I’ve been reading quite a bit recently in the UK newspapers (typically of a weekend), and I would estimate that on 75% of weekends in the year so far, mention has been made in the paper (or supplemental magazines) of netbooks.
Netbooks are that class of laptops that are typically:
- very small
- 10” or less screen
- No optical drive
- Limited memory, some cases no HDD
- (sometimes) simplified O/S
- Optimised for web browsing, email
- Embedded WiFi, plus 1-2 USB ports
- Battery (mostly) last for a good while
… you know the ones – a number of manufacturers (such as Samsung, ASUS, MSI, etc) have been punting them for some time now. But would you actually buy one? It’s fair enough to assume that you could do some web browsing or email on the device, but they are too large for a pocket – and that means some kind of bag. Which predisposes that it’s not completely casual usage they are designed for…
Some of the lower-end devices are using a GUI-front end on a Linux O/S, others are using Windows XP – but on the devices I have seen, there is an Achilles Heel, which is that the processors are not up to the job – meaning pretty poor performance.
Add to that the fact that most public WiFi is paid-for, and you remove the casual “whip it out” and check your email / the Web style of usage that probably vendors would have us believe is what you need one for – at least which the promo pics suggest…
So I’m throwing it out there – readers, do you have a netbook? If you do, is it Linux/WinXP/other? What do you use it for? Are you happy with it? I’d love to know if anyone actually uses these things!