Reasons for Having a Netbook

Netbooks are becoming more and more popular and is one of the faster growing segments in the computer industry right now. In fact, I recently purchased an Acer Aspire One 1GB netbook running Windows XP.

Netbooks are changing the industry landscape¹. The article "Microsoft: Netbooks Are Killing Us" says that the increase in netbook sales is partly to blame for Microsoft's revenue decline. Why? Because same netbooks run on the less memory-hungry Linux operating system instead of Microsoft Windows. Those Linux netbooks also do not run Microsoft Office. Although many Windows netbook can run Windows XP; with a low one GB