Solved Netbook question

[mpcrsc562]

I'm treating myself to a birthday present today. (Yay for me)

Anyway, this model has an Atom N450, 160 GB HDD, and 1 GB DDR2-667 RAM. I would like this thing to be as fast as it can be so I'm prepared to also purchase upgrades at the same time. I got to thinking: RAM is kinda obvious and an SSD would definitely improve things, but as far as an SSD is concerned, would it even be worth it to get one for a netbook? Wouldn't the processor be the weak link in the chain? Would it be better to just max out the ram (2 GB)?

Any thoughts?

 

[mickey megabyte]

an ssd will certainly help your os and apps to load faster - but is it cost effective and how much data/software are you wanting to store on your netbook?

some netbooks will accept 3 gigs of ram - that will help too.

some netbooks can also be overclocked if you're feeling brave - i've had mine running at 2.1 GHz, but i don't do it all the time...

 

[mpcrsc562]

Thanks for your reply.

I know about the advantages of SSD as I run them on my desktop systems. My main concern with an SSD in a netbook is will the speed advantage of an SSD make up for the lack of "oomph" with the Atom processor.

I've already researched the RAM and SSD prices, so it's just a matter of figuring out if I'm going to go with the RAM or the SSD or both.

Having no experience with any netbooks, nor with the Atom processor, in my opinion, it would make more sense to upgrade the RAM and forego an SSD upgrade. That's just my opinion.

Anyone with a netbook add an SSD to theirs? How's everything?

Talk to me...

 

[Bill2]

Atom N450 is a pretty decent processor for a netbook, with support for hyperthreading. An SSD should give you better read/write speeds, faster boots and also more durability. But you need to see how that weighs against a large capacity 7200 rpm or even 10000 rpm hdd.

 

[Win7User512]

SSDs help batteries discharge slower than mechanical ones, right?

 

[whs]

I added a SSD to a slow, older laptop and found it to improve performance significantly. I guess it depends on the applications. For traditional stuff like office, browsing the web and frequent acces to files, it will definitely help. The said laptop is being used by my wife and she does not do any CPU intensive applications.
But with that being said, if you run Windows7 on the netbook, 2GBs of RAM will definitely help too. Although with the page file on the SSD, you will already get a nice boost since the access time is about 150 times faster than on a HDD (0.1ms versus 15ms).

 

[mpcrsc562]

Thanks to all who gave some input.

 

[alphanumeric]

A 6 cell battery would be on my wish list if didn't already have one. I'm thinking an SSD would also be good for battery life even if it doesn't speed things up much. I would think it would run cooler than a mechanical drive too. It would be nice if the cost would go down some though.

 

[strollin]

I replaced the 5400rpm, 160G drive that came in my Acer Aspire One netbook with a 64G SSD. I also maxed out the RAM at 1.5G, then installed Win 7 Pro in lieu of XP Home. I'm happy with the results. Mine has the earlier N270 Atom processor which is slower and less efficient than the N450. I don't carry a lot of data so 64G is more than adequate. It seems to boot quicker and apps load quicker as well. If you used the netbook awhile and then moved to the ssd you would definitely notice a performance boost.

 

[Dave76]

If you want a fast netbook, max the RAM, add a SSD with size as per your usage/budget will permit.
As Bill2 said the processor will be fine unless you want to max games out or run graphics programs while your on the road.

Put the 160GB HDD in a small external case and use it for data or backups, it won't be too big or much of a nuisance to carry with you.

 

[mpcrsc562]

What I got was an Aser Aspire One AO532h (Atom N450, 250 GB HDD, 1 GB RAM)

Nice little pc. I didn't want another big laptop and this is cool.

I read the "quick" specs on it and saw that it supports up to 2 GB system memory. I thought, "Cool!" I got a 1 GB module to add. Wrong move! It only has one slot. I took that module back and got a 2 GB module. Wrong move! Unit won't boot. Did some in-depth reading and found that this model only supports 1 GB. Oh well. I had a spare 200 GB notebook drive laying around so I removed the Windows drive and installed the spare drive. I installed Ubuntu Netbook Edition and kinda liked it. I probably would have kept it for a while except that I could never get the wireless network adapter to work. So, I run Windows with a flash drive for Ready Boost to help.

I like it

 

[Dave76]

Sounds nice, congrats.

Bummer about the RAM though.

 

[strollin]

My Acer Aspire One AOA150 only has 1 RAM slot as well. It came with 512M soldered on the mobo and 512M in the RAM slot for a total of 1G. I removed the 512M and installed a 1G module for a max of 1.5G. The 2G limit you may have heard about is the max for the Atom.

