Win 7 Starter

[Theocrat]

Hi all -
I'm really considering a Win 7 Starter netbook (one of those $300 netbooks).
Usually 1GB DDR2, with an Intel Atom N450-470 processor.
I like the size 10" vs a bigger laptop at 15" - because I like it as a ereader or other thing. I want to use HeroLab and Acrobat (or FoxIT if needed) for the most part.
But I'm concerned with it being Win 7 Starter - can it handle HeroLab? Not that HL is anything powerful - thus I figure if it can handle Acrobat and a video player it should be able to handle HL.
Anybody else have one of these cheap netbooks? What are your thoughts? I really only want this to replace my books at the table - and the reason I like the size - and to be useable when I'm in the van waiting for the Evol WifeFIEND.

Thanks for your thoughts
Theocrat Issak

[rob]

In terms of processing power and RAM, the netbook ought to handle Hero Lab at least reasonably well - possibly quite well. The one big question mark is screen real estate. What is the resolution of the netbook? There are some netbooks with non-standard, excessively small screens, and Hero Lab is optimized for having a moderate amount of screen size available. So I recommend double-checking that detail and then playing with Hero Lab on your desktop at a similar resolution to assess how well it will work on the netbook.

[Zandari]

I run HL on exactly the sort of netbook you are talking about. It isn't quite as fast as my gaming laptop, but it serves perfectly well at the table. I typically have HL, Google Chrome, Excel 10, and a couple of pdf files open all at the same time while gaming, and the little netbook hums along nicely.

The question of screen size is valid, and it is a wee bit cramped, but still very usable.

[Theocrat]

Native resolution on the 10.1" is 1024 x 600. I think my phone has higher resolution! I'd wait for an Android pad, but the HeroLab functionality is the main reason for the netbook.
Here's the one that I'm really considering - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003N3A7KE
However, at Fry's they have a Refurb of this - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003VO5RMS/ - for $350, but then I'd want to get the $120 2 year warranty and taxes (bringing my total to about $620).
I'd appreciate your thoughts.

[rob]

Hero Lab is designed with a minimum 600 vertical resolution in mind, although there are many situations where more vertical space is definitely better. So things will be snug vertically, but they ought to work reasonably. You'll have adequate horizontal resolution at 1024, so that won't be an issue.

I haven't personally used any of the netbooks, so I'll let others here on the forums offer their recommendations regarding specific devices.

[Fnordboy]

I use my Dell 10v for HeroLab and pdf files. I'd suggest downloading the Chapter-by-chapter PF PDF files from Paizo's site, as the individual chapter files are much smaller memory hogs. I've been a little frustrated with the CTRL+F Find function, since the processing power can be limited.

3 tricks I've discovered:
1) For Adobe Acrobat Reader -> use the ALT+ (Left Arrow) button to switch your active page on the PDF file to your last viewed page. AWESOME timesaver. I don't have my netbook with me at the moment, but the button hotkey may be CTRL + (Left Arrow) instead. This hotkey is the {Back} button that we all wish Adobe put into their program! Feels like a Firefox browser! Reckless use of exclamation points!
2) Windows OS -> ALT+TAB to switch between your active windows.
3) My netbook has the capability to output to a standard monitor, thus it can support a larger display than the netbook actually has. Soooo... Go to your netbook's Display Properties and crank up the resolution on your video card! Your virtual desktop will get bigger and you can easily move your mouse around to 'pan' your actual display window across the oversized desktop. I've found that HL tends to want at least 1024x768 resolution, some of the buttons on the program will be unavailable until you change your video settings.
Generally, I've found it a tolerable workaround, as long as you stretch your desktop in one direction, vertical or horizontal. If you stretch both, you may find yourself hopelessly 'panning' all over the desktop and you may get frustrated.

[Fnordboy]

Hah, we're both burning the midnight oil, eh Rob?

Missed ya by 2 minutes!

[ValaraukarU]

Might be a little late to respond to this, but I run Hero Lab on a mini-notebook without problems. I have a Satellite T215D-S1150RD. It is a little larger 11.6" and a little more powerful than the average netbook. It is running Windows 7 Home Premium.I have plenty of room on the screen. I use Tactical console with it during gaming sessions.

The only issue I have is the Windows 7 requires admin permissions HL problem.

[rob]

Originally Posted by ValaraukarU

The only issue I have is the Windows 7 requires admin permissions HL problem.

Administrator privileges are only required if Hero Lab is installed beneath the "Program Files" folder that Windows automatically locks down. In an effort to avoid this issue for most users, the default installation folder is not under "Program Files", although it can obviously be manually changed. This is an issue that should be addressed in the next major feature update of the product.

[areteas]

I ran HL on an HP Mini 2133 (1024x600, VIA Nano processor, 2GB RAM) for a while - it's noticeably slower than a full-fledged machine, particularly when opening portfolios or compiling changes to data files, but it's still very usable. Vertical real estate, as said, is quite tight, but I've never run into anything I couldn't work around.
Exercise patience, is all I can say. Processor-intensive stuff like printing your character to PDF format will chug a little.
My machine was (it died ) a little slower (largely due to crap video driver support) than some of the more up to date netbooks, and PDFs were somewhat vexing in this regard, as scrolling through big ones could really suck up time. For most stuff I used Firefox and the d20pfsrd FF search plugin to look up spells, conditions, etc - Ctrl-K in Firefox to jump to the search box, type in 'Blessings of Fervor' or whatever, hit enter, and you're golden.