Netbook decisions - Help!

[calloyd]

I'm about to head off on a holiday to Borneo and Bali and thought I'd retire my 7yr old HP laptop as it's too heavy, bulky and really is on it's last legs. I'd like to buy one of the netbooks as they're much lighter to carry around and I'll also be able to use it for emails, but wonder if it would be too slow in downloading photos and if they would be capable of running PS Elements or Canon DPP so I could view the RAW files. I wouldn't use it much at home so don't want to spend too much (under $500 if possible).

I've come up with an HP which has the new N570 processor, an Acer which has the AMD C50 fusion processor and a few which have the N550 processor (all dual core) but can't find much to tell me which is more suitable - if any.

Does anyone have any experience with them - or any netbook, or would I be better off spending a bit more and getting a more powerful, but still light and small, machine.

Hope someone can help please.

[alanmill]

Not sure about the new processors, but I took a netbook with me on my trip to Japan in March. I found that downloading photos as a storage medium was normal albeit a little slower due to the slow disk speeds. When using Adobe Lightroom / Picaso - I found it slow, almost painful some times, due to the slower disk speed, but mainly lack of memory for the programs to run, which in turn caused it to page to disk more. (My system only had 1Gb RAM ).

The main trade off for me though, the netbook fits perfectly in my camera bag - so I didn't need to carry around more luggage than necessary. Just wish it had more memory and maybe an SSD.

Alan.

[abitfishy]

I bought a Lenovo Ideapad with 2gb ram for a few holidays and LOVE IT. Needless to say it was more to transfer pics to email a few home etc, not much editing, but it was great. Probably ok for basic editing.

[Patagonia]

Raw editing is painful but the lightweight advantage is superb. I would go to the netbook but shoot RAW+Jpeg so if you wish to see/edit photos during the trip you will have the faster jpegs. For the RAW downloading only its ok.

regards

[ameerat42]

If you get one with the Atom processor - of any flavour - be prepared for slow processing performance, raw conversion, Photoshop. Even more important is the restricted screen display - not for serious editing. For image download from camera they're livable with, and for the internet they're OK. I knew all this when I got it, and having listed these drawbacks, I would only part with my Asus netbook for on equally light and cheap but more powerful.
Am.

[calloyd]

Many thanks for your replies, you've certainly helped me make a decision. I won't be doing any editing - just looking and deleting the rubbish so it looks like it will be the way to go, and I love the idea of shoving it in my camera bag without weighing it down much more than it already is.

Thanks again
Carole

[ameerat42]

...I love the idea of shoving it in my camera bag without weighing it down much more than it already is...Carole

Just a caution: check the weight of the unit and its power supply in your camera bag first

[Patagonia]

what about an Ipad?...if it has an interface for downloading from camera (I don´t know but Ipods have) it can be an excellent choice...there´s even some raw editors for it but I guess they will be as slow as netbooks...

regards

[dunnart]

what about an Ipad?...if it has an interface for downloading from camera (I don´t know but Ipods have) it can be an excellent choice...there´s even some raw editors for it but I guess they will be as slow as netbooks...

regards

I agree - think about an iPad with the camera connection kit. It's no use for processing and ok for photo storage. For emails, web surfing, weight and space, its excellent.

cheers

Steve

[wmphoto]

what about an Ipad?...if it has an interface for downloading from camera (I don´t know but Ipods have) it can be an excellent choice...there´s even some raw editors for it but I guess they will be as slow as netbooks...

regards

X2 on this suggestion. I travelled for 4 weeks with my iPad and it was perfect for backup / editing (RAW) plus the usual internet / email stuff.

[Patagonia]

X2 on this suggestion. I travelled for 4 weeks with my iPad and it was perfect for backup / editing (RAW) plus the usual internet / email stuff.

Warren, good to know it works, how do you transfer the RAW files from camera to the Ipad?

Regards

[calloyd]

I have to admit I've looked at the iPad but there didn't seem to be anywhere to put the SDHC card so didn't look any further Maybe I should look into it again as I've heard a few good comments about them.
Thanks for your suggestions.

[ElectricImages]

MAYDAY MAYDAY

Be advised that Canon DPP suite won't install on most netbooks due to the installer detecting that the screen resolution is insufficient.

However, I managed to install it on my netbook by hooking it up to an external monitor, and THEN installing the software. XD

Good luck.
L.

[junqbox]

We also have a netbook for travelling (mainly for storage and email, etc.) I wouldn't try and do any editing as such on it though, too small a screen and slow.
Our is a Lenovo Ideapad.

[abitfishy]

Another Ideapad fan I assume. I reckon it was the best $350 I've ever spent. My wife has it overseas travelling around asia at the moment and we are keeping in touch via email and skype. Amazing.

[dunnart]

I have to admit I've looked at the iPad but there didn't seem to be anywhere to put the SDHC card so didn't look any further Maybe I should look into it again as I've heard a few good comments about them.
Thanks for your suggestions.

You have to buy the camera connection kit (~$30?). It is two plugs - usb and sd card. Use the usb to plug the camera into the iPad or us the sd card plug to just use the sd card. Not as elegant as having the connections in built into the iPad - but that's the way Apple did it.

cheers

Steve

[wmphoto]

You have to buy the camera connection kit (~$30?). It is two plugs - usb and sd card. Use the usb to plug the camera into the iPad or us the sd card plug to just use the sd card. Not as elegant as having the connections in built into the iPad - but that's the way Apple did it.

cheers

Steve

And you can shoot entirely in RAW. The Photo program on the iPad will recognise the files. For editing I use PhotoPad (by Zagg) or PS Express (by Adobe). I then use Facebook Friendly for iPad to upload photos while travelling. I believe there is also a Flickr app but I haven't looked into it. The best part about it all is all these apps are free.

I agonised for ages over iPad v netbook, in the end what convinced me to go the iPad was the fact that I already have a laptop and desktop at home and I didn't think I would use the netbook for anything but travel. Whereas I use my iPad all the time and just bought a second one for my wife as we were using it that much. Good for movies on those long flights too due to the battery life.

As you can tell, I am a big fan of the iPad.

[woofie]

If you do go the netbook, look at upgrading the RAM if you can to at least 2gb it'll make it run a HEAP smoother and easier to use

[MarkChap]

If you want a light weight, easy to use RAW viewer/basic editor, then look at Faststone Image viewer and Image resizer, both are free and quite good for what they are.

I have an ASUS EEEPC, can't remember the model, bought mainly for the compact size, to be used for transferring images to an external hard drive when traveling and for email and some internet use, it is no rocket ship but does the job admirably

[J.davis]

Asus eeepc +1