Customer Reviews

Sylvania GNET28001SO Meso 8.9" Netbook PC (1.6 GHz Intel Atom Processor, 1 GB RAM, 80 GB Hard Drive, Ubuntu OS) Yellow

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

I am currently writing this on my new Sylvania G Netbook MESO. Which I have now owned for a little over two weeks. This is the Ubuntu Remix edition, but if the desire moved me I could always throw on a copy of windows XP. For the record the desire will not be happening any time soon. Let me first explain why I decided on the MESO and then give a brief review of pros and cons this little machine.

WHY DID I BUY: Over the last few years I have started to use Linux more and more. I am not a "geek" persay. And I don't like having to command line everything. I like a nice grasphical interface to do nearly all my work. I'm from the windows 95, XP generation. So I hunted around and tried a few distributions, SUSE, Madriva (which I loved for a while) and then I discover Ubuntu. Something about Ubuntu just felt right. Everyone is different. But for me Ubuntu felt like home. Is it a perfect replacement for windows....no. But it does most of what I need. And after spending some time working with a Vista laptop, I finally decided that my next laptop would be Ubuntu based. Vista was too bloated. Even with all the eye candy turned off....it was slowwwww. I would run Ubuntu on the same laptop and it was quick and responsive even with COMPIZ (eyecandy working overtime) So I wanted a laptop with Ubuntu preinstalled and working right out of the box. But it seemed that of big commercial companies only DELL offers Ubuntu laptops. They are very nice looking. But I just wasn't sold. Then I saw the new crop of netbooks coming out, and I stumbled upon the Ubuntu web page describing the Netbook Remix GUI. I decided to make the plunge. So when the first netbook came out with this version of Ubuntu on it, I purchased it.

WHY GET UBUNTU REMIX: I wanted it, because it had the power of Ubuntu, but with the simplicity of a mac using the remix GUI. (once you get use to it. I come from a PC background (windows) and when I first started working on a Mac it took me a few hours to get comfortable. The remix was as easy as that to adjust to, if not easier. My wife who is completely computer illiterate, and can crash any machine in about 30 seconds by just looking at it, and she was up and running on this in no time. (and as a side note: Has not been able to crash it yet.)

TO MESO OR NOT TO MESO: Sylvania? Don't they make light bulbs? Yeah they do. I was a bit wary of buy anything from a relatively no name (computer) company. And truth be told they are simply slapping their brand on a machine from over seas. But then again who isn't these days. I purchased the netbook, because I wanted something inexpensive, (around $350) with a decent harddrive (80gb on the meso), that was small and lightweight from carrying around, and good on battery usage. The meso met all those needs. It may not be for everyone, but it was perfect for my needs. And I can say that any issues I have had, their tech support has walked me through, via emails and telephone calls. The support has been excellent from Sylvania.

THE LOOK: A number of site have said it looks like a portable dvd player. That maybe be so, to some people. But I have had more complements on the look of this device in the last two weeks, than with any other electronic gadget I have ever owned. I own the white (snow) version. Looks like a baby Mac. And people will come up to me and ask "where did you get such a cute little laptop? I love it." I mention that it uses Ubuntu, and the price. Most have no idea what Ubuntu is, but when they see the interface, they are like "Wow." That's so cool looking, and I can't believe its so inexpensive!" The build quality is excellent as well. At no time does the meso feel "cheap". It well constructed, and has a lightweight but solid feel.

