netbook usefull?

I believe there are some netbook users here, do you find them capable of doing basic photography handling?
I would be shooting RAW and using LR2 (LR3 beta) and i question if that would run decent enough.

I use one, just for downloading the cards to when out and about during weekends away etc and then as a first blast throu to remove the c.....p usually with Picasa 3 as this opens most Raw files as standard.

I have a netbook and use it. Its a Samsung n130.

It has a built in card reader which will read SDHC and I leave Picasa to import the photos. I can edit and do basic adjustments. The battery lasts well over 6 hours and I have a charger for the car. The scre3en is matte and doesn't reflect. My old sony laptop is shiny screened and it is barely usable in the car. The netbook a great way to backup photos instantly.

However the screen is limited. Highlights are easily blown out. It is after all made for a price not for quality. The processor is underpowered and apart from basic adjustments it is barely powerful enough. You'd have to look at lightroom's specs to see if it would run. Picasa is OK.

There are some slightly bigger ultra light laptops out with more powerful processors Toshiba T130 and Asus UL30 but price extends up to £450 or so. They have bigger screens too and better graphics capabilities.

Netbooks are handy but limited.
So to do anything with finesse I'd say forget it.

Doug

I use the same as Doug above, agree it's not really worth trying to edit, as a first check / display it's great, although the first thing I did was to up the Ram to the Max of 2GB.

It's cheaper than the back-up devices with screens with a larger H/d in most cases and you can surf the net with it as well ( with mobile broadband ) + other basic computer uses.

I've just ordered one (Samsung N220 with a 10"screen). Not for any photo processing though. Maybe a quick look through the photos, but certainly not any serious work on them.

I debated getting a slighter bigger model with faster processor etc, but in the end wanted portability over computing power. I narrowed it down to the Asus Eee 1005E (which cam out top in the Consumentenbond test) and the Samsung N210 or N220. I like the 2 year guarantee on the Samsung so that's what I've ordered. Hopefully I'll have it end of next week, with Easter getting in the way.

I may upgrade the RAM once I've tried it. I may not.

I can use my existing image tank as an extra hard drive with it.

Thank you for the fast response.

I already saw that Samsung had a matte screen and ASUS also has some models now with a matte screen.

It will most likely be a Samsung n220 although I find the Eee PC 1201NL also very attractive because it as a Nvidia processor in with which support CUDA so it might be faster with processing and the screen is 1366x768.

Do you think the Nvidia CUDA would be useful for lightroom? I've no idea if it use it, I know photoshop does.

ps. just saw that the Eee PC 1201N has a dual core Atom330 + Nvidia ION cuda but it has a glare screen though... tough decisions.. is there a way to make a screen non-glare?
I know that there are ani-glare screen protectors are those a solution?

I considered it too, Stefan, but decided a 12" screen was too big for me.

Here is a review of it for you.

I looked at all the local shops but none of them had either the Samsung 210/220 or the Asus 1005PE in stock. So I ended up ordering it online. If I'd found one in stock I'd have bought it, even though it would cost me more. Now I have it on order for €316, including postage. The 210 cost €306, and the Asus was around that too. I just fancied the colour version of the Samsung . I'd have gone for the blue Asus, but as I said the guarantee is only 12 months (6 months on the battery) compared to 24/12 on the Samsung.

To make a screen non-glare? Not that I know of.

You can buy shields and tents which fit round the screen. I have a folding silver sun reflector for the car windscreen which helps. But white shirt , bright sun and a shiny screen? Forget it.

If you will use it on the move outdoors/in car etc
Example of N130 on left and Sony Xblack 13.3" a couple of years old.




Doug

@Gwyn I already found this review, it can just handle 1080p so that's pretty impressive for a "netbook" don't know if you can still call it that. link

Looked up for some comparison tests and it looks like the atom 330 is quite a powerful little thing so it should make LR smoother to run.

