Makes a very interesting read

[Faustus]

I was reading THIS article today which I think makes very interesting reading, I can only hope it's true.

If ever there was a niche market i.e. for mobile users exploited by manufacturers to sell as a "must have" mass market product this has to be it - I hate the things with a passion.

I have a number of friends and work colleagues who were sold on the hype and went out and bought one of these. For the most part they are now languishing unused and unloved (the Netbooks that is) in drawers and cupboards, a complete waste of money. My friends now wish they had listened to me and not the sales blurb.

 

[Andybtsn]

I like mine. Very useful for transporting around.

 

[cavemanoc]

Absolutely love my missus's NC10 - often take it with me for short trips when I can be bothered to lug the XPS M1730 around. The article seems a little confused and jumbled for me - first it tells us that netbooks are doomed because the specs of the 2007 machines won't cope with our 2010 demands (well d'uh - hence the new spec netbooks are looking much more powerful)

It also makes the mistake of comparing apples with oranges - the netbook is not a laptop replacement - it is something else - and the real benefit for me is the battery life - which given that the new gen ones are pushing towards 12 hrs suits me down to the ground. With rapid progress in the atom processors and nVidia's mobile platforms I think the next couple of generations of netbooks will have more than enough grunt for not just the casual browser - but even the small time editor as well.

 

[Markachy]

It all depends on your travelling requirements. I travel between Belfast and Manchester (uni) at holiday times and lugging a 17' laptop about is a pain in the arse. Also, for flights, train journeys etc a netbook is very nice to have to watch videos and play games on. Plus bringing it into uni will be very handy, particularly for library revision when it is PACKED

I wouldn't have bought one without the Ion graphics chip though

 

[Puzzled]

I've found my netbook to be great as I had no need for a laptop as if I'm doing anything intensive I use my desktop system.

I have found its limits now though as I've started using it for watching iplayer / youtube on my TV and the little thing just can't cope.

I've heard of some people adding a video decoder card which apparently means the netbooks can handle HD media so I'm going to look into that.

I think as long as the new netbooks have dedicated graphics to help out on the video side but still stay around the £200 mark then they will be around for a while to come.

 

[Collider]

I think the article completely misses the point about what netbooks are good at.

It reads like something people who buy their desktops in PC World might think.

Netbooks are small, convenient, portable devices for easy web access and light work when a laptop isn't that practical. I have a fast desktop at home and we can only use desktops on an internal network at work. But we can use other devices to supplement work activities (and no, not watching porn). For that and travelling (plane tables are perfectly netbook sized) netbooks are great.

Its not meant to allow you to render a 50 minute Maya animation and watch the latest blockbuster. Its a little PC in a little case.

Users wanting more from netbooks needed laptops and the right advice.

Anyone who 'hates' netbooks doesn't understand them or is on a bandwagon jump similar to the AMD / Intel endless hoo haa.

When all that matters is horses for courses.

The age of all manner of things can be declared 'over' at any time..I recall people saying PC gaming was dead every year for 24587349587 years..would an article on the BBC saying so be treated with any credibility here because 2 random plaudits wrote in it?

I doubt it.

People who don't get good advice on their PC needs will end up with a PC that doesn't suit them.

That's always been the case and always will be.

I wish the age of that was dead myself.

 

[Faustus]

Anyone who 'hates' netbooks doesn't understand them or is on a bandwagon jump similar to the AMD / Intel endless hoo haa

.

I understand them fully as we have them at work but funnily enough try as they might management have been unable to persuade the majority of us to use them so they are piled up in the I.T. department gathering dust. They do have their uses for the mobile business user but in the main that is where the market begins and ends. They have been bought in their thousands by Joe Public, lots of them destined for the school playground. However, that particular market is the most fickle in the world and I'm sure once other products become more affordable e.g. smart phones etc. then that will be the final nail in the coffin for them. Many adults who purchased them have already given up on them. For the record I hate Notebooks almost as much as Netbooks and yes I do have a Dell Notebook. However, for me there is only one type of computer and that is a Desktop. Nothing else comes close to the pleasure of a good Desktop with an nice keyboard and large flat screen monitor.

For what it's worth I'm pretty sure that the article will prove to be correct.

 

[james.miller]

I think the article completely misses the point about what netbooks are good at.

It reads like something people who buy their desktops in PC World might think.

Netbooks are small, convenient, portable devices for easy web access and light work when a laptop isn't that practical. I have a fast desktop at home and we can only use desktops on an internal network at work. But we can use other devices to supplement work activities (and no, not watching porn). For that and travelling (plane tables are perfectly netbook sized) netbooks are great.

Its not meant to allow you to render a 50 minute Maya animation and watch the latest blockbuster. Its a little PC in a little case.

that's not the article's argument at all, its the price of the kit for one thing

Media heart

Asus kicked off the netbook trend in 2007 when it launched the Eee PC 700 and 701. The 700 sported a 2GB solid state hard drive, 512MB of Ram, a 900 MHz Intel Celeron processor and a seven inch screen.

It was cheap, cheerful and a boon for those wanting to check e-mail and go online while out and about.

But, said Mr Miles, the success of the small, portable notebook has been its undoing because it has spawned so many imitators.
Close-up of Sony E-Reader, BBC
E-book readers are starting to do more than just handle text

Many contemporary netbook models run Windows XP or Windows 7 which has forced the specifications, and price, upwards. Many, he said, now cost at least £350, a figure close to that for a more capable full-size laptop.

 

[Collider]

I don't. But we shall see.

I think they will evolve, they aren't a Sinclair C5. Its part of things moving on. I had a Psion 5 a long time ago and netbooks are just part of the evolutionary stream.

