell Mini 9 since it has came out over a year or two ago, and they don't generally overheat and shut down. The only fan inside the machine is the CPU fan so it will get hot to the touch at times since all the components are right there. If you are concern with heat I would recommend swapping the Hard Drive out for a Solid State one since no moveable parts mean no heat.

Also like others have said the HD playback on streaming videos is pretty bad since they cap the IntelGMA and the ATOM isn't strong enough to pick up the slack. I would say go for because it is probably one of my best computer purchases because it is so easily portable and can be used to make a Hackintosh which is also a fun little side project.

If you get a netbook that has an NVIDIA ION chipset with Flash player version 10.1 then you could play 1080p youtube smoothly.

We went with an HP laptop last time to replace our desktop (space saving). What a mistake! The screen went black about 14 months after we purchased it. I called HP and they actually replaced out of warranty for free (must have had a lot of those models (DV 2000)do the same thing). Anyway, we have had it for about another year and it works pretty well, but I tried to burn a DVD disk through DVD maker and it shuts the computer down completely every time (tried 4 times). I assume it's overheating again. I know while trying to watch a tv show on it, it sometimes freezes and gets choppy. The specs are decent (Turion 2.1, 2gb ram, nvidia 6150) and it's not like I am trying to run crysis or anything.

I guess I am just concerned about overheating and have heard the netbooks do not over heat. Can anyone confirm this?

dewc1

This was ultimately why I jumped on an IBM thinkpad as soon as saw one in like new condition. Net/notebooks aren't like desktops. The build quality matters a lot more than the specs since they're usually just for basic, general purpose computing. And modern net/notebooks aren't made all that well for the most part.

HP in my experience has pretty bad build quality, just like Toshiba.

If you get a netbook that has an NVIDIA ION chipset with Flash player version 10.1 then you could play 1080p youtube smoothly.

Daytona_178

I have had pretty good luck with HP in the past as well. I have had one other laptop and a few of their desktops (I have one now that I won off Slickdeals.net and it may be the best one I have had yet) with no complaints. But this particular laptop has given me fits!

To handle flash, your going to need either a netbook with an ion chipset, or a regular laptop (Dm3 1130US is currently my favorite if you want a compact one(yes its an hp) gets around 5-6 hours off a full charge). HP is pretty good IMHO. Though, I don't ever recommend getting one of their desktops... ever. Those are the most annoying things to work on, they make them in the most ridiculous ways possible.IvanElk

I've had the exact opposite experience with HP. Their motherboards are trash, and they use cheap hard drives. My girlfriend's step mother has one and I'm always fixing that piece of junk.

Toshibas are also unbelievably horrid. I could tell you lots of horror stories about them. My parents bought a bunch of their laptops for their business and they all had nasty issues, like overheating, or just randomly shutting off without warning. They use the cheapest parts you can get and are made out of cheap coffee cup plastic, and even held together inside by masking tape in some cases as I found when I disassembled one.

The Toshiba laptop they gave me to take to grad school would randomly shut off and went through three motherboard replacements, had a battery that could no longer hold a charge after three months, a power brick that made a loud, high pitched hissing sound, and a keyboard and touchpad that would randomly become unresponsive. The case was so flimsy that after just a year, the DVD drive could no longer stay in the case and would just fall out the side if you tilted the laptop. It was more of a cruel joke than a computer.

My girlfriend had the same model Toshiba and her LCD screen died three times.

Never, ever buy a Toshiba. And if someone gives you one as a gift, sell it on ebay.

I hear you on the Toshiba. I bought one (brand new) from Best Buy several years ago. Took it home, and it quit working the same night. I think we got about 3 hours of use out of it! Our HP laptop battery lasted about a year and then would only last about 20 minutes (charged full).

I hear you on the Toshiba. I bought one (brand new) from Best Buy several years ago. Took it home, and it quit working the same night. I think we got about 3 hours of use out of it! Our HP laptop battery lasted about a year and then would only last about 20 minutes (charged full).

dewc1