Anyone consider replacing the 751h altogether?

I've been thinking, and I may have come up with a solution to the freezing up of the 751h. It might not be a TRUE solution if you need the HD capabilities, but here goes anyway. What about buying either a used netbook/laptop OR a barebones system, and putting the hard drive and ram in it? All I've found is the OCZ neutrino, and the Zotac SAM102. It might be too much money for some ( the OCZ is over $300, and the Zotac is $150 @ newegg). You lose the resolution, HD capabilities (is that really THAT important?), and little over an inch of screen space, but you get the 1.6 GHz, and you don't have to transfer all of your junk from one system to the other (junk meaning re-installing or downloading all your old stuff, since its already on the harddrive).

I'm browsing through eBay for something in the 12-14" range and under a hundred bucks. That would bring my total to $350 for a decent laptop that can do all I need it to do. That's in the ballpark of a new netbook anyway.

 

If you're gonna replace 751h with something similar but better, you might as well get one of the new 11.6-inchers with CULV cpus. Like the Gateway EC18/EC14 series or the Acer AS1810/1410 series.

 

Im not necessarily looking for "better", or to replace the whole thing. What I was getting at is that if you get tired of the 751h freezing up, and you don't want to send it to Acer a hundred times, then buying a barebones netbook might not be a bad idea. cmeide's 2GB hynix RAM is $120, and its not guaranteed to fix the freezing problem, but the Zotac is $150, and there's no reason why it wouldn't stop freezing. and besides, the 10.2" size is more common, so you can actually find a case for it.

If you just go out and buy a whole new laptop/netbook, then you still have an extra hard drive and ram stick that is pretty much useless, unless you can sell it.

 

For two days I`ve been thinking about whether to keep my 751h-1745.

I bought it yesterday with no idea that netbooks ran a lot slower than other computers. At first I was a little disappointed. And it froze up at least four or five times within a couple of hours.

Today I installed Service Pack 2 (vista). Have had not a single freeze up since (knock wood). AND streaming videos run much better. For instance, last night watching `Ice Pilots`http://www.history.ca/video/default.aspx ... it was like watching a slideshow ... there were no `moving pictures`at all. Today (after SP2 install) it`s pretty smooth ... not perfect but very watchable.

I also (last night) unchecked all but one of Vista`s many visual effects (computer.. properties.. advanced system settings.. advanced.. performance.. settings.. visual effects.. custom). I left only `visual styles on buttons and windows` checked. (Things seemed to work noticeably faster, though at this point there was no noticeable improvement in video playback, sp2 install seems to have done that.)

Anyway I`m more enthused about this lovely little machine now.

Particularly so after reading a review comparing the 751h to the 64bit Gateway LT3103. http://techreport.com/articles.x/17249. The Gateway machine did perform somewhat better but the reviewer did comment on how the Acer 751h was MUCH quieter.

For me, that`s very important .. long periods exposed to the drone of a computer fan leaves my ears ringing ..


--

 

Despite the freezing (which has occured once or twice for me over the period of 2 months) issue, I honestly believe 751h is one of the best netbook out there. It has a large screen along with a large resolution, large keyboard, but is still extremely portable and light, I can just throw it in my bag along my books and barely even notice any difference. It looks sleek and is thin. The battery is top notch, over 6 hours for me with maximum brightness. If you clean up the system neatly like I have, then you will have all the power you can possibly need - I often use Photoshop CS2, make Powerpoint presentations and sometimes even play Call of Duty (yes, we're talking 751h/GMA 500). And on top of it all, it's a real bargain. I can't see myself using any netbook other than 751h. The only improvements I would like to see would be: fix the freezing issue (probably will be in the future), hide the battery pack and release better graphics drivers. Other than that it's almost perfect for me.

9/10

 

You guys have no idea what you're missing with those CULV 11.6-inchers (e.g. EC18). They have all the positive moments you've mentioned, plus so muchmore.

For instance, a much faster CPU. A battery that lasts 5 hrs and is flush with body. Very quiet, cool. HDMI.

It kinda hurts me to imagine people would use 11.6" netbooks with Atom Z520, GMA 500, when there is something like EC18 available... :/

 

Your signature says you have an Aspire One .. wondering how you know an EC18 is "very quiet and cool."? From reading reviews or do you use one?

I'd like more power in a netbook but quietness is very important to me.

 

Yes, I have the EC1803h too. It's technically my dad's, but I've been using it more than he has.

I am totally in love with it and I would get another one for myself in a heartbeat, except I don't want to retire my current AOA110. =(



I've been using both the AOA110 and the EC1803h side by side, and even though the A110 is really cool and quiet, it seems like a monster compared to the EC18. The EC18 is pretty much completely quiet when all you're doing is basic tasks like surfing (there is fan noise, but it is very very low... you'd have to put your ear up to it to hear it), whereas the A110 gets a little noisier. The EC18 also runs much cooler. It's barely warm after a couple hours of use.