PROs: Great battery life. I was working at a net cafe for nearly four hours wirelessly and still had charge left in my battery. Not bad at all. I had it on the highest power saving setting, and the screen dimmed a bit, but still that excellent. The screen is nice and bright, and easy on the eyes. I have the 1 gb ram version, and I find the performance to be excellent. This version of Ubuntu is tweaked to best use the Intel Atom processor's various abilities, and it is fast and responsive. Boot time from cold start about 30-45 seconds. But after that you ready to go. Not like windows. 45 seconds to boot, then wait another 3-5 minutes while all your programs load. When Ubuntu is up, its up. 30-45 seconds is not bad at all. From a suspend mode, you up in 5-7 seconds. So far hibernate does not work. I hope they get this function working in the near future. 80 gb hard drive, is fast and quiet. CPU fan is silent. I mean it is as quiet as a mouse. I have heard others having issues with it running at a high rate. These may have been some of the early models first released of the line. But mine is stone silent. The restore partition (in case you jack up your ubuntu) works great! (I have already tried it, it wipes everything and puts it back to how it was when you first opened the box.) VGA port works great. I have it connected to a DELL monitor at 1280X1024 resolution. Plug and play. I have hooked up a number of usb sticks, mice, keyboards, external harddrives, CD/DVD burner, two HP printers, all worked plug and play. If you need a small, lightweight, machine, that won't get viruses and crap ware, this is the machine. Wireless is very fast. Excellent for web surfing. The version of office (Openoffice) that comes with Ubuntu worked great with all my MS office docs! Just wish they had a real MS ACCESS replacement.

CONs: Can't hibernate yet (out of the box) Webcam is a bit subpar. But for $350 I can let that ride. Its just not the great. Keyboard is nice, and firm, with a nice solid feel. But it is very small. I have small hands and it is small. I am getting us to it. But just know it will take some adjustment. You have to expect that on a device this size. Its not too bad, but it will take some time to get use to. Software repositories need to be refreshed with newer software. Suspend sometimes hangs when you close the lid to the netbook. What I mean is, it will suspend automatically when you close you netbook, the first time. But after you wake it back up, if you close the lid again, nothing happens. So you need to press the power button, and tell it to suspend. A minor annoyance. All the hot buttons work, except the one that turns the wireless off and on. I called tech support and they said it just turns it off slowly. But on my unit, it has no effect at all no matter how long I hold down the button or how long I wait. The mouse buttons and touch pad set up are nice, and have a nice feel. The buttons do make a rather loud clicking sound when you tap them, which is not a problem unless your in a very quiet environment. But the touch pad is set up for button clicks, and scrolling. So you can use the silent touch pad instead if you are in a quiet place. So it is not really a big issue. Either Sylvania or Ubuntu needs to release a .iso for this Netbook Remix version of Ubuntu. It great having an additional recovery partition, but if the whole hard drive craps up you will need some form of media to reinstall. A small side point. COMPIZ does not work out of the box. And in fact I have not been able to get it to work on this machine. I would love and update to be released so I can enjoy the eye candy of COMPIZ. I know its doable. I would just like it out of the box.

FINAL VERDICT: This is the best computer buying experience I have had in a long time. Due in large part to the Ubuntu installation. It just works. Its a poor man's MAC if you will indulge me. I have fallen in love with the new GUI, and I love the speed. I have a video playing (MP4, with no choppiness, in video or sound.) and I can be surfing the web, and flip over to a WORD document, all without losing a beat. It never seems to sure from any lag (like my Vista machine) No need to defrag, no viruses, no spyware, no registry problems. When I uninstall a program it is gone (all of it) The machine and OS are rock solid. They work beautifully together! I hope this becomes the OS of choice for NETBOOKS in the future. For me its a Vista killer. But be aware it is not a gaming machine. So if your a game, look else where. This is a web, email, video, music, word processing, spreadsheet, workhorse. Though it does seem to play a wicked game of chess. :)

RATING:
APPEARANCE: 8.5
BUILD QUALITY: 8
PERFORMANCE: 9
INTERFACE: 10
WEBCAM: 2
WEB PERFORMANCE: 8
OUT OF THE BOX EXPERIENCE: 8
OVERALL: 7.5

I would say if your in the market for a netbook, and want to try something different than windows, but can't afford a MAC, this is the machine to get!

