I never really saw myself up for a portable computing device... until now, that is.
My niece bought 6 of these eMachines eM350's for her kids and step-kids at Christmas time and my interest was immediately aroused when I noticed how they were all networking together as well as connecting to the main desktop PC in the house. It occurred to me that if I were sick in bed or unable to get downstairs to my main PC (arthritis and stairs) I could access the net plus my files on that rig as well, hence I decided to get me one. Well two, actually. While Shaunna already has a 17" laptop, these netbooks are easier to travel with due to their much smaller size and weight, so we doubled up.
I thought my niece got a good deal at $235.00 each on special, but 2 weeks later they were only $199.00 AUD each on an even better special.. less a further 10% discount for us cos my niece works for the group of companies. All up we paid $360.00 for them both, yet one costs almost that much elsewhere or when not on special. Bonus, hey... when you consider the same machine sells for 200 quid each n the UK, almost twice the price.
Anyhow, the specs are reasonable for the price and what it is....
CPU: N450 Intel Atom dual core @ 1.66
GPU: Intel Media Graphics Accelerator 3150
RAM: 1GB DDR2
HDD: 160GB 5400RPM Sata.
USB: x2 USB2
VGA port for external monitor.
Networking: Ethernet and wi-fi
Bluetooth: ready
Display: 10.1" LCD
Webcam: built in
OS: Windows 7 Basic.
The only thing with Win 7 Basic is there's no Aero or pretties to tart up the screen... no personalization features at all. but that alright, I whacked a few Stardock proggies on it and I'm laughing. There's no transparency or per pixel available in Windowblinds, either, due to the low-end graphics, but there are still quite a few WB's that work well, just the same.
The low-end graphics is not a problem with playing most video files, though the newer Full HD videos may experience some issues. However, I have several AVI, MPEG and MP4 type files that play great., though the on-board sound leaves a little to be desired after listening to the 5.1 setup on my main rig... though there is nothing to stop one adding external speakers with a bot more oomph, if one so desired.
Performance-wise it is a neat little machine with more than enough grunt for basic computing, net surfing and general media such as movies music, photos, etc. PhotoShop and PSP aren't going to run on it at all, but then it's not a super computer designed for that kind of work.
My impression of the eMachines Em350 series NAV51? Probably a 7 out of 10, though that would probably be higher if the on-board Broadcomm wi-fi played better with our Netgear Router. Sometimes it'll find the network, other times it won't, but we have Netgear USB wi-fi receiver dongles for when they won't play together.
Worth the money??? Bloody oath! Would have paid 30 bucks apiece extra and I'd still be happy. For ease of use I do recommend, however, to go with the Win 7 version rather than the XP or Linus ones. Some people in the forums on one site said that the Linux ones were generally difficult to use, and that the XP ones has issues with drivers for some external/USB devices.