Windows 7 on a netbook - My verdict
section: windows, for your questions: KezNews forum, 28.4.2009
Tip: Click here to update all your PC's outdated driversI’ve been running Windows 7 on a Samsung NC10 netbook for some months. With the Windows 7 Release Candidate now leaked, it’s time for a verdict on whether Microsoft’s latest OS is suited to these tiny portable PCs.
The Samsung NC10 is a fairly typical netbook. It’s equipped with a 1.6GHz Atom processor, an Intel GMA950 graphics chip, a 1024 x 768 screen, and it comes in a choice of hard disk sizes - 80/100/120GB. Battery life is also in the 4.5 to 7.5 region, depending on how hard it is being used.
It’s hard to come out with a final definitive verdict about Windows 7 on a netbook because many of the netbook’s features rely on specific drivers. For the purposes of this piece I will ignore any driver-related issues.
Installation
Installing Windows 7 on a netbook is pretty straight-forward as long as you either have access to a USB optical drive, or are able to put the installation files onto a USB flash drive.
The whole install process took a little over 30 minutes and the installation consumed some 7.5GB of drive space.
Performance
The performance of Windows 7 on the NC10 is, on the whole, pretty good. It scored a 2.2 on the Windows Experience Index rating, Bootup times felt a little longer than what I’d come to expect with Windows XP. Under XP the system would cold start in about 40 seconds, but with Windows 7 this increased to about 70 seconds.
Verdict
Windows 7 works on netbooks, but if you push the system the same way as you push a desktop system then you might need to add more RAM. On top of that, remember that Windows 7 takes some 7.5GB of disk space, so you need to factor this into your thinking, especially if you have a netbook with a small SSD fitted.
My advice would be not to bother upgrading an existing netbook unless you really feel you want a particular Windows 7 feature. wait for Windows 7 netbooks to arrive on the scene as some of these will hopefully come with 2GB of RAM fitted.source:
blogs.zdnet.com
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Comments(6)
just get more laptop ram! ddr2 laptop memory is so cheap! for the sake of $60 you can
have 4gb of laptop memory!
better yet, get a real notebook. netboots are cheesy little fashion statements...like
girls who carry small dogs in their purses. man-up and get a real laptop. i mean
really....where could a 14" wide notebook be considered "just too big", in favor of one
that is 10" wide???
i bought a netbook for the use in college.there are nice when you need to transport them
around in a situation such as this.
i agree, netbooks are perfect for doing mobile work. personally i have a dell xps 1210,
which was the smallest i could find at the time. even though it has a decent processor
(t7200) and 2gb of ram, it's main purpose is still to rdc into my desktop at home.
when you look at your average home computer user, they use it for email, news,
pictures, and even some non-graphic-intense games. for these reasons, a netbook makes the
most sense.
i'm just waiting for pgp whole disk to be supported for windows 7
before making the jump on my desktop.
how would windows 7 work on my acer laptop with a pentium iii 1.2ghz processor and 384mb
ram?
there's a bunch of other software and drivers you need to get all the features of your
nc10 really working will with windows 7. like the camera, microphone and hotkey support.
full details can be found here:
http://www.ademiller.com/blogs/tech/2009/05/windows-7-rc-on-the-samsung-nc10-netbook/
ade
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Get more ram
By moo on 29.04.2009 - 05:04