I was looking for an ultraportable PC that could be taken anywhere easily and do everything I need a notebook to do. This is a great form factor, at just over 2 pounds can easily be carried room to room in one hand and was a nice price should it happen to get destroyed or take a walk. I have used Ubuntu for the last 2 years, so switching Operating Systems wasn't a concern. Ubuntu is a great OS -- stable, secure. No spyware or viruses to worry about, free automatic upgrades every six months. Windows games wouldn't run on this too well, and without a CD, it would take some techno-wizardry to get them installed. There are emulation programs that can run some games, but I haven't had much success with that technology even on a much more powerful machine. I like the color scheme (Solar Yellow), and yes it sort of does look more like a portable DVD player than a notebook, but if that bothered me I'd have gone with the black. I had to call tech support today because of something very basic I was doing wrong (how to toggle off Num Lock) -- instantly reached a human who was pleasant and helpful. Yes the keyboard is a little crunched, but isn't a huge problem, I generally hunt and peck anyway and at the main office where I use it, i have a spare USB keyboard to plug in. Another post said something about an EVDO card not fitting in the slot -- it doesn't have a PCMIA or Express slot. For EVDO, you would have to use a USB EVDO card. The installed version of Ubuntu doesn't support EVDO yet, but the Oct 08 release is supposed to. For techies, there is ample help in Ubuntu forums on how to use the EVDO card right now, I have been using one in Ubuntu for a while. Battery life is decent.

Strengths:
1. Tiny size.
2. Cool Colors.
3. Native Ubuntu device.
4. Good tech support experience.
5. Nice sized hard drive (other netbooks this price often have a much smaller solid state drive - which has some advantages, but the overall capacity mattered most to me).
6. Good for email, office docs, web browsing.

Weaknesses:
1. Not for someone who doesn't want to leave Windows (there is supposed to be a XP version, but I haven't seen it sold anywhere).
2. Keyboard is a little crunched.
3. Not a gaming machine.

This little netbook is half the size of a normal laptop, and weighs hardly anything. I was really impressed with the Ubuntu operating system - don't be intimidated if you have never used linux before! It is super easy to get used to, and what is really awesome is the add/remove program tool. Instead of going to the computer store and buying programs, you just use this application to access literally thousands of programs to do anything, even great games - ALL ARE FREE!
It operates silently, runs all sorts of programs quickly (3D games not so well), transfers data via USB faster than any other computer I have used, and the battery lasts almost 3 hours - though it was 3.5 hours when I got it a month ago. Everyone who sees this computer loves it too.
When comparing stats to other little netbooks you will see that this is the best buy, and trust me - get the Ubuntu version and stop being a slave to corporate software giants!!!

Pros: After you get it working, it does perform as promised. I bought it as a PDA substitute, and its small size and capability make it very good for that. It even costs less than my PDA. I bought the Linux version for quick start up. Ubuntu is very user friendly.

Cons: 1) The ad says 2.2 lbs, the box says 2.2 lbs, and 2.2 lbs it does weigh . . . until you snap in the battery. Then it weighs 2.75 lbs.

2) Neither the wifi nor the camera worked out of the box. Doing a software recovery started the wifi, and a downloaded patch brought the camera to life. But the wifi doesn't pick up as many hot spots as other computers and the camera is really bad (but then I don't need a camera).

3) There is no right shift key. Honest. There is no shift key on the right side of the key board. So, as long as you don't need to capitalize any letters on the left side, you're OK! Actually, there is a dorky workaround in which you remap the keyboard to put a right shift where the up arrow is, the up arrow goes to where the menu key is, then the menu goes to where the useless supershift key is. (Hey, Sylvania! Create a patch for this.)

Also the keyboard IS really small, but if you have small hands it is quite typeable.

4) I guess you could squeeze four hours out of the battery if you turned the screen way dark, but as you will want to use it in the real world, figure on 3 hours.

5) Documentation is almost nonexistent, and what there is is for the XP version. Almost nothing on the web site as well. (It is assumes that Linux users can figure out anything by themselves.)

This Netbook seems to be way under-rated by others. I love this tiny netbook. Everything worked great for me right out of the box. Even the webcam, wireless, and wired network all worked great with out any additional setup. I highly recommend this little netbook to anyone that is always on the run or anyone that just needs something simple that "just works", and does not have anything Microsoft on it to ruin you day :) I played with some of the other netbooks and this definately tops my list for best netbook.

Sylvania GNET28001SO Meso 8.9" Netbook PC (1.6 GHz Intel Atom Processor, 1 GB RAM, 80 GB Hard Drive, Ubuntu OS) Yellow

Definitely all the bang you can get for a few bucks!

