Thinking of low power netbook/laptop - advice please

[swayzak]

Hi

I have a temperamental Medion netbook that I'm thinking of replacing.

It needs to act primarily as a music server (running Logitech's LMS, with USB HD attached containing 300GB+ music library).

There is a bewildering array of options out there !

Basically I'd like the replacement to run fairly cool, with low power consumption, and be netbook size or not much bigger (? up to 12" screen).

Don't mind paying a bit more for i3 or i5 - but I'm aware some newer 32nm Atom processors are emerging now ?

2GB+ RAM & at least 300GB HD would be nice.

Any recommendations ?

Should I hold off until Win 8 comes out or would it be straightforward to upgrade OS as & when ?


thanks

 

[jmsellars1]

It kind of depends on how much you want to spend really. An Atom D525 system should be fine and that would be the cheapest way and probably have the lowest power consumption. Another option is one based on the AMD E-350, it consumes a bit more power than the Atom but has more processing power and much better graphics. It would probably cost a tad more too. The i5-2xx7m is another option, power consumption will be similar to the E-350, graphics a bit worse but way better processing power. It would likely cost a lot more too.