The Demise of the Netbook Has Been Greatly Exaggerated

[Hooch Tan]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.tgdaily.com/mobility-features/50770-the-humble-netbook-refuses-to-die' target='_blank'>http://www.tgdaily.com/mobility-fea...-refuses-to-die</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>"Remember all those talking heads who predicted that tablets and low-cost laptops would kill off the humble netbook? Well, consumer interest in such entry-level devices has apparently shown little sign of waning. Indeed, according to principal ABI analyst Jeff Orr, netbooks are not replacing laptops or PCs - but they are being purchased as complementary platforms."</em></p><p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/dht/auto/1279846442.usr20447.jpg" style="border: 1px solid #d2d2bb;" /></p><p>The much maligned netbook seems to have quite a bit of life left in it.&nbsp; I can certainly see the appeal of a low cost, light weight computing device that is "just enough."&nbsp; Of course, phones are becoming that in many ways, but they do lack the form factor unless you are willing to go the RedFly route.&nbsp; I think that the trend of netbooks also speaks larger about consumer buying patterns as well.&nbsp; A single computer for a person, let alone a household is a thing of the past.&nbsp; Computers are becoming much more ubiquitous and we are looking to collect multiple devices, each designed to accomplish specific tasks.&nbsp; Yes, the age of computing appliances has arrived.&nbsp; Has anyone recently bought a netbook over a larger, low cost notebook lately?&nbsp; If so, what were your reasons for doing so?</p>

[The Yaz]

I needed to get my daughter a new computer for High School in September. It needs to be a laptop to be able to do work afterschool. I chose the Acer netbook because the price ($200) and feature set met her basic needs.

I still have a desktop with processing power as our hub for the music collection and video encoding, but the portable devices don't have the same requirements. That's where the netbooks are passable for me.

Steve

[ctmagnus]

I bought a netbook for two reasons. 1) It cost half as much as the low-end iPad, and 2) (the more important reason for me) it runs Windows 7 with aplomb.

[crimsonsky]

I bought a netbook primarily to run a single Windows program - Logos 4 Bible Software. Even though Logos has a Mac version now in beta, it was still in the early alpha stage and I wanted to experience Logos in its completeness.

Of course now I am dual-booting with Jolicloud (a perfect netbook OS, BTW). Since I'm primarily a Mac user (three Macs in the house) I didn't want to drop a lot of money on what was essentially for me a single program device, but I wanted the flexibility to be able to run other programs as desired. The iPad is wonderful, but too limited especially in text input.

[Joel Crane]

I've had my sights set on an EeePC 1005HA for a long while now. I'd much rather have a netbook than a cheap-o low-end laptop.

[Felix Torres]

I picked up a Netbook to supplement my menagerie because of the form factor (<3lbs) and battery life (>8 hrs). Surfing, email, light WP, managing ebooks. It has the power of a 3-year old PC and 3 years ago I had no problem doing what I needed on equivalent hardware.
Plus it was cheap (<$300). (Never hurts!)

[Hooch Tan]

Wow, talk about a lot of netbook users out there, and good reasons for them. I have a temptation to get one, though I have one that's close enough, a Fujitsu P1610, though that cost considerably more than a netbook. The only things I find lacking on it is the sound is really, really weak on the P1610 and it lacks an integrated webcam. But the processing power is probably comparable as is the battery life. It's really handy to have something so tiny and light to carry around for light duty work.

It seems like most of you are using it as a supplementary computing device though. Would any of you consider making it an exclusive relationship? (Personally, I can't as for hard core work, I need a multi-core, multi-monitor setup.)

[Joel Crane]

Tomorrow, I'll be getting the EeePC 1005HA that I mentioned earlier, my wife told me to just buy it already. It will be replacing my P3 933mhz laptop.

It will be my only mobile computer. It's mobility will be far better than that of my laptop primarily because of the stellar battery life (9 hours as opposed to 10 minutes). It obviously will out-perform the laptop in general computing. It won't choke on YouTube and Hulu videos, thanks to a wimpy but up-to-date and fully supported graphics accelerator.

Finally, it was $279.99 shipped from NewEgg.

Unless you must have a large screen or want to play Modern Warfare 2 on-the-go, I don't see why you would not be happy with a netbook.