I love Linux and this netbook ([...]). It boots so quickly and multitasks like a dream. So far I have not had any issues with the Ubuntu Remix. And apparently if you need to switch back to normal Ubuntu it isn't an issue. Just change the repository information and update.

I also love the performance! While downloading 15K messages from my email server into the preloaded evolution email, I was listening to [...], browsing [...] and watching [...] all on the wireless Internet and the laptop didn't skip a beat!

Attention Microsoft users - Ubuntu makes Linux incredibly user friendly!!!! Don't be afraid to make the jump. Open Office comes loaded and is the equivalent to Microsoft's Office but frankly I think it is better. Move away from the awful Internet Explorer web browser and stick with Firefox. I promise you won't get near the amount of spywear, malwear or viruses that Microsoft user's experience. Plus, the Linux community out there is far more responsive than Microsoft.

It was very simple to set up and start working out of the box. Yes, Sylvania provides a "1- sheet quick start guide" which walks you through. My son and I have already setup and tweaked each of our profiles.

My son has never been on Linux and he looks as though he has been using the netbook his entire life. He's thrilled with the built in camera and microphone. He loves the applications that come preloaded to edit the captured videos, photos and sounds.

This little netbook can go everywhere and the battery lasts a long time so it easy to get a lot accomplished while in "on the go mode". Considering this device does way more than a cell phone and costs less than many of them I don't know what is not to love about this device.

If this is going to be your primary device get a keyboard (wireless or or usb) at minimum and consider getting other wireless components and use the netbook like a mac mini while at home. If you need a CD/DVD Writer / Player get an external one or look at another device.

I love the fact that anything I try to connect, connects easily. So far I have connected the following: keyboard, mouse, wireless modem/gateway/firewall, wireless printer, monitor, speakers and external storage drive.

My son and I both have Nokia phones and I will be shortly trying to configure Nokia's PC Suite (Microsoft Windows only) to work with Ubuntu via the blue tooth.

Truthfully, I had really wanted to get the Sylvania Magni Elite [...] which is really a MSI Wind rebranded but it only came preloaded with Microsoft. And since is the only working device in our household I didn't want to try and load Ubuntu on it without another working computer about. But I am so happy with this one it doesn't matter.

If you look at the ASUS netbooks be sure to look at the performance comparison of Xandros versus Ubuntu on the netbook as Ubuntu does out perform ([...]).

My son and I are going to try this for awhile and if it meets all of our needs we will get one more. Heck for the price, why not?

Hope this is helpful in your decision making process. And yes, I did type this whole review on the netbook's keyboard.

Cheers!

Just a quick update. It is September 2009 and I still love my netbook. A couple of items though I want to warn folks about.

Item 1: The tiny screws on the bottom of the case like to fall out! My son who is near 18 thankfully had an old tech-deck mini skate board with a tiny screwdriver that fits these screws perfectly. Very annoying as they should never come out unless you are intentionally trying to get them out.

Item 2: Don't upgrade to Adobe Flash 10 as it breaks the shockwave player in Firefox. Until the ubuntu community fixes this don't do it - I can't watch The Daily Show via comedy central . com :-( . Adobe really should have provided shockwave player to linux users. Bad Adobe!

Other than that I am still in love!

In November 2009, the Ubuntu group announced they will no longer support the lpia architecture which this wonderful netbook runs on. I am very sad but I understand that the maintenance for all the branches has been difficult. I will write a follow up after I migrate (not sure when that will be yet) my data to another architecture (most likely to i386) if possible.

Sylvania GNET28001ON Meso 8.9-Inch Netbook PC (1.6 GHz Intel Atom Processor, 1 GB RAM, 80 GB Hard Drive, Ubuntu OS, 4 Cell Battery) Black

I've had mine for two weeks now and am impressed with the smoothness and speed of the operating system. I usually use KDE, but the Gnome on the Ubuntu looks good and works flawlessly. The unit is a tad larger than an oversized paperback book. The keyboard is as small as you can go for human fingers, but it and the touchpad have a high-quality feel to them. I get over 3 hours on the battery.