The guarantee is certainly also worth something but ASUS has never failed me so far although I know the Samsung netbooks are impressive as well...

@Doug, yes you've such protections screens, just found these comparison photos.





Still not perfect but certainly better so it might be worth considering it.
You also have such film for your camera and cell phones.

@Gwyn, could you please test how the lightroom 3 beta 2 or lightroom 2 runs on the Samsung N220, i'm curious if the processor can handle it if so I might wait and go for the upcoming Asus 1201PN.

I have the Lenovo S10, bought this one specifically because memory is easily upgradeable and great build quality.

I use it mainly for accessing email/internet etc whilst away and backing up my SD cards.

I have CS3 installed and with the memory upgrade it runs reasonably well but the Netbook doesn't have the required screen resolution to run ACR in "full view".

Personally I think Netbooks are great as backup/email/internet tools but I wouldn't use one for editing.

Simon

Stefan, it will be a week or so before I get my netbook I imagine, due to Easter.

I don't use Lightroom, and don't intend to use the Samsung for editing. The screen is so small I don't think you can edit successfully on it tbh.

I think you might be better off with the 12"screen if you want to do editing on it. You should chck if it comes with a glossy screen or not.

Apparently some Asus netbooks in Europe have a matte screen whereas they all seem to ship with a glossy one to the US.

I'm just hoping I made the right choice with the Samsung. It is so hard to choose when you can't handle them first.

Before the netbook there was the ultraportable notebook, and you might consider buying one of those instead if you want a little more processing oomph.

In particular, if you want to keep the cost down I would take a look at a secondhand IBM/Lenovo Thinkpad X series, where a healthy supply of ex-corporate leasing machines holds prices in check. These were and in some cases still are very high specification machines, with excellent build quality and only a relatively small trade-off in battery life versus the latest Intel mobile processors.

Depending on your appetite I would look be looking either at the X61, X31 or the X60 if you can find one with a Core2Duo processor; avoid the CoreDuos since they are apparently prone to overheating which can lead to fractures in the case.

As for CUDA, I am sceptical the extent to which Lightroom would be able to benefit significantly from this even if implemented. As I understand it is targeted at 3D graphics, as well as Matlab type applications.

With regard to 2nd hand, factor in the cost of a replacement battery and battery life. A replacement battery OEM for a laptop is about £50 (if they still make them). A branded battery can be over £100. This is roughly 1/4 to 1/2 of the cost of a netbook. I got burned once on a lovely ultraportable. No replacement battery was available.

Thank you ^^

@Simon, Like Gwyn already said I'm going for a larger screen with more pixels so it should be acceptable, hopefully. But that CS3 can run on it makes it sound good though.

@Gwyn, thank you for your wise insight.
Indeed the screen would be smallish on the N220 but it's processor is the same as the upcoming Asus 1201PN but besides that it has a dictated graphics card.

The Asus models with a P in it often have a matte screen, that's why i'm also interested in the new one because the 1201N has a glossy screen. Also the 1201PN could last for 8 hours on a battery but the 1201N with his dual-core just make it to 4 hours but it might run programs better on it.

Samsung is a great netbook, you will like them so don't worry about it they are really good.

@Shaky, yeah I know but those ultraportable notebook cost double at what the ASUS 1201N cost so it's hard to say it would be worth the money for a notebook that I use 5 months and then might be shelved for the rest of his live
Although It's ability to play HD movies might make it a good companion while travelling.

I haven't thought about secondhand, could try that, thanks for the idea. =]

Cuda can be used for 2D as well, for example in CS4 it takes the rendering of the pixels onto his account. It should take some pressure off from the processor and make zooming in and out and making pizels appear on your screen feel smoother therefore a ION netbook might have the edge but I don't think LR use GPGPU...
Here is a demo link
Like said it's not much but it would be more pleasant/fluid to work with it, certainly if you're lagging in processor power.

ps. I think I should be able to install Mac on an Intel powered netbook without serious problem, might that be worth it for editing?