Key Point 4: From my count, we got at least 15 brands currently...

From my count, we got at least 15 brands currently selling locally: Acer Astone Asus Dell Gateway Gigabyte HP Lenovo Minix MSI Neo Red Fox Sony Toshiba Qube The label 'best' is subjective and it co...

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Poll: Who’s the best netbook maker?

Q: Key Point 2: It's good though -- the more, the better -- competition...

It's good though -- the more, the better -- competition drives innovation up and prices down.

Q: Key Point 3: This time, our poll asks -- Who is the best...

This time, our poll asks -- Who is the best netbook-maker?

Abe Olandres July 15, 2009 · 1 min read

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ASUS Chromebook CM14 announced ASUS ROG unveils Strix OLED XG34WCDMS, Strix XG129C monitors BPI partners with Robinsons Retail for barcode cash deposits in stores DJI Osmo Mobile 8P globally launched Qualcomm Snapdragon 6 Gen 5, Snapdragon 4 Gen 5 announced

With over a dozen netbook brands available in the Philippines today, it’s pretty harder to pick a model compared to a year ago. It’s good though — the more, the better — competition drives innovation up and prices down.

This time, our poll asks — Who is the best netbook-maker?

From my count, we got at least 15 brands currently selling locally:

Acer
Astone
Asus
Dell
Gateway
Gigabyte
HP
Lenovo
Minix
MSI
Neo
Red Fox
Sony
Toshiba
Qube

The label ‘best’ is subjective and it could mean ‘best designed’, ‘best bang for the buck’, or ‘best performance’ so let’s just settle for ‘best-overall’. As usual, I’ve added the poll on the sidebar so you can send in your votes.

Note: Didn’t include LG and Samsung (and others) since they haven’t officially released their own netbooks in the Philippines.

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Abe Olandres

Editor-in-chief

Abe is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of YugaTech with over 20 years of experience in the technology industry. He is one of the pioneers of blogging in the country and considered by many as the Father of Tech Blogging in the Philippines. He is also a technology consultant, a tech columnist with several national publications, resource speaker and mentor/advisor to several start-up companies.

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125 Comments

Henry Canizares · 17 years ago

To cont its only asus (here in Pinas) that offer 2years warranty w/o additional fee for notebooks and certain high end netbook like NJ10. Its very clear that they really trust there product. No company will offer 2years warranty if it will just broke after a year. In Hp and other laptop makers, again you have to buy the so called extension warranty card w/c cost around 8k as i remember. It would be nice if HP, Acer and other big brands will offer competitive warranty as Asus

Henry Canizares · 17 years ago

For me Asus is the best netbook in the market over other else because it has the longest battery life (working >6hrs) and had the best mother board. In Hp you have to buy the extended battery w/c cost you around 8k it order to achieve at least 5hrs of run time w/c is still behind asus, you add that to the price of HP 2140 and it will rise up to 32k. Netbook is not decide by the looks only but also how long it will last. In asus your total cost of ownership is less compared to other brand.

Marc · 17 years ago

Asus – for pioneering the netbook sector and dishing out loads of models, which allows them to innovate and perfect their lineup. I think they have come up with some blah models but that’s par for the course. Practice makes perfect. I got an Asus 1008HA at Octagon – the only one I found after combing Ayala Center, Megamall, Shangrila Plaza, Trinoma and SM North.

hp_engineer · 17 years ago

a little trade secret among the company to all hp notebook fanatics out there:

This is not to disappoint each and everyone of you, this is to open your mind on how hp does it.
First and foremost hp notebooks are very much easy to sell because of course by the ads that hp is producing, internally hp doesn’t create a notebook which is “good” in a sense that it lasts, because every model that hp develops has a weak part, trust me, i know it all, expirience with hp is that they create notebooks with parts that has a weak one to be last for a limited amount of time and then become a defective one for the customer to return to hp and pay for services and parts they thaught they broke. haha! funny right! hp really does a good job! hope this opens your minds on how the big one does it. tnx!

PS: Buy an hp notebook and soon you’ll be goin back to hp for repair.

purplegleam · 17 years ago

Dell, Dell, Dell. Its proven!

Obed · 17 years ago

msi
asus
hp
lenovo

Calvin · 17 years ago

i think you should remove the obvious ones that don’t stand a chance with competing with the more famous brands (like red fox, minix, qube).

drealmarlon · 17 years ago

this question hangs on me a year ago but i go decide to go to MSI because its cheap,good specs,and the company is well known.MSI is win big in making the MSI wind other than any brand who are now trying to capture the likes of the people because their previous brands not fit to the buyers wants.I had this cheap msi wind 100 php15,995 brand new on pc corner,i do say its great! MSI wind cheap,durable,good specs too.

Ryan Montilla · 17 years ago

I recommend Dell and Sony to everyone! It’s proven!

Jayson · 17 years ago

best bang for the buck – MSI!!!

paul e. · 17 years ago

asus. love your own. hehehe!