The Ubuntu netbook remix software repositories are HUGE. You'll find about everything you want there. For the few things you might want that are not in the "lpia" remix repositories, like the Opera web browser, you can force the i386 .deb packages to install and they run fine. Search something like "dpkg force architecture" to find out how.

If you're not into the tech and Linux tinkering, you'll still be OK. Everything is logical, and almost every net basic is pre-installed so you can just unbox it, boot, and go!

I got the Solar Yellow color. It gets a lot of "ooohs" and "ahhhs". Very smart looking. The entire unit looks and feels well made and solid. I'm so impressed!

This is an awesome little netbook. It worked straight out of the box - no problems, although it did take a few minutes for it to connect to the internet the very first time. It needed lots of updates, but those downloaded and installed smoothly. The OS is awesome - very user friendly and easy to figure out - all without having ever used anything Linux. It starts up quickly and goes to sleep/wakes back up easily. The webcam worked first try (remember to take the little plastic piece off the lens!), as did the mail and instant messaging programs. It comes with several simple but fun games. The color scheme is very eye-catching (and the whole reason for buying this particular model) although I would have liked for the bottom to be yellow, too. (It's not it's black.) The keyboard is tiny, but not unusable (some of the keys are in unexpected places, like the apostrophe and quotes). It just takes a minute to get used to. That's to be expected with a netbook, anyway. It does get a little warm to the touch, but I don't think that's anything to worry about. Overall it's a sturdy and attractive way to keep connected on the go. Well worth the money!

Pros:
-The low price and the solid build which makes this thing look way more expensive. It's even cute!
-Ubuntu AND Windows XP work very well on this machine. It's yet to crash or hang with multiple processes running, and it's very fast.
-It is seriously silent and never gets hot.
-The battery lasts well over 3 hours even with wifi turned on.
-The trackpad has a nice feel and you can scroll on it by lightly holding the upper or lower corner on the right side of it. I love this feature.
-The webcam works nicely.
-The screen quality is great, and I actually like the fact that the screen is elevated by the placement of the speakers... it allows for better viewing.
-Sylvania's customer service is excellent.

(Kind of) Cons:
-The mouse buttons can be hard to click and are pretty loud. Though they get less stiff with use, I usually just click using the trackpad.
-The keyboard takes some getting used to, but you do get the hang of it and the keys are responsive.
-The audio is loud but can get a little "tinny." I'm sure this could get a lot better with sound equalization software, but I haven't really messed around with that yet.
-It really weighs 2.6 pounds. 2.2 pounds is without the battery, but it's still very light.

Overall, I'd recommend this computer without hesitation!

The color is what any New Yorker would recognize as taxi-cab yellow, though this time you don't have to keep watching the meter, because the battery has plenty of juice -- mine goes for a few hours and then some, and that's with Wifi on the entire time. (Granted, that's not as impressive as the eight hours claimed by some netbooks, but that is one of very few shortcomings of this unit.)

This was the fifth netbook I've tried -- returned all four others due to technical problems, ranging from non-responsive trackpads (an Asus and an Aspire) to sudden shut-downs -- and after weeks of use, I've found the Sylvania G Meso to be the highest quality product of the lot.

The clicker buttons on the trackpad are far easier to press than the ones on the Asus and Aspire One -- boy, were those stiff and impossible! -- but to be thorough, I should mention that the HP Mini-note's buttons are easier still, though the HP's higher price and lower specs don't make it a contender.

Internet speed on the Meso is good, but even though I'm in love with this machine, I have to admit there are times when it seems just a tad slow. I'm no computer geek, but my gut tells me there may be some tweaking that could speed things up -- one reviewer said that installing the regular Ubuntu (versus the Remix that comes installed) could help, and I have a feeling some security software I added could be slowing things down. But to be clear, this is a FAST computer for the most part, and web pages load effortlessly most if not all of the time.

Screen images are crisp and clear, and the soothing non-glare finish is so easy on the eyes, I didn't experience the eyestrain I might have expected from an 8.9-inch screen.

And the best thing: this taxi-cab yellow computer costs so little, it won't be the end of the world if you end up leaving it in the backseat of an actual taxi.