The Sylvania Net-Booklet; a Review
A friend of mine just purchased a Sylvania net-booklet and asked me to review the computer while they went to work. Upon their return from work, I am to give my friend a run down of my thoughts regarding the machine.
The Good
- Cheap: about $100
- Good battery life thanks to an ARM processor
- Very light and small
The Bad
- 128 Megs of RAM: don't expect to run more than one application at once
- 400MHz processor: don't expect to run those applications at a decent speed
The Ugly
- Windows CE: don't expect any decent or usable application
The Super Fugly
- Windows CE uses Internet Explorer 6: obviously Sylvania hates their customers
What my friend wanted
My friend has very specific needs/wants when it comes to a netbook. It must be small and light, it must be able to browse the web, access web based-email and allow for the viewing of videos and be able to play music. On all of these counts the device fails miserably. Trying to access Flash video or a javascript heavy page (like http://gmail.com) wasn't really possible due to the software limitations. Similarly, the sloppily added wireless configuration software was not very user-friendly and was much more difficult to use than it needed to be.
Who the hell puts Internet Explorer 6 on a new device? Whoever thought Windows CE and Internet Explorer 6 would be a good combination for this device should be punched in the mouth. repeatedly.
In a nutshell; this device is underpowered, runs an outdated operating system with one of the worst browsers ever made, and will never do a decent job of browsing the web.
Do not buy this device. If you have already bought this device and it is currently wrapped-up and under a tree, steal it back and return it to the retailer for a refund. Just in case you missed it the first time - do not buy this device.
My advice to my friend: It's a good thing you kept the receipt, this thing is going back as soon as possible.
Happy Holidays.
I actually saw these just two
days ago on the shelf behind
a major toy retailer check out and was thinking of going back to take a closer look as the lines were horrible at the time I was there. I love
gadgets but I'm going to take your advice and move on!
Happy Holidays!
Looks a it crappy, but I like tiny laptops. Might as well opt for a 8" next time.
AND LUL FOR THE MATH CAPTCHA. :D