These are the specs of the EC1803h:
Core 2 Solo CULV SU3500 1.4 GHz
3 GB RAM
250 GB HDD
GMA 4500MHD
11.6" 1366x768
HDMI out
a/b/g/n WiFi
Gigabit ethernet
6-cell 4400 mAh
1.4 kg
Vista 32-bit with a free upgrade to Windows 7 Home Premium
It was CAD$450 new, but not sold anymore (cuz it's a Vista model)

The price for a refurb one is extremely low now, you can get it for only CAD$345. I really want to get another one for myself... =(

 

Do you know where one is available at that price?

(and thanks for the other great info btw..)

 

In Canada? Yes. But not for the US, sorry.

Canada Computers has some locations in and around Toronto, and they're selling refurbed EC1803h's. Please leave one for me in case I change my mind.

 

i dont understand people saying its freezing up. i havent had it freeze in the 3 days i've owned it.

 

Not every one has the freezing problem. And some machines are fixable with a BIOS update or newer drivers. Other people are out of luck except for changing the motherboard (i.e. sending it in to Acer until they finally swap the motherboard out).

 

By the way, I would hold off on replacing your Acer 751h for as long as you can. Every 6 months we see a revolution in netbook performance, battery life, and processing power. You can bet that the next 6 months won't be any different. Get your money's worth from your 751 and then trade up to something truly better down the road. Otherwise you'll be upgrading 3-4 times per year!

Right now, the only benefit you get from CULV is a faster processor. That's a nice thing, but probably not needed for most netbook tasks. Once the new version of Flashplayer comes out you'll even be able to play streaming High Def video on the Acer 751. I have it working right now under Windows 7 and slightly outdated graphics drivers: viewtopic.php?f=87&t=18765

So, unless you've got money to burn, keep what you've got for a while longer. And be sure to update the BIOS if you haven't already. It made a world of difference on my machine in terms of the freezing problem.

 

Got rid of my 751h about a month ago (returned it). Just picked up an Aspire 1410.

SO happy I did.

Performance has been top notch, have an HDMI output, Vista premium (w. Win7 upgrade) .. it WAS noisy (as was the AA One) .. installed AA1FanControl .. now it's nearly silent .. fan is on only 15% of the time instead of nearly 100% .. see more on that in my reply here: http://www.aspireoneuser.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=18824&p=107758&hilit=1410#p107758

 

i've only had my 751h for about a month and a half but its never frozen. after upgrading to winows 7 its plenty fast. all i use it for is watching movies, typing, and surfing the web. it serves my purposes just fine. i do wish that it had hdmi or s video right out of the box but i snagged a vga to s video converter cable for 3.99 on ebay. just having some trouble getting it to display on my tv. other than that its great. i doubt i could have found a better machine at the price i paid (330 american).

 

there really is no need for such desperate things as replacing the hw..

my solution, found after nearly 2 months of tinkering, has been put up here: http://sites.google.com/site/sreejiraj/ ... s-solution

I have been slightly cryptic on certain actions, but if people are interested, they can request for details at my gmail id, which sreejiraj

Thanks.

 

It sounds interesting, but in no way can a Linux distribution replace a Windows operating system yet. There are still so many incompatibilities between Linux and Windows programs (my biggest one being the Microsoft Office 2007 file incompatibilities) and hardware driver issues (I tried Linux Mint unsuccessfully the other day). This means that it's not easy for a Windows user to move to Linux (yet), in order to solve the freezing problem. You win some, you lose some and I think you lose more than you win in this case.

After all, we're not sure yet if the freezing problem is hardware related or caused by e.g. a driver conflict.

My conclusion: Nice try but I'll stick with trying to find a solution in order to get my Windows operating netbook working.

 

Hello
I hope I can get a piece of advice here... I'm trying to decide but I can't!! I need help. :?

I have an opportunity to get (as a present) a Lenovo S10-2 3G (the non-HD version) and I own a A0751h, which works great for what I use it (word processing, email, surfing, movies). If I get the Lenovo netbook I am supposed to give my 751h to my mother.

So, what do you think? Should I accept the offer?

Please help me decide because all this googling and youtubing is driving me crazy. I've been doing it the whole day and I am as far away from deciding as I was at the beginning. :shock:

Thank you in advance :?

 

Maybe in about 3 years or if it gets stolen.

 

In a word NO.. you will lose the screen space for start. Yes the processor will be a tad faster but as the Z series seems to work fine for what you are using it for I would say the creen is far more important than the overll speed. I had two 10" eeePC 1000h's before my 751h and sold both of them after getting used to this wonderful screen!