By | No Comments
Last updated: Friday, December 5, 2008

You see them on tables in coffee shops, under the arms of college students and on the laps of travelers waiting for a flight. Called “netbooks” or “mini-notebooks,” these small, lightweight and relatively affordable computers are one of the hottest tech toys of the year. Popularized by Asus Eee PCs, which start at $269, netbooks are designed for basic tasks — Web surfing, e-mail and word processing. That’s just fine for some folks. These sleek Wi-Fi-enabled computers are usually limited in capacity, and to keep costs down, often ship with the open-source Linux operating system instead of Microsoft’s Windows. “Especially during this economic downturn, a low-cost option is very attractive,” says Doug Bell, an analyst at researcher IDC. “Mini-notebooks are also a great PC option for kids because of the small keyboards.” Still, Bell says, “While the main draw is the price and compact size and weight, it is important to know what you are buying.” Price ranges and features are expanding rapidly. Some stripped-down machines offer limited solid-state storage drive capacity of 16 gigabytes or less. (SSDs are basically flash memory drives not unlike what’s in a digital camera or iPod nano.) Others sport traditional hard drives of 120 GB or more. Prices can range from under $300 to around $500. “Performance and price is all over the map,” says Leslie Fiering, an analyst at Gartner. At $500, you’re better off investing in a full-featured 14-inch notebook computer, Fiering says. Fiering recommends 10-inch netbooks as the “sweet spot” for keyboard, screen size and price. In addition to Asus, major PC makers including Dell, HP, Lenovo and Acer all offer mini-notebooks. Here’s a look at a few models: Speedier Surfing Now available at Best Buy, the MSI Wind U100 ($349.99) is a 10-inch netbook powered by Intel’s speedy new Atom 1.6-GHz processor. It features a comfortable keyboard that’s only 20%…

More:
Mini-Notebooks Making a Maximum Impact

CommentSubscribe