NetBooks – The New Affordable Laptop

Recently, I started noticing the netbooks at a local Best Buy. They are small notebooks running on low power processors with small screens. What got my attention was how cheap they were starting at $300. You can argue you can get notebook for only for few hundred more but why spend the extra money. For the price of a an extended 3 year warranty on a $600 laptop you can buy a net book.  Think about it, some cell phones cost $300.

To get this low prices and reasonable performance, the Best Buy available NetBooks run Windows XP which Microsoft is trying to retire.  Don’t expect netbooks to run CPU hungry games and applications. Thery are suppose to perform reasonable in internet surfing, e-mail, and doing homework. The one I looked at had 1 GB of memory and runs an ATOM processor. The 1 GB of memory is more than low end Windows XP desktops had a few years ago.  To me these netbooks provide a need for a portable PC that if lost or is broken won’t destroy your bank account. Something like CELL Phones. So I started researching netbooks. and found only a few reviews. Most articles where opinions just like this one.

It seems LINUX is trying to become the OS of choice for these  devices, which explains why Microsoft is not forcing manufacturers to use Windows Vista on these potable PC’s. Once Windows XP became available on netbooks, many Linux versions where returned.  Currently, I would rather stick with Windows than switch to Linux.

Links

Best Buy NetBook listings

2009 NetBooks Product Comparisons from TopTenReviews.com

Top 10 Netbooks from PcWorld

Top 10 NetBooks from IntelliReview

Wikipedia Articles: NetBook , Comparison of Netbooks

Articles

ASUS S101 Review by Kevin (2009-08-02)

Twice as Many Netbooks Are On the Way by Marcus Yam (2009-07-16) – Tom’s Hardware

How to Buy a Netbook Dan Nystedt (2008-12-18) from PcWorld

Microsoft Strips App Limits For Netbook Windows 7 by Michael Scalisis (2009-06-01) from Computerland

Microsoft Strips App Limits For Netbook Windows 7 by Michael Scalisis (2009-06-01) from Computerland

Game over for Linux netbooks? by Eric Brown from DesktopLiinux.com – eWeek

Next year’s netbooks: Notebook, meet smartphone “Google Android, ARM processors and all-day batteries will transform today’s netbook into something completely new.” by David Haskin (2009-05-19) from Computerland

Microsoft Ditches Windows 7 Starter App Limit by Nick Mediati (2009-05-29) from PC World

Three Reasons Why Netbooks Just Aren’t Good Enough by Michael Arrington (2008-11-29) from TechCrunch

Forget Netbooks; Now Mini-Laptops Are Smartbooks by Ashlee Vance (2009-06-29) from New Yorks Times – Bits

Light and Cheap, Netbooks Are Poised to Reshape PC Industry by ASHLEE VANCE and MATT RICHTEL (2009-04-01)  from New Yorks Times

The Next Netbook Trend: Cellphone-Like Contract Deals by Priya Ganapati  (2008-12-15)

What is a Netbook computer? by Michael Horowitz (2008-10-12)