Acer Review, Asus Review – Netbook 10

Beginning this week, you can buy a Verizon subsidized HP Mini 1151NR for $199 –after a $50 mail in rebate – from Verizon stores. That’s $200 cheaper than the slightly less advanced Mini 1035NR, and $130 cheaper than the much more advanced Acer AOD 150 which even comes with a six cell battery.

Chances are, you’ll spend far more than what your saving on the 2 year Verizon contract you’ll have to sign for Mobile Broadband and access to ‘the world’s largest 3G network.’

Verizon Plan Details

• $39.99/month with access to 250MB/month — $0.10/MB for overages
• $59.99/month with access to 5GB/month — $0.05/MB for overages

What you can do on the Verizon Plans

[Via Boy Genius Report]

You probably want to err on the side of caution and go with the 5GB plan for the extra 20 bucks if you plan to use your netbook fairly often within a month. In fact, if you want to use your netbook a lot more, you probably want to stay far far away from this entire deal!

Here’s a bunch of reasons to NOT buy the subsidized netbooks

1. You use the internet very often and would go over the 5GB limit.
2. You depend on cloud computing and would go over the 5GB limit.
3. You watch Hulu videos and internet TV. You would surpass the limit in a matter of hours.
4. You want to stay on top of trends and swap to a more advanced netbook in about a year and a half (and believe me, they will be far more advanced by then)
5. You already have a smart phone or are considering one, and don’t want to be locked in to multiple two year contracts.
6. You plan to use the Mini 1151NR as you travel but don’t want to shell out the extra $50 or so to buy a 6 cell battery. It currently comes with a 3 cell battery that probably won’t last more than 3-4 hours. Battery Life is absolutely critical and 3-4 hrs is hardly enough.
7. You plan to use your netbook for international travel but don’t want to shell out $60 or $130 per month to international data plans.
8. You plan to use your netbook in coffee shops or other locations which provide free Wi-Fi.

The only reason you would want the plan is if you’re absolutely certain that you won’t use the netbook for heavy internet computing, and if you don’t have already have an internet connection at home or at work.

Also, make sure that you’re happy with the standard specs of the Mini 1151NR which is a pretty good looking netbook.

HP Mini 1151NR specs

Connectivity: Mobile Broadband, Gobi-enabled, 802.11b/g Wireless, Bluetooth

Processor: Atom N270

Memory: 1 GB RAM

Storage: 80 GB

Display: 10.1″

OS: Windows XP

Battery: 3 cell (3-4 hour battery life)

Weight: 2.4 lb

* Note: the 1151NR comes with Microsoft Works which means you can view but not edit Microsoft Word and Excel files – which really makes you question why they bother with it at all. You can view AND edit using Google Docs and Open Office.

Related posts:

1. AT&T $99 Netbook Contract – Get Dell Mini 9 and Acer Aspire One netbooks for $99 with 2 year AT&T contract

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