Greg · 17 years ago

Astone UMPC. With its specs, can’t beat its price.

issai · 17 years ago

hp lang meron ako eh. di ko pa natry iba. mukhang okay naman. wala naman problema. minsan mabagal lang kahit atom :(

Oliver Viray · 17 years ago

still asus for me,no one beats the original

franxiz · 17 years ago

I’m using Sony Vaio P but its Asus for me.

carl · 17 years ago

for me
HP #1
Acer#2
Sony #3

^_^

http://dloadtech.blogspot.com

carl · 17 years ago

for me
HP #1
Acer#2
Sony #3

Pink · 17 years ago

I’m using MSI but I heard HP does it best. :)

Pepe Maglutac · 17 years ago

Well, if we would only include the first Aspire One, I’d say Acer, for sheer bang for the buck. Sadly, everything after that was either too late (D150) or too expensive for a netbook (That 11.6″ One)

HP, no; too expensive for the features, (and not that much different features). Same with Lenovo, and Sony, and Toshiba.

Ignoring the other obscure ones, it comes down to ASUS and MSI. MSI has the advantage of being cheap, but I’d give my vote to ASUS, due to the fact that they have quite a lot of innovations in terms of netbooks :D

Minix would have a chance, but it hasn’t lasted long enough to make that much of an impression… yet…

Teknisyan · 17 years ago

Of course, we should acknowledge the pioneer and the company who created this niche.. Asus, should be the king of netbook. but we can never disregard the major computer company.. as they would also want that title themselves!!!!

Teknisyan · 17 years ago

http://teknisyan.blogspot.com

erik james · 17 years ago

* Acer -i just hate glossy lcd screens diffucult to cleanup.
* Astone -what the hell is this?
* Asus -bad lcd screen and size.
* Dell -nice and durable.
* Gateway -i’ll think about it.
* Gigabyte -never mind.
* HP -stylish but low specs.
* Lenovo -i like this one.
* Minix -never been heard, duh.
* MSI -best choice and affordable.
* Neo -cheap really cheap!
* Red Fox -wow, very promising.
* Sony -too expensive for a netbook.
* Toshiba -durable but not that stylish.
* Qube -get a cube.

hublon · 17 years ago

I’m voting for Lenovo as the number 1 brand followed by Asus.

JonJon Villegas · 17 years ago

voted for HP…. `coz I owned one hehe
2140 users here…. satisfied :)

myke · 17 years ago

just voted for hp to annoy those asus fanatics >:)

Kiven · 17 years ago

Acer, Lenovo, MSI (not necessarily in that order)

julai · 17 years ago

HP for me.Got my HP mini since April and so far, so good.

ERWIN:-) · 17 years ago

ASUS!! =)

Mark Jason · 17 years ago

Acer is like Asus. Except for the design

rene · 17 years ago

Asus . . . until MSI came . . .

kumagpoko · 17 years ago

MSI for me..OVERALL =]

Daniel · 17 years ago

Asus. What better than the originators? Haha, aside from that, great and innovative products for a relatively cheap price.

arrman · 17 years ago

asus, acer, msi, hp, lenovo

Diosk · 17 years ago

Cheeseter and Pinoy Netbooks seems to be employees of MSI. lol

Pinoy NetBooks · 17 years ago

Design doesn’t matter. MSI for me, cheap price with great specs.

Cheeseter · 17 years ago

in terms of price versus specs, MSI is the winner!

Tey Aragon · 17 years ago

MSI! For their limited edition Wind with 250GB HDD + 2GB memory + 6-cell battery + WinXP HE = ALL FOR UNDER P20k! :-)

cajones · 17 years ago

Kuya Yuga, I made a comparison based on their specs unfortunately accurate battery life testing varies widely pero as far as bang for your buck is concerned the msi wind u100 plus takes the cake.

http://jraguilar.multiply.com/journal/item/269/Buying_a_Netbook

eithanÂ® · 17 years ago

asus got the # 1 spot!!!

asus rules.

atom · 17 years ago

i think it really depends on what features you want… but then again all netbook seems to have same features already lol

sylv3rblade · 17 years ago

MSI for me :D

sherwin · 17 years ago

HP, Asus, Lenovo

Raven · 17 years ago

@petken
i agree…asus deserve the sp0t.

My t0p 5
1. Asus
2. MSI
3. Hp
4. Acer
5. Len0v0

s0ny was a pricey s0 it fails on the “best bang f0r the buck” categ0ry.

Binks · 17 years ago

Yeah, my dad bought a NEO 1193 yesterday. My initial impression was WTF! But seriously, after using it for a few hours, I’m slowly falling in love with it.

Darren · 17 years ago

1. NEO
2. Acer
3. Minix
4. ASUS
5. MSI

JohnLloy · 17 years ago

Asus

looking for 1005ha · 17 years ago

@petken: Where did you buy your eeepc1005ha?!

Reuben · 17 years ago

MSI got the real deal, good specs with good price. But, design is not good enough, much with HP and Acer. Nah, it doesnt matter any way.

TechPinas · 17 years ago

Based on the products I’ve actually seen and ‘held’:

Best Bang for the Buck

1. HP – the latest releases are plain outstanding
2. Asus
3. Lenovo
4. Acer
5. Toshiba — would have ranked higher if pricing isn’t a factor.

petken · 17 years ago

of course, the pioneer netbook maker, asus is the clear winner here. they have cool designs and longest battery life. the best 6-cell battery that does not produce the ugly extension like most of the other makers… asus eee pc 1005HA is currently the best notebook in terms of specs, design and pricing CNET Editor’s Choice June 2009… I got mine yesterday and it is really worth it…