 

[whs]

One option to speed up the netbook is to replace the HDD with a SSD. Then the access to the pagefile (of which you will probably have a lot) is very fast and approaches the speed you would get from additional RAM. Plus access to all the OS and program modules will be extremely fast. - Just an idea.

 

[mpcrsc562]

Resurrecting this because it seems that the netbook does in fact accept a 2 GB stick. I kept reading that it does but Acer denies it. I went to Crucial.com and found others who have used Crucial memory in their Acer netbooks with success, so I bought a stick and all is well.

Thanks for all of the input.

 

[jimbo45]

Sounds nice, congrats.

Bummer about the RAM though.

Hi there
I have one of these but with the faster AMD processor.

You CAN fit 2GB RAM in this --you need a SINGLE 2GB card instead of the 1GB one.

Cheap as well -- so easy to upgrade.

While you are at it change the HDD as well it's EASY to do since you've opened the machine anyway. Put a 320 / 500 GB 7200 RPM drive in instead --speeds up stuff no end.

BTW I Love this little netbook --so eqsy to travel with and quality of Video is fine.

Cheers
jimbo

 

[OEM]

Glad your Happy with it, Should be much better with the additional Ram! (Note: Remove power and battery, then press power button to "discharge" any remaining power, then install ram ;D)

The only thing I saw that I would have mentioned had I saw thread eirler, is the DDR2-667 RAM.

Have an older MSI Wind U-100 with I believe an Atom N30 (1.6ghz w/sysbus @ 667...OC'ed), so even though it states my ram @ 667/800 not sure what the factory installed speed is on the 1 gig "OB" for XP. Has dimm slot, so I would have to install 1 2-gig stick and in bios disable OB as 2 gigs of ram is max and I don't wish to mix OB ram with the one dimm slot.

Runs good, but cpu is always high @ 70-80% b/c use it in the truck for 2 gps Apps/2 USB Sat. Rec., ...Garmin mobile PC/ Delorme Street Atlas, media player to factory stereo input and another program for the Trucks OBD-II diagnostic port to USB that allows access to all kinds of engine sensor readouts like oil, coolant, transmission temp, Air fuel ratio, etc. ...its a long list of all engine/trans stats and currently updated sensor readouts.

And whats known as the "BCM" ...Body controll module that allows with a click of the mouse to lower windows, test wipers-low-high and delayed, lock/unlock doors, etc. ...its long list too. (This is for testing and not to be used while driving).

Sorry for the long read about all that, but thats why mine runs @ 80% CPU use all the time. lol

Your processor is much faster!

Good Luck with it, sounds like a great choice and you had some very intelligent pre-purchase questions, hope everyone helped ya out.

I think your going to be very happy with it.

My MSI Wind U-100:

Specification
Physical Characteristic
Dimension 260 (W) x 180 (D) x 19~31.5 (H) mm
Weight 940g (without battery pack)
CPU
Processor Type Socket 478​

Support Processor Intel

​

​

® Diamondville processor (45 nm)​

L2 Cache 512KB

FSB Speed Support 533 MHz OC'ed to 667​

Core Chips
North Bridge Intel
® 945GSE

South Bridge Intel​

® ICH7M

Memory​

Technology DDR2 667/ 800

Memory DDR2 SDRAM

Maximum 2GB

Power​

AC Adapter 40W, 19V
Battery Type 3 cells (optional)
6 cells (optional)

RTC Battery Yes

I/O Port

Monitor(VGA) 15 pin D-Sub x 1

USB x 3 (USB version 2.0)
Mic-in x 1
Headphone Out x 1
RJ45 x 1
Card Reader x 1 (SD/ MMC/ MS)
The supported memory cards may vary without notice.​

Storage​

​

​

(Items listed here may vary depending on the model users purchased)

HDD form factor 2.5”, 9.5mm High, 5400rpm​

SSD (solid-state disk) Optional supported​

​

​

Communication Port ​

(Items listed here may vary without notice)

LAN 10/100 Ethernet​

Wireless Lan Supported​

​

​

Audio​

Sound Interface ALC 888s

Internal Speaker 2 speakers with housing​

Sound Volume Adjust by volume button, K/B hot-key & SW​

​

​

Video

Dual View Function LCD or CRT will be auto detected when connected.

CRT Output Supported

Display
LCD Type 10" wide ​

/ 8.9" wide (optional)
Brightness Brightness controlled by K/B hot-keys

WebCam​

CMOS (optional) Supported

Software & BIOS

USB Flash Boot Yes, USB floppy boot up DOS only
BIOS Fast Boot Support --- Yes
Others
Kensington Lock Hole x 1​

Compliance WHQL