HIYA!

Seriously considering buying an Acer Timeline 1410 netbook in Thailand. A friend tells me it's a worldwide, well known brand and can be repaired anywhere. But looking around on the internet, it seems that if it'd need warranty repair it'd have to go to the US or maybe to Mexico.

Can anyone here tell me more? Maybe there's someone there who is good at fixing computers but can't do it under warranty.

Or, why don't I just ask what brand you recommend.

Thanks a ton,
Troy Santos.

Acer is sold in Belize. There are places to have it repaired in Belize city but do not know if it would be under a warranty.

The warranty on most new computers isn't worth bothering with. Buy from a dealer who will stand by the product.

But before you buy a netbook check what real laptops you can get for not much more money. A netbook has a very low power processor and little memory. There's no intrinsic reason why that should be so, but it's a condition imposed by Microsoft

I also don't like how squinched up the keyboard is on netbooks.

Thanks everyone for this. Just talked with my friend about memory and RAM and all. I'm not such a computer guy but my friend is. I am pretty comfortable with the decision to buy a netbook. Won't know for sure that it'll be what I want until I start using it in Belize. And that won't be until sometime next month.

I could end up getting an HP but the specs and price on the Acer made Acer a better deal than the HP.

Thanks again,
Troy.

Seems like you've already made up your mind. A lot depends what you want to use the machine for. A netbook is fine for word processing (so long as you can get along with the very small keyboard) or the occasional spreadsheet (so long as you don't mind seeing very few cells at a time), and of course it's OK for email and browsing (so long as you don't mind never seeing a whole page at a view) but it'll struggle as soon as you try to do much more. They are very compromised machines. They all have low screen resolution, slow single core processors and low memory. Many don't have a dynamic hard drive but instead have flash memory, which you might think would be good but actually can be a real pain-in-the-butt. It also has quite a short life and in most netbooks is not replaceable. Those which do have a dynamic drive tend to have a low capacity one (though some models have 160gb).

Most netbooks don't have an optical drive (CD or DVD drive), which has implications that may not be obvious. You can't very easily load most software onto a netbook, as it generally comes on a CD or DVD, and if you need to reload the operating system (which I've had to do three times on netbooks) you're stuffed unless you also buy an external CD/DVD drive.

Most people who have netbooks use them as auxillary machines to proper PCs, not really out of choice but because if you have a netbook you'll find so many things it can't do that you'll need another machine as well.

You'd think an upside would be good battery life, but that's not usually the case. Of course, they are small and very portable. The best battery life I have ever had was from an HP laptop, which typically ran for over 10 hours on a single charge. I can't think of a netbook that will give even half of that.

I have used Asus and Acer netbooks and I write from some experience. I like the portability of a netbook and think that in theory they should be very good. The reality is that for most people they're too compromised - look up some reviews. A lot of this is directly down to Microsoft.

But whatever you decide, good luck.

Thanks for that Peter. I was thinking of buying a cheapie little net book myself to bring down with me as well just so I could travel light and stay in touch (light emailing and word documents) but not have a nervous breakdown if the thing was stolen.

Also, wondering what the constant heat and humidity do to computers down there?

For that sort of use they're ideal, so long as you can cope with the small screen & keyboard.

Heat and humidity don't do too much damage so long as you protect them reasonably (don't leave one inside an open window where the full force of humidity and even rain will hit it). Best though to keep them covered or in a case when not in use. Power fluctuations are quite another thing, to the extent I recommend you buy a spare power supply when you get the computer and keep it wrapped for when you will undoubtedly need it.

A tip on handling power supplies. The cables are far from indestructible - do not fold them tightly at any point, especially where the cables enter plugs or the transformers, and avoid folding them at the same place every time. The last several computers I've come across with problems had cables cracked inside the insulation. Another reason for keeping a spare.

Another tip especially for netbooks, but which also applies to a lesser extent to all portables. The cable that links the lid/screen to the base/processor has limited flexibility, and eventually can crack. For all practical purposes that's the end of the computer. For some reason that cable is stiffer and lower quality on most netbooks than on larger laptops. So don't open and close the lid more than you need to, and avoid doing so at all if the machine is very cold.

Great advice, thanks Peter.