So, I'm considering getting a mini-notebook computer around the price range of $200-$400.
I do worry about programming games on it, though. The notebook would probably have 1 GB of RAM, and a less-than-stellar processor.
An example of something I'm considering is the Dell Netbook (Here), or something similar. Maybe a little bit bigger, maybe some better tech specs, who knows.

Anyway, how do you think XNA programming on this would be? I'm sticking only to 2D games for now, but may venture into 3D in the coming years. I wonder how it would handle particles on even a 2D game, though.

Any opinions on how you think a mini-notebook would cope with XNA? Also, if you have any recommendations for other mini-notebooks, I'm all ears.

Thanks!

I've used my Dell Mini for working on XNA stuff and it works just fine. I've only done 2D stuff and haven't stress tested, but I figured if I can run Firefox, Visual C# 2008 Express, and TweetDeck at the same time it can't be too bad. I think I have the Atom 1.66 Ghz processor and 1GB of RAM.

I've been using a Samsung N120 and it's been great for coding. Pretty sure it also has the 1.6GHz Atom and 1GB of RAM.
Both 2D and 3D games have run fine on it, with the exception of it crashing when trying to run SunBurn, but I haven't really tried it since it's not that critical.

The one tripping point I have is that the resolution is lower than 1280x720, so I have to add an extra code path so I can run them on the netbook.

I had done a lot of research on the N120, and I really can't recommend it enough for XNA and coding in general. It has an unbelievably long battery life, a very comfortable keyboard, and the capability for basic multitasking and older/unintensive games.

Thank you both for the replies.
The Samsung N120 looks great! I like the keyboard.

I currently have a laptop, a Dell Inspiron 1520. It has decent specs, such a dual 2.2 GHz Intel processor, Nvidia 8600 graphics card, 2 GB ram, etc. However, it's as heavy as a brick, and consequently I leave it hooked up to a docking station at home. I never actually take it anywhere! So that's why I'm looking into the mini notebooks.
I'm actually on my way out the door right now to get check out the Samsung N120. Thanks for the suggestion!

Alright, looks like all the Samsung netbooks are back-ordered with Best Buy. I actually really liked the Asus netbook, but the processor is 1.33 GHz dual Atom, not 1.6 GHz.
Do you think this would be too low for XNA programming?

*Edit* Oh, also, does anyone know how well Visual Studio and XNA cope with Windows 7?

Thanks!

Darwin:

Oh, also, does anyone know how well Visual Studio and XNA cope with Windows 7?

They both work perfectly with Windows 7.

Darwin:

Alright, looks like all the Samsung netbooks are back-ordered with Best Buy. I actually really liked the Asus netbook, but the processor is 1.33 GHz dual Atom, not 1.6 GHz.
Do you think this would be too low for XNA programming?

If that's correct, it should be more then fine! ;)
A single core 1.3GHz would be pushing it IMO, but only for overall system speed. It all depends on what you're doing in XNA; obviously a simple 2D game will be faster on any system than a highly complex 3D game.

The biggest factor will be compile times. My current Avatar project takes over half an hour to build on my netbook (it's compiling ~600 megs worth of avatar animations), but takes under a minute on my desktop. But even those can be eased by tweaking the pipeline until it only builds what's actually changed.

I have my HP 2140 set up and running windows 7 and Visual Studio 2008 for XNA Development with out a problem. The screen res' is a small problem, but it does the job fine.

I ended up getting this netbook.
It's an Asus, and the processor is only 1.33 GHz single. Turns out it wasn't 2 CPUs, dxdiag was just confused by the threading capabilities, or so I hear.
Anyway, the 1.6 GHz Asus had too small of a screen/keyboard for me to even consider. So I went with this one and I'm loving it so far!

I'm currently getting all my dev stuff setup, so we'll see how it handles it all under 1.33 GHz.

Welcome to the XNA Netbook Coder's club! :)

Very nice! That extra resolution should make some things a lot easier. _{(too bad I already got my N120; that thing could probably run Supreme Commander....)}

Thanks!
I tried running the Platformer Starterkit and the Spacewars Starterkit. The platformer runs just fine. Spacewars looks to run a little choppy, but not too bad.
Even youtube videos are incredibly choppy unless I let it fully buffer it before I play it. Other than that, everything seems totally fine!
Do you think a 1.6 GHz processor would alleviate those problems, or do you think I'd still be in the same ballpark?

I haven't tried that starter kit on there, but I will now and see what the performance is like.

I don't hook it up to the internet since I don't feel like letting virus scanners and windows updates sap performance, but I've put my game trailers on there and they seem to play fine. I don't think 300MHz would have an incredible impact, but it definitely wouldn't hurt.

I'll try spacewars on it soon and report back.

I have the acer aspire one.

It is capable of compiling and running simple 3D games (remember it only has a low spec graphics card).

I tend to plug it into a monitor at home with a keyboard and mouse if i'm wanting to develop at any length (better resolution etc)

It all depends on what your needs are, I went for the netbook because it was small, light and cheap :)

I do all my XNA programming on an Asus Eee 1000h.  The resolution (1024x600) is a bit of a pain sometimes, but it runs just fine (upgraded to 2GB).  I haven't as yet tried any 3D programming on it.