When the Asus Eee PC X101 was first announced it made a huge buzz as being one of the first 10.1-inch netbooks to be offered at below $200. These days finding one of these Linux Meego powered netbooks is very difficult, much less finding one below $200. However, you can still find a number of netbooks for under $200 provided that you can accept that:
- All branded netbooks under $200 are used or refurbished
- All new netbooks under $200 are not branded or from well-known brands
If you can accept the above then follow the tips set out below to find yourself a good under $200 netbook.
Used vs Refurbished
If you’ve looked for a particular netbook on Amazon and found it being sold at much lower prices, chances are it is under the category of a used netbook. This means that someone else has used it, and it has not been repaired. This is especially true if the seller is an individual who claims that it has been rarely used, looks 99% new and works like a dream, all of which are signs of something fishy going on or at least some reason to be suspicious. The only time I would suggest buying a used netbook would be if you know the seller directly, have seen and used the netbook in question and are certain that it is in good condition.
Refurbished on the other hand means that while the item or netbook in question has been used before, it has been checked through by an expert and repaired, with some parts being replaced entirely. I’ve found that in general, refurbished netbooks last a lot longer than used netbooks, so if you can, always go for refurbished over used netbooks. While they may be priced slightly higher than the used netbooks, there are still quite a lot of decent deals out there with some ranging from $160 to $180, below the $200 price range.
If you’re getting a refurbished netbook always make sure to get a branded model. Do not get any refurbished netbook from some no-name brand you’ve never heard of, regardless of how good the price is, with the reason for this being discussed shortly. Bear in mind that these refurbished netbooks will be using older technology and as such may not be as powerful nor have the features or functions available to the latest netbooks on the market.
Non-branded Netbooks
You may have also found any number of non-branded 7-inch netbooks being sold new at the same price as a refurbished branded netbook. This ranges from $120 to $160 although I have seen some being sold at $99. The main reason these netbooks are being sold for so cheap is because they are not using an Intel or AMD processor. Rather, they are using ARM chips or the type of processors you would expect in a PMP (Personal Media Player) and lower-end processor chips at that. Generally, these non-branded netbooks use either Windows CE or Android 2.3 as their operating system, but I have seen some that come with Windows 7.
Do not buy these cheap non-branded netbooks if you think that having to wait more than 2 to 3 minutes for an app or program to load is a long time. Avoid these non-branded netbooks like the plague if you like to have several programs open at the same time. I have used a number of these netbooks and they are slower than the slowest branded netbook in the market. However, if all you need is something to type notes or answer emails, this could be a good fit for you and some of them do look nice enough to pass muster in the design aspect.
