Netbooks: RIP?

[severedsolo]

IDC on Monday rolled out its 2010 PC industry predictions and became the second major research firm to note that mininotebooks, or netbooks, will hit the growth wall and plateau. Why? Portable PC prices are coming down and netbooks just don’t have the differentiation to compete with more full featured computing devices. Netbook prices will have growth rates of low double digits, just below the portable PC average, said IDC in a statement.

full story:Netbooks: Time to write the obit? | Between the Lines | ZDNet.com

 

[pparks1]

This doesn't surprise me at all. I've considered the purchase of a netbook before as I feel that it would be an ideal machine to have sitting around in my living room to use for posting to forums such as these.

However, I don't feel the netbooks are ideal because
1). I want a very long battery life. I don't want to have to be on the cord all of the time
2). I want an extremely fast bootup.

Without either of the above, the netbook is no more useful to me than my laptop computer.

 

[echrada]

As far as I am concerned the little pests can definitely be buried alive! Hate the little things, more trouble than they are worth. It is more like a souped up mobile telephone than a computer.

Rest in pieces!

 

[Little Darwin]

I like mine.

I got tired of lugging a larger laptop around, and I can carry my netbook and barely notice that I am carrying it.

I am a power user, but I still don't have a real need for the sort of power that I used to carry around... If I need real power, I am at home.

I will admit that I would prefer something with better video capabilities, and slightly larger than the current netbooks. I never expect to go back to the desktop replacement level of system I used to carry, but I am willing to split the difference.

 

[Little Darwin]

1). I want a very long battery life. I don't want to have to be on the cord all of the time

How much more than 6 hours do you want?

 

[noobvious]

I totally want a netbook. Just for checking my various forums, some light surfing, and I would have MediaMonkey and some tunes on it as well....any power-user type stuff I would use this desktop for.

Unfortunately, even with the tax refund, I decided I really can't afford to get one.

 

[pparks1]

1). I want a very long battery life. I don't want to have to be on the cord all of the time

How much more than 6 hours do you want?

Well, my stand alone laptop with the 9 cell battery lasts 4-5 hours on a charge.

Ideally, for a netbook, I'd like a small computer that booted almost instantly (10 seconds or less) and lasted a good 30 hours on a charge. I realize what I want doesn't exist...and that's why I don't have a netbook.

 

[johnwillyums]

I suspect that the iPad and the various other "slate" devices have been bought out because the business men at various computer companies can see that netbook sales have started to level out and decline.
They just want our money.
If I could afford anything I wanted I still think I'd go for a top of the range smart phone.
I just can't see the point of these almost computers.
But then again I'm not a business man.

 

[NoN]

I like notebooks and own since ten years now...I'm totally used to it and will never go over a 15,6" screen.
I'd love to have a netbook 10,1" screen along the one 14" i actually already own, just for little purposes and quick connect over the net, evaluating. This will wait of course some better times...but never know...some Atom processors got punched recently! I will go ahead.

As opposite to eschrada i just don't use mobile phone or smart phone anymore since quite a while. I did turn off their Mics!

 

[jimbo45]

Hi there
there are some great sub laptops around (bigger than netbooks) which have 10 to 11 inch screens. These give good enough video for most "on the road" type apps with typcally 3 hrs battery life. One of these might satisfy your needs - it's more powerful and better specced than a netbook and still powerful enough to be useful without being to large / heavy.

Actually I quite like the small netbooks --you can always RDP to a powerful remote system for running apps and you CAN connect an external monitor to most of them too for larger screen size.

Cheers
jimbo

 

[estherschindler]

I think that netbooks are in the same state as MP3 players once were. We all can agree that it'd be great to have SOMETHING that fills this need, but none of the gizmos available quite scratch the itch.

I'm sure that some company will figure it out, and we consumers will all say, "Yes! That's what I wanted all along." Which is the nature of innovation, after all.

 

[KazeNoKoe23]

I don't really get all the animosity towards netbooks. Personally I love mine. Upped the RAM to 2 GB and Win7 Home Premium absolutely flies on it. It's perfect for when I'm out and about, or simply want to relax on the couch. An overpowered, and equally overly bulky laptop has no use for me, as I can simply use my desktop if I want/need more horsepower.

 

[Desslok]

I had an acer 10", because the 11" at the time came with an Atom proc adn Vista, and was HORRID!. But 3 months later they bumped the proc to a Core solo proc and Win 7, and wireless N, I LOVE this thing. I can take it to coffee shops/bookstores, set it on the table with other people and it doesn't take the whole table. I can do anything I need to do on it, boots up under 1 minute, nattery lasts 6 hours. If i'm stuck ina coffee shop for more than 6 hours something is wrong anyways. Not sure why anyone wouldn't want one actually.

 

[strollin]

I have a 8.9" Acer netbook and love it. It has the small, 3-cell battery on it and I could care less as I NEVER use any laptop or netbook on battery power. Pretty much everywhere I go there is an outlet available so I would much rather plug in and totally forget about the battery. I keep my netbook in my RV so that I don't need to drag my fullsize laptop out to the RV when packing for a trip.

I can't see why someone would pay more for an iPad since it isn't as capable as a netbook. I think the iPad will be short lived...

 

[CarlTR6]

My wife has an Acer 10" and she loves loves it. It is easy to carry when traveling - even on the motorcycle. It is just fine for checking email visiting forums, etc. I prefer it to a laptop for portability.

 

[Tiffer]

I love my Netbooks. I have 2 of them. Jumped on the bandwagon with the original Asus 7" EEEpc which we used on holiday in Greece a couple of years ago. Connected to a friend's Wifi it was fine for browsing and checking emails.

Bought an Advent 4211 10" model (MSI Wind U100 Clone) more recently. It runs Windows XP, rather than Linux. Upped the RAM to 2Gb but the 80Gb Hard Drive is sufficient for carrying a few Movie and Music files on for when we're away. Played the AVI files fine through VLC player while on holiday.

Although it has built-in wireless we bought a Broadband Mobile USB dongle for where there's no access. Used it on a recent trip to Dover where I was browsing the 'Net checking online traffic reports and updating my Facebook status on route, whilst the wife was driving! Bought a higher capacity battery than the original which gave about 3 hours use. The new one gives nearer 7 hours, albeit making the Netbook a little more bulky at the back but nothing detrimental in my opinion. We found the extra battery life great to while away the time whilst delayed in an Airport lounge recently.

Personally I think Netbooks will survive as a versatile, compact, portable device for mobile Internet access. Wouldn't be without mine now!

 

[motc7]

As far as I am concerned the little pests can definitely be buried alive! Hate the little things, more trouble than they are worth. It is more like a souped up mobile telephone than a computer.

Rest in pieces!

iPhones are about as powerful.


Want to burn your friend's netbook? There's an app for that.

 

[canspec]

This doesn't surprise me at all. I've considered the purchase of a netbook before as I feel that it would be an ideal machine to have sitting around in my living room to use for posting to forums such as these.

However, I don't feel the netbooks are ideal because
1). I want a very long battery life. I don't want to have to be on the cord all of the time
2). I want an extremely fast bootup.

Without either of the above, the netbook is no more useful to me than my laptop computer.

I get 6-hours out of my netbook and Windows 7 Starter Edtion boots up in 59 seconds!

 

[baarod]

1). I want a very long battery life. I don't want to have to be on the cord all of the time

How much more than 6 hours do you want?

10 here with my ASUS 100HE

 

[manhunter2826]

What do folks think about preinstallations of Windows 7 Starter on many netbooks...would Home Premium be better\ I suspect so