Netbook advice please

[Pertusaria]

I'm looking at possibly buying a netbook. My main use for this would be as a portable Internet platform (emails, Skype etc.), with gaming being relatively unimportant. Nevertheless, I'd be interested in something that's decent at least for old-ish or indie games if it doesn't cost a lot more than something that's hopeless for games, and if it isn't so big or heavy that it becomes non-portable. (I walk and use public transport, so being happy carrying it is important.)

Does the Hivemind have any thoughts on this? Is it worth looking for one of the Asus models that has a real graphics card, or is that mainly a gimmick because of other limitations of the platform?

Many thanks!

[TailSwallower]

I have a Toshiba NB520 (fantastic in regards to weight and size, but integrated graphics) and it can run old games fine, but even newer 2D games can be a bit hit and miss. For example, The Binding of Isaac just isn't optimised very well, so it runs terribly. Recent 3D games (even indie ones) are generally out of the question.

I'd say definitely splash out the extra squid for a netbook with a proper graphics card 'cause the limitations of the Intel integrated graphics will put a lot of games out of reach. That said though, I don't know how big a difference to the size and weight that makes, because portability is definitely the biggest selling point of netbooks (as you're already well aware).

[soldant]

I doubt you're going to find a netbook that plays 3D games at a decent speed. Most of them will be using Intel GPU solutions to keep down power and weight requirements.

Netbooks as a form factor have been killed off by tablets, the successor is the Ultrabook (think Macbook Air form factor). Which is just as well, because the majority of netbooks were terrible.

[zanchito]

I have an ASUS 1215N and it's quite nice. 3D is stretching it a bit much, you CAN play Bloowd Bowl on it, but it's more of a punishment than an enjoyment.

[Bhazor]

Well I can recommend the Aspire One 522. It can handle a surprising number of more recent games including Dragon Age, Rome Total War, Civ 4, GRiD and DiRT and will have a go at anything else as well.

It's one of the few Netbooks I know to have a dedicated graphics card and it shows with a pin sharp 10 inch sceen with a native resolution of 1280x720. Streams movies like a dream.

Just make sure you go for the one with higher resolution screen and extended battery as shown here. As the cheaper version sold in Currys and PC World really isn't worth it.

Buy the £10 ram upgrade and you basically have a fully featured laptop you can fit inside a hand bag. I travle a lot (three three hour journeys a week) by train and take it where ever I go and its never been cumbersome or a burden. The battery isn't the best due to the above average performance but you can still get a good 4-6 hours online per charge and the charge cable is pretty compact so you can charge it when you get to work or on the train.

It does seem to have gone up in price as I bought the same model for £220 about six months so probably worth shopping about. Just remember to make sure its the HD screen and 4400 battery.

[Moraven]

My 4 year old EEE PC netbook still can handle WoW :P And it only has some crappy intel integrated card. Think 6 months after I got that the Nvidia Ions came out. Was not for gaming anyway, but would not have minded the boost. Facebook games lag it, and some are not even possible.

The latest ones look like the have integrated Radeons built in.