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Netbooks are painfully slow. I got myself a netbook (Samsung NC10 Plus) recently, and while I don't regret it because I view it as an emergency computer if I sh

Netbooks are painfully slow. I got myself a netbook (Samsung NC10 Plus) recently, and while I don't regret it because I view it as an emergency computer if I should spill water on my laptop, it isn't pleasant to use.

artmageddon 15y ago
I'm with you on all points. I have one myself that I use solely for coding when I'm commuting to/from work on the train, and for that purpose it works wonderfully. I've had to treat even a new netbook(for the time, anyway) like it was a very old PC... so I kept the setup on it to an absolute minimum. It boots very quickly and I can usually get working in very little time. Once I get back home, all my code is sync'd with my other PC's on Dropbox and I continue from there. That said, I wouldn't recommend using it as a primary machine for long durations... not without a spare mouse, keyboard or monitor to hook up to the VGA port. I've done that setup in the past and it's worked out for the most part, but without them I don't think I could use it for more than 2 hours.
rjbond3rd 15y ago
It depends on the processor. A low-end single-core Intel Atom is okay for light browsing. But some ultra-portables with dual-core CPU's are much zippier, e.g., the Thinkpad x120e with the dual-core AMD Fusion E350.
- dexen 15y ago
  For most uses it depends on memory too: both RAM and mass storage. A typical user has a browser, an IM and some other window opened most of the time. A bunch of systray icons, perhaps also antivirus, if MS Windows. A typical netbook is underprovisioned in RAM and has slow storage to match; pain both when starting up and in case of swapping VM pages. Topped up with a joke of a GPU, likely using up access cycles of system memory instead of having own dedicated RAM. Less display estate (pixel-wise) means you have to Alt+Tab or scroll around more often, too; sucking up your time. So no, CPU doesn't have to be the only choke point in a netbook, and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amdahls_law http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amdahls_law kicks in.
  - dorian-graph 15y ago
    My netbook was originally 1GB so I bought a 2GB stick for dirt cheap, something like $20 or so. And this may sound painful but on the 10.1" screen I would have 2 windows next to each other, split vertically so each taking up half the screen, and it was fine.
  - rjbond3rd 15y ago
    Interesting. My case is perhaps unusual since I never use more than 800Mb of RAM. I am running Linux, a browser and a terminal. So on all my machines, I only have 1Gb installed and no swap. I did add an SSD but other than boot time, did not get any benefit since everything fits in RAM and there's no swap. So that's why I consider CPU to be the bottleneck for me.
dorian-graph 15y ago
Really, all of them? I used a Samsung N130 (Single core 1.6GHZ Atom, 2GB RAM) for a few weeks and it was fast enough to do very basic Java development, browsing, SSH, etc. while out at uni.
eftpotrm 15y ago
I can't agree; while I won't deny it's slower and less capable than my main machine, it's very rarely an obstacle in my regular use of it.
rbanffy 15y ago
Not really. I have an Acer from their first-gen series that's still perfectly satisfying for development and some browsing. I write a lot of Python code on it, run and test it under Django (sqlite, MySQL and PostgreSQL) and Google App Engine dev_appserver and it works well enough. Its memory has been maxed out at 1.5 GB (newer models can have more) and my most serious problem with it is that the disk is slow (but it's industry-standard sized and can be easily replaced by a faster one (or an SSD). The second one is the screen - 1024x600 is somewhat limiting sometimes (but it has a VGA port and can do dual head). What are you running on your Samsung? It's hardware should make it a bit zippier than mine.
Produce 15y ago
Like the other guy said, that's more of a software issue. A minimal linux distro with a lightweight WM tends to work well. An easy way to aid the lack of RAM is to use an SD card or USB drive as swap (to save the SSD from overuse). The keyboards on those things, on the other hand, are simply not compatible with my fingers.

artmageddon 15y ago

I'm with you on all points. I have one myself that I use solely for coding when I'm commuting to/from work on the train, and for that purpose it works wonderfully. I've had to treat even a new netbook(for the time, anyway) like it was a very old PC... so I kept the setup on it to an absolute minimum. It boots very quickly and I can usually get working in very little time. Once I get back home, all my code is sync'd with my other PC's on Dropbox and I continue from there. That said, I wouldn't recommend using it as a primary machine for long durations... not without a spare mouse, keyboard or monitor to hook up to the VGA port. I've done that setup in the past and it's worked out for the most part, but without them I don't think I could use it for more than 2 hours.

rjbond3rd 15y ago

It depends on the processor. A low-end single-core Intel Atom is okay for light browsing. But some ultra-portables with dual-core CPU's are much zippier, e.g., the Thinkpad x120e with the dual-core AMD Fusion E350.

dexen 15y ago
For most uses it depends on memory too: both RAM and mass storage. A typical user has a browser, an IM and some other window opened most of the time. A bunch of systray icons, perhaps also antivirus, if MS Windows. A typical netbook is underprovisioned in RAM and has slow storage to match; pain both when starting up and in case of swapping VM pages. Topped up with a joke of a GPU, likely using up access cycles of system memory instead of having own dedicated RAM. Less display estate (pixel-wise) means you have to Alt+Tab or scroll around more often, too; sucking up your time. So no, CPU doesn't have to be the only choke point in a netbook, and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amdahls_law http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amdahls_law kicks in.
- dorian-graph 15y ago
  My netbook was originally 1GB so I bought a 2GB stick for dirt cheap, something like $20 or so. And this may sound painful but on the 10.1" screen I would have 2 windows next to each other, split vertically so each taking up half the screen, and it was fine.
- rjbond3rd 15y ago
  Interesting. My case is perhaps unusual since I never use more than 800Mb of RAM. I am running Linux, a browser and a terminal. So on all my machines, I only have 1Gb installed and no swap. I did add an SSD but other than boot time, did not get any benefit since everything fits in RAM and there's no swap. So that's why I consider CPU to be the bottleneck for me.

dorian-graph 15y ago

Really, all of them? I used a Samsung N130 (Single core 1.6GHZ Atom, 2GB RAM) for a few weeks and it was fast enough to do very basic Java development, browsing, SSH, etc. while out at uni.

eftpotrm 15y ago

I can't agree; while I won't deny it's slower and less capable than my main machine, it's very rarely an obstacle in my regular use of it.

rbanffy 15y ago

Not really. I have an Acer from their first-gen series that's still perfectly satisfying for development and some browsing. I write a lot of Python code on it, run and test it under Django (sqlite, MySQL and PostgreSQL) and Google App Engine dev_appserver and it works well enough. Its memory has been maxed out at 1.5 GB (newer models can have more) and my most serious problem with it is that the disk is slow (but it's industry-standard sized and can be easily replaced by a faster one (or an SSD). The second one is the screen - 1024x600 is somewhat limiting sometimes (but it has a VGA port and can do dual head). What are you running on your Samsung? It's hardware should make it a bit zippier than mine.

Produce 15y ago

Like the other guy said, that's more of a software issue. A minimal linux distro with a lightweight WM tends to work well. An easy way to aid the lack of RAM is to use an SD card or USB drive as swap (to save the SSD from overuse). The keyboards on those things, on the other hand, are simply not compatible with my fingers.