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Your moment of Geek Zen: The rise of the Netbooks
It used to be that a portable computer was an expensive luxury. That's all changed with the rise of a new class of computer: the Netbook.
Netbooks are usually defined as small, low-power, ultra-portable computers with a small price tag. These are mostly fully featured, but not as powerful as full desktops or notebook computers.
These Netbooks are not well suited for games and big programs, but perfect for email and surfing the web. That's not a big problem these days since so many things run as web applications.
There are some excellent values out there - In order to protect my beloved $1200 MacBook, I picked up a new Netbook for work. It has a 10" screen, 1GB of RAM, and 160GB hard drive - for only $350. This computer did something pretty amazing: It impressed me!
With wifi connections available everywhere, there is no need to be tethered to your old desktop at home. Grab yourself a small, light Netbook and hit the road! Now you can answer emails or write that book wherever you may be.
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7 Comments
tklink - Apr 13, 2009 7:33 AM
tklink - Apr 13, 2009 7:34 AM
Chris Tarr - Apr 13, 2009 9:38 AM
Netbooks have most, if not all, of the capabilities of a laptop. They don't carry as much horsepower, but are great for lighter tasks. I run Microsoft Office 2007 on mine (Word, Excel, Outlook) with no problem at all. Music, Facebook, and YouTube shouldn't be a problem either.
Really, the weak spot is graphics. They aren't capable of Video production or games that are graphics-heavy.
If you're getting one for a college student, I would recommend buying a separate monitor and keyboard, since the Netbook is so small. I use an Acer Aspire One, and it has a port on the side for an external monitor, and then I hook up an external keyboard and mouse. It works great while at my desk, and I just need to unplug the "extras" when I take it with me.
They really are great for students - very light and inexpensive. You will want that bigger screen for late-night paper writing though!
tklink - Apr 13, 2009 10:43 AM
MC_Pickard - Apr 14, 2009 9:34 AM
Chris Tarr - Apr 15, 2009 4:42 PM
clydecoolidge - Jul 23, 2009 10:28 AM
And I've been looking at the prices of netbooks, which are around $300 average, but I can also find laptops for around that price, with a bit more power and storage than a netbook. So I'm starting to think about purchasing a nicely equipped labtop for movie and music making, and a cheaper one for general things and web browsing.
Thoughts? Advice?