Netbook on the Beach/Outdoor: Display Glare vs Matt

UPDATE: I created an updated list of best netbooks with matte display
Do you want to use your netbook outdoor? On the beach? Do you wear white shirts?

Be careful with the display type you got: there are basically two types of displays out there.
The "traditional" matte displays and glossy (also called glare) displays.
Glossy displays are said to provide better color intensity and contrast ratios than those with a matte finish. The primary disadvantage of these displays is their tendency to reflect any external light, often resulting in an undesirable glare.
Effect that you don't have with matte displays: while matte displays distribute the reflected light across a large area, glare displays tend to reflect the light source as is.

My rule of thumb: if you use a netbook primarily outdoor, get a netbook with a matte display with a brightness exceeding 160 cd/m2, better if 200 cd/m2 or more. Glare displays are still ok if they have a very good brigthness (200 cd/m2 or more).

It means that the best netbook for the beach (IMHO) are currently:
All MSI Wind, Akoya E1210 and E1211, Samsung NC10, HP Mininote.
Unfortunately the EEE PC tend to have a very dark display, so you won't have much fun outdoor/on the beach.

One very important note: the netbooks that I mentioned above aren't ruggered, it means that they aren't build to be protected from water, dust, sand, dirt, snow and extreme temperatures. For this reason I would never bring my netbook on the beach, it would dramatically reduce its lifetime!!!
Bottom line: handle your netbook with care.

UPDATE: I created an updated list of best netbooks with matte display

Bluetooth for Aspire One A150, Samsung NC10, Medion Akoya Mini E1210 netbooks

UPDATE: Netbook and Bluetooth - Integrated vs USB Dongle

Please go directly to the newest post, since the Bluetooth dongle suggested in this post may have major software problems!

You want to buy the netbook that best fits you (e.g. using the netbook features database),
you are close to buy a top class netbook/mini laptop, such as the Samsung NC10, the Acer Aspire A150 or the Medion Akoya Mini E1210 when you see that it is missing a Bluetooth interface. What to do? You really need Bluetooth in the netbook to synchronize the mobile phone calendar or just to listen to music!
My suggestion: Bluetooth support in the netbook shouldn't be a go/not go criteria, you can simply add Bluetooth support using a Bluetooth USB dongle, there are many starting just below $10 (USD) and some of them are so tiny that you even won't see it.
This micro USB Bluetooth adapter simply disappears in the USB port of your netbook, so you can plug it once and forget it. You won't notice it! No damage to break it!
The Samsung NC10 or the Acer Aspire A150 got 3 USB ports so you'll have "just" two USB ports left, however it is far enough for 99% of us!

(At the time of writing) Beside the mentioned one, many other netbooks aren't equipped with a Bluetooth port: the HP MiniNote 2133, Acer Aspire A110, Fukato Jupiter, Lenovo Ideapad S9/S10, Fujitsu Amilo Mini Ui3520, Gigabyte M912, EEE PC 700/701/900/901. So if you really like the netbook however you miss Bluetooth, just buy an USB dongle/adapter!

Important! Installing a Bluetooth USB dongle/adapter is matter of minutes with Windows XP, for a Linux netbook the installation is a bit more complex and you need a minimal linux experience, look here for instructions on EEE PC (mostly similar for other netbooks).

UPDATE: Netbook and Bluetooth - Integrated vs USB Dongle

Please go directly to the newest post, since the Bluetooth dongle suggested in this post may have major software problems!


Remember that using the EEE Journal Netbook database helps find your dream netbook, with or without Bluetooth and refining the search with many other paramenters (operating system, size, battery, etc...)
http://www.eeejournal.com/2008/12/netbook-feature-database.html

Medion Akoya E1211 vs E1210 vs MSI Wind netbooks

The scene around the 10-inch netbooks is always more busy, the netbooks are getting very similar and all at about the same price level, the models equipped with Windows XP are all about 400 Euros.
Medion announced availability for the Akoya E1211 for October for 400 Euros. This is very interesting: after all, the Akoya E1210 was basically a MSI Wind without Bluetooth.
Now the Akoya E1211 will include Bluetooth, draft n wireless LAN (wifi) and even 160GByte hard disk!
Conclusion: the Akoya E1211 seem to be even better than the MSI Wind U100!

• MSI Wind U100 vs Akoya E1210: MSI Wind wins for the additional Bluetooth support.
• MSI Wind U100 vs Akoya E1211: Akoya wins, thank to the bigger hard disk (160GByts vs 80GBytes) and draft n wireless lan (MSI Wind got simple 11g wireless)
  
• Akoya E1210 vs E1211: E1211 wins. Bigger hard disk, better wireless and additional Bluetooth!
  

Table with the Akoya E1211 features (from the german magazine Chip)

Other posts about MSI Wind and Medion Akoya

Medion Akoya E1210 for Sale in UK

The Medion Akoya Mini E1210 is currently sold in UK (distributed by Aldi, Sainsury's and Argos) for prices between £280 and £300.
Remember that the Akoya Mini E1210 is basically an MSI Wind U100.

Before buying the E1210 remember that in about a month the Akoya Mini E1211 will be available with a huge 160GBytes hard disk! See post compare E1210 vs E1211 vs MSI Wind U100.

Other posts about Medion Akoya and MSI Wind

Apple Netbook? - MSI Wind / Medion Akoya with Mac OS Leopard

The first Apple Netbook... german Press showed pictures of a Medion Akoya mini (E1210) with Mac OS X (Leopard). As you know the Akoya mini E1210 is basically a MSI Wind U100, it means that the same job to port Apple Mac OS X can be done on a Wind U100.
It wasn't a quick job... according to magazine computerbild, it was required to replacet the original WLAN minipci card (Gigabyte GN-WI01GT) , install Apple Mac OS X with some special drivers. Here the video!
See all news about

• Apple Netbook
• Medion Akoya E1210 and E1211
• MSI Wind

EEE PC Competition - Medion Akoya Mini E1210 a MSI Wind Clone

Medion presented a new netbook / subnotebook, the Akoya Mini E1210. It should be equivalent to an MSI Wind U100. Actually it is a MSI Wind with a different case.
Price EUR 399 in Germany.

See also EEE Journal