Most adults buying one think they are getting a PC for £200 but that's unrealistic. For what they are designed for however they are very useful. Mobile devices like the Iphone are fine but not if you want to check web pages in detail on the move.

If people who are fans of IT can't be persuaded to use new technology, well I am not sure that's altogether the fault of the new technology.

I also rather love my desktop PC of course, its the best way to have the PC experience, but I find it a tad hard to take on a plane.

 

[Collider]

Many contemporary netbook models run Windows XP or Windows 7 which has forced the specifications, and price, upwards. Many, he said, now cost at least £350, a figure close to that for a more capable full-size laptop.

But that's the point of people needing good advice.

What's the first question people here ask when someone asks for a spec?

'What will you use it for?'.

I wouldn't pay £350 for a netbook or a throttled down laptop either. But there are lots of people who will if you call it a bargain.

If people buy bad laptops and make bad choices does that make laptops dead? Not really.

I think the article is muddled and bandwagony. Its just about what is right for the user and for some people netbooks are.

Are they a fantastic PC alternative with an unchanging future? No to that too.

 

[james.miller]

i think you've missed the point of the article lol.

netbooks used to be cheap, the sort of money that was about spot on for doing a bit of browsing and emailing. now they arent; they are better, but they are more expensive. expensive to the point of being the same price as some bigger and far better specced laptops.

Hense the netbooks could be their own undoing.

 

[daz]

I paid £150 for my Acer One. It's absolutely perfect for enabling me to do 95% of my work on the go, as well as keeping me entertained on trains and planes. The keyboard is cramped and I can't play the latest games (or pretty much any game from the last 5 years!) but it does the job I bought it for.

I've thought about just having one, medium sized laptop (perhaps 12" sized) which can do everything - but the problem with that is it's all my eggs in the same basket. My Acer One can be bashed around and mistreated because it was so cheap without worrying that i'm damaging my main PC.

 

[clv101]

I understand them fully...

Not convinced you do to be honest! I don't have one as I've had a MacBook for the last three years, but a few of my friends do have them and use them daily. Out there in the real world both uber geeks and casual emailers are using them as they are smaller, lighter, cheaper, and have better battery life.

Sure things change and the landscape will be very different 12 months from now. But the Netbook segment has been a success over the last couple of years on merit.

The change I think we'll see is netbooks without keyboard - ie tablets. The keyboards on today's netbook aren't great and they take up a lot of room. They also reduce the space for the touch pad. Lose the keyboard, make the screen touchable and you have a better device imo.

 

[JonJ678]

An amusing read, but not an interesting one. A few curious outright lies though,

Battery life on Linux is in excess of 10 hours, for Windows rarely more than three.

I've owned an Asus 701, Samsung NC10 and now a Samsung N110. All three were well worth using, the latter two are especially good. I probably use it more than the i7 desktop. 8 hours of battery life is not to be sniffed at.

 

[Rroff]

Netbooks have kinda lost sense of the purpose of the original idea... super compact, long battery life machines at a basic price capable of doing basic computing tasks on the move.

Most now are price wise bumping into laptop territory and getting bigger and bigger.

 

[Faustus]

Not convinced you do to be honest! I don't have one as I've had a MacBook for the last three years, but a few of my friends do have them and use them daily. Out there in the real world both uber geeks and casual emailers are using them as they are smaller, lighter, cheaper, and have better battery life.

Sure things change and the landscape will be very different 12 months from now. But the Netbook segment has been a success over the last couple of years on merit.

The change I think we'll see is netbooks without keyboard - ie tablets. The keyboards on today's netbook aren't great and they take up a lot of room. They also reduce the space for the touch pad. Lose the keyboard, make the screen touchable and you have a better device imo.

I do understand them - as I said for the mobile business user that is their niche. I am with you on tablets being the next big thing as well. Also as the article says the smart phones will just get smarter and given the choice of a Netbook or a smart phone then I would go for the latter just for checking email etc.

 

[clv101]

I'd never really seen netbooks used in business environment, we use regular Dell laptops and smartphones. My observations are more casual 'social' users (email, IM, facebook, shopping etc) and geeks who get the shakes when away from forums and telnet for more than an hour.

 

[MikeHunt79]

I'm using an Acer netbook right now, to type this!

I also use it for Iplayer, games, music, etc... And it cost me less than an ipod touch.

 

[memyselfandi]

I think that netbooks are good if you work with, and understand, their limitations. I have a EEE901 which is ok, (I'd prefer a NC10 but this is ok) ... I use it for what it is designed for, i.e. web surfing when I'm away .... it's a small, cheap machine i can drop in my bag and easily take with me when a laptop would be too heavy and bulky.

If I've needed to do something more intensive over Christmas then I've just fired up logmein and connected to a system at home to do it.

People expect them to be powerful, multifunction, mini laptops and for them to do everything a desktop does .... that's not what they are designed to do.

 

[beermonster]

But you can still buy a brand new netbook with xp for £149, next one up is £219 with 160hd and 10" screen, not really expensive given what it will do, and is ideal for people on the move as a 2nd laptop.

"Technology has advanced so much that it's outmanoeuvred itself," he said. "You wouldn't go for something so basic anymore."

If a netbook is all you need then you would, why pay more for something you don't need.

"Many contemporary netbook models run Windows XP or Windows 7 which has forced the specifications, and price, upwards. Many, he said, now cost at least £350, a figure close to that for a more capable full-size laptop."

Not really, there's plenty in the £150-£250 price bracket.

If people were mis-sold netbooks as an all singing dancing laptop then thats not really a fault of manufactures "Failing the consumer" as they put it.

The netbook started a trend that a lot of consumers jumped on as the next must have device. Trends come and go and the next gen will be ultra long battery life units that Acer are releasing.