Will a netbook be enough for computer science engineering?

[Afif_D]

I am about to start my computer science engineering classes.
Will a netbook be enough for me?
Since the optical disk drive is missing , will the usb be enough to do all kinds of tasks? Specially reinstalling the OS if needed.

[ahammel]

Since the optical disk drive is missing , will the usb be enough to do all kinds of tasks? Specially reinstalling the OS if needed.

Depends on the OS. Most linux distros can absolutely be installed from a flash drive, provided the BIOS supports USB booting. (It probably does, try it if you're not sure.) Dunno whether any closed-source OS does USB installs, though.

What tasks do you need to complete for the class? A netbook should be perfectly fine for tinkering with code and suchlike.

[GeorgeH]

Windows 7 will install from a USB HDD or flash drive with no problems at all; in fact the last OS I installed using optical media was Windows XP, and that was years ago. That said, actively using a netbook is something like reading a book with a telescope - reinstalling the OS should be the least of your worries if you anticipate having to do any serious work.

[PhoenixEnigma]

A netbook probably has enough horsepower for most of what you'd want to do. Installing the OS from flash media is pretty easy for Linux, Windows, and OS X at least, as has been mentioned.

The form factor, however, is a pile of crap - the keyboards are tiny and range from bad to awful, and the screens are generally tiny and 1024x600. That's about the worst thing I could possibly think of for any sort of productive use - it's a pain to type on, and slow, and the screen has about half the vertical resolution you probably want for productivity tasks. I'd strongly suggest investing in either a good external keyboard and monitor or a proper laptop.

[Afif_D]

Thanks.
I have great problems in running linux distros from my usb drive.
viewtopic.php?f=20&t=87088

Please help me out. I am unfamiliar with this

[cerbie]

The form factor, however, is a pile of crap - the keyboards are tiny and range from bad to awful, and the screens are generally tiny and 1024x600. That's about the worst thing I could possibly think of for any sort of productive use - it's a pain to type on, and slow, and the screen has about half the vertical resolution you probably want for productivity tasks. I'd strongly suggest investing in either a good external keyboard and monitor or a proper laptop.

QFT. For a low price, look into used Thinkpads , Probooks, and Lattitudes (at least new enough to use DDR2 and SATA, and have an ExpressCard slot). There is very little that a Core CPU (Core Solo, even) with GMA-series IGP or newer can't do well enough to get by with, even if it won't game or handle Netflix too well. A shoddy keyboard layout or chiclet feeling keyboard, on the other hand, can waste valuable time, as can needing to scroll around too much.

Bias note: my notebooks have all been Thinkpads, with 4:3 displays, bought used.