+1.

I have an old, ancient Via Epia 800mhz tuning it atm with 128mb of RAM in WinXP.

For those just tuning in, an 800mhz Via Epia is as fast as a 400mhz P3 on a good day.

On the other hand, pr0n surfing may take up a lot of hardware if he's into videos. /Uh oh, did the topic just drift to what porn he surfs?

For what it's worth I had one of those Dell Minis die after 6 or so months of moderate usage. It was quite a while ago though I'm sure by now it's different hardware.

I still say don't go with a minibook/netbook/etc.. Get a 15.6" laptop so you actually have a decent resolution. I hate looking at webpages or tuning the MS on anything smaller. Might as well just use a smart phone or something.

As for power required to tune, I used a PIII ancient Dell for a bit just fine ;)

A 10-12" machine is not only perfectly adequate for tuning and web surfing, but far easier to deal with inside a small car. I'm typing this on one right now while watching Big Bang Theory and drinking rum & coke, and I can honestly say that at no point during the evening have I thought to myself "gee, I wish I had something several inches larger and several pounds heavier sitting on my lap."


Once TunerStudio (or something like it) is available on any tablet platform, I will immediately buy one.

It's the resolution, not really the screen size, that I found to be irritating.

Check the max resolution on your potential purchase, then set your current laptop to the closest setting. See if you really want to live with that.

No comment on pr0n. You probably couldn't handle it ;)

I had a brand new laptop die after starting it for the first time. I'm just that cool.

I'm not really concerned with screen size or resolution. Like I said earlier, I have other computers, just none I can take with me in the car anymore. At this point I don't think it's worth shelling out the extra cash for screen size.

agree 100% It sucked balls trying to lug around my IBM thinkpad (1998?) in the car. That thing was a beast though. Still have it. Too bad it needs an aircard to get internet, lol!

As soon as Android phones/tablets can do Tunerstudio.......I would get one immediately.

Pretty much irrelevant for my interests with the netbook. I have a nice monitor on my main computer.

That's fine...I'm just saying that my Lenovo netbook screen resolution was irritating even during web browsing and in the AEM tuning software.

Josh, you can always go to bestbuy and check out their laptops and see what you think of the various screen sizes.

If you are okay with 10-12" that is fine. I had a nice netbook with a 10" screen and could not stand it for tuning. It had a 95% full size keyboard but still felt off every time I used it. After it died on me I switched back to a 15.6" and realized how much better it was. Never really had issues it's size while in the miata. In fact I had more issues with the smaller netbook which didn't fit very well anywhere I put it. I could set my laptop in the seat next to me and very easily see everything. Or even on my lap if need be. The netbook kept falling off me since it didn't have much surface area and didn't balance well. And setting it on the passenger seat meant it was hard to glance quick and see.

But in the end it's all preferences.

I LOL'd. Look where I live.

Do you not have a bestbuy or hhgregg there? Danym.

I didn't have issues with that when I was tuning any of my friend's car. I'm far from being a tech guy so I doubt I'll ever really notice the differences.

It's hard justifying the price difference at this now that I know that the netbook will cover everything I need perfectly fine. But I do understand your point, even though I had more problems with a larger laptop when previously tuning.

First world problems, lol.

Dude. You don't even know.

I've heard that about several tuning programs, not just AEM. We're fortunate in that the software available for the MS works very well at low screen resolutions. My old Fuji tablet was 800x600, and MegaTune worked flawlessly at that resolution, as did the tuning software for the Greddy EMU which I had before the MS. Since you can't buy any machine with a resolution that low anymore, I consider this a non-issue for MS tuning.

For general use, I agree that 800x600 is too small. Both of my subcomact laptops, fortunately, have good displays. The 11" Sony Vaio TXN was 1366x768, and my 12.5" Dell E4200 is 1280x800. When I am on the road (which is usually for weeks or months at a time) I honestly don't feel deprived by this. And the keyboards? Admittedly, some of the Netbooks have crappy keyboards, but it's more about key placement (especially right-shift) than size. I have fairly large hands (I wear an XL in motorcycle gloves) and don't have any problem at all with them.

The 1024x600 displays on the $200 machines would fall into the range of "acceptable" for general-purpose use (eg: sitting on the couch), although we're starting to see 1366x768 displays on some of the better netbooks.



It is all about preferences, I suppose.

For the first 9 years that I worked for Harris (1999-2008) I always had company-issued Dell laptops in the 15" class. In 2008 I bought my first "small" laptop (the aforementioned 11" Sony Vaio) and was immediately hooked. I'm now on my second "small" laptop (the aforementioned Dell) and have decided that I will never buy a laptop larger than 11-12" class again. And again, remember that when I'm away from home and living in a hotel, often for a month or two at a time, this is my primary computer. At home, I have a 28" monitor on my "big" computer, and yet I just don't want anything larger than 11-12" when I'm using a laptop.

You've never been to the Florida keys, have you? It's basically a third-world country connected to Homestead (which is pictured in the dictionary under "Hick town") via a rather long and inconvenient bridge. :D

I'm stuck in this hotel for 5 weeks and I would kill myself if I had anything smaller than my 15.6". Browsing webpages and having to scroll forever is so annoying. I like my desktop space. I often have two screens side by side as well for super efficient multitasking.

I've considered hooking the laptop up to the 32" TV (the hotel room actually provides you with a decent VGA cable and they have a nice input on the desk for it). But I won't be able to increase the resolution this way any so not much of a point.

Thanks for the sig. Now I won't have to try and explain to people why Taco Bell and Walmart are considered delicacies.

First world problems bro.

Yo Bro,

1280x800 or 1366x768 or bust. Browsing the web on my 10" Acer EeePC netbook at 1024x600 is not very optimal.

12" screen size minimum 14-16" preferred, I believe this will exclude the above resolution limitation.

Processor: Aim for at least 2ghz dual core. My Acer netbook, even with the best 1.5ghz dual core processor, can make internet browsing a waiting game.

HP and Acer are my current favorites. I should mention the Dell Vostro 1000 I purchased many years ago is still going strong without any sort of design flaws. The battery has needed replacement and I had to clean a quilt of dirt off the heat sinks, but that is to be expected every few years.

Last note: Screen finish can have an effect on visibility for tuning in the miata. I much prefer the matte finish on my vostro 1000 vs the glossy finish of my sager np8690.

Here, have some vodka.

Haha. Well, y'all did secede from the US and declare war on it, after all.


Bit of a slight sidebar as it's probably outside of the target price range, but I just came across the new Asus Zenbook/Ultrabook, and from the specs alone, it looks like a hell of a nice machine. If my Dell were to kick the bucket anytime soon, I expect I'd probably grab one of these:

http://usa.asus.com/Notebooks/Superi...specifications
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Asus+-+U...8#BVRRWidgetID

11.6" display, 1366x768, 128 gig SSD, and available with any of the Core i-series processors.

^That looks fairly baller. 11.6 is probably a nice compromise for a large enough screen, but uber portable.

I bought the Dell that I last posted (250gb) and after talking to Lars (shuiend) I am going to install Ubuntu on it and have a good setup for car tuning and internet on the go.

I'm actually really excited to try Ubuntu. If I like it enough I'll install it on my frankestein desktop/laptop.