Netbook with photography

[tinton14]

So I'm in the market for a netbook that allows me to take notes in class and do some light photoshop editing (don't want to carry my 14" laptop around due to weight). I was wondering if anyone had used any netbook with any version of photoshop and what their experiences are?

I'm currently thinking of getting something from Asus or Acer.
Looking at the EEE PC 1015 (haven't decided on which one yet PEM/PED/PEP)
Also looking at Acer AO532h

These netbooks need to have better names. I'm hoping to get 9+ hours on a single charge if possible, the longer battery life the better. Looking for longer battery life since they are "up to", instead of at least x hours (i wish) . I've also read about problem with 1024x600 isn't enough for photoshop? According to the specs, they should all be able to run up to 9.5 hours minimum so I'm hoping that isn't a problem. The 1015PN version also has the Ion2 graphics, I'm not sure if that will be any use. Any suggestion would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

[Bizurke]

As far as Photoshop goes, I'm unsure with netbooks as I don't use it. I am installing Lightroom right now to see if that runs on my Lenovo Ideapad S10e (10"). Once I have used it for a bit I'll try to remember to report back how well it works.

When it really comes down to it, most netbooks have the same processor and hardware no matter what brand they are. The important thing in selecting a netbook is probably keyboard and mouse layout, as they differ quite a bit and can be extremely aggravating if you get a configuration that is not natural to you.

Being stuck with 1024x600 (or 1024x576 on some 10" or lower netbooks) shouldn't be too much of an issue. In Windows you can change your display mode to allow panning across larger resolutions. On XP this is done by going to your Display Properties > Settings > Advanced > Monitor > and un-checking 'Hide modes that this monitor cannot display". I'm not sure how it would be done on Win7 which you're more than likely to get, but I know it can be done as I have a friend who uses his EEE PC on Win 7 at 1280x1024.

Battery life is not really that different by brand since we're talking about the same hardware. What you need to look for is a 9-Cell battery. You can either buy a netbook that comes with a 9-Cell or you can purchase one separately. My 6-Cell battery lasts me about 2hr 50min on Windows XP with the only performance change being an auto dimmed screen. On Linux 2.6.32-* on multiple distributions I average around 3hrs 20min and can get close to 4 hours with CPU scaling and a dimmed screen.

[tinton14]

Its true that they basically have the same hardware, I know the keyboard will be an important aspect of it, most likely take some getting use to no matter which I choose. Not having access to try any of these things is a problem with choosing the "right netbook". From the looks of it, the Acer netbooks seems to have a better keyboard, however I have not been able to try either so it is hard to tell.
I've seen different battery life on these things though, Acer cannot compare to the battery life Asus can provide, Asus has up to 9~13 hours depending on the model while Acer has things like up to 8hours. This is going to make a huge difference since I plan on taking it to class all day and some time at the library aftterwards, outlet isn't always going to be available. This could mean anywhere from 4hours (not worried about that) to 8~9hours. Thats where the problem arises.

[AndyNJ]

I have the Asus Eee PC 1101Ha. It's about a year old, so it's not the latest model, but it also has a slightly slower processor than most netbooks. I went with it because it has an 11" screen that sports a 1366×768 resolution and gets 8-10 hours of batter life. I run Lightroom on it with 2GB of memory and it works fine. It's nice in a pinch, but you won't want to do a lot of editing on there.

As far as performance goes, netbooks are crap. This is across the board. Some are better than others, but they really are barely worth the money IF you want anything more than a small and light computer strictly for browsing and notetaking. I like having this because it's a cheap computer that I can travel with. I don't really have to worry if anything happens to it.

I don't know what you money situation is, but you might be better off getting a new MacBook Air.

[tinton14]

I'm not expecting it to run like my 14" laptop, mostly for notetaking and browsing, very little editing on there if possible. Not a big fan of Macs, and the price of the MacBook Air doesn't look appealing. Hows the keyboard on the 1101HA?

[AndyNJ]

It's okay. Nothing to write home about, but it's 95% size so if you don't have extra large hands, you should be alright. The trackpad is a little annoying though. It's not quite as responsive as I'd like it to be and the edges aren't clearly felt by your finger as you approach them so sometimes you just keep on going right off of it.

[danbaileyphoto]

I'd also recommend the MacBook Air. It actually runs PS very vast, in fact here's a comparison video of how Photoshop runs on the MacBook Air vs the Macbook Pro.

Photo Grind! Macbook Air (2010) – Photoshop CS5 Comparison