Netbook/ CULV with HDMI

onefortheroad · Post by **onefortheroad** » Mon Jan 11, 2010 7:34 am

Hi, I'm looking for a 11" to 12" netbook sized machine with an HDMI output and the ability to output 1080p without problems. Current favourite is Acer Timeline 1810TZ which reviews suggest is mostly pretty quite. Does anyone here know of something similar which is fanless and/or uses an SSD harddrive for a similar price? Don't really care about processing power or anything else so long as it can output 1080p without errors creeping in (though a gaming graphics card would be used if it was there). I'm based in the UK.
Hope this is the right list, Thanks,
Patrick

PS: also like to hear recommendations of similar devices with similar noise characteristics if anyone has one. My two concerns with the acer are that the fan gets load when under load and the speakers are rubbish (or at least in a rubbish position).

I also have a budget of around Â£500 so Sony Vaio and Alienware are probably out of my league

bonestonne · Post by **bonestonne** » Mon Jan 11, 2010 8:29 am

11-12" is outside of netbook range.

Sony makes the Vaio series with 11" with HDMI output, LED backlit display, has an optical drive too, but it's a discontinued model that i can't find anywhere (don't know the model number offhand).

might as well look at the new alienware that's coming out...i think it's 12".

There is one Sony in the size range that has what you want, but i don't know the model because it's older.

eit412 · Post by **eit412** » Mon Jan 11, 2010 8:50 am

The new pinetrail netbooks that are comming out are supposed to have an optional brodcom chip that can decode 1080p material, but i do not know if any of those net books will have hdmi. If you do not care about processor power they will be less expensive than the CULV based notebooks. I have seen a couple of pinetrail netbooks for sale, but have not seen a review of one with a broadcom chip.

jessekopelman · Post by **jessekopelman** » Mon Jan 11, 2010 11:49 am

Asus 1201N. This is Ion platform, so as long as your playback software supports hardware acceleration, it will do 1080P. For just playing videos, I think this is a good choice but I am dubious about how usable even the dual-core Atom (it has the 330) is for general computing. Also, battery life is not in the netbook class -- 3-5 hours instead of 6-10 hours. Based on US prices, it is 20% less expensive than a lower-end CULV with similar configuration. The CULV will have the same battery life and much better performance. Which is the better deal depends on your usage profile. If you can stand to wait, I'm expecting the choices in this department (11-12" with HDMI out) to be much better in 3 - 6 months.

onefortheroad · Post by **onefortheroad** » Mon Jan 11, 2010 12:41 pm

Can't afford to wait, off to see family in new zealand soon and want something to keep the kids entertained on the plane and then use to stream video onto our tv when I get back home.

ilovejedd · Post by **ilovejedd** » Mon Jan 11, 2010 12:41 pm

jessekopelman wrote:The CULV will have the same battery life and much better performance.

Hmm, dunno about that. I get excellent battery life (>8 hrs) with my 13.3" Asus UL30A-X5 with 63Wh battery. Heck, plugged in the UL30A and an Acer Aspire One 8.9" (945GSE+Atom N270) netbook to the Kill-A-Watt and from memory, the UL30A uses less power idle (7W vs 10W, I think). The CULV will probably have better battery life and performance (CPU-wise) than the ASUS 1201N. However, there's just the issue of the associated price premium (could be close to 0 if you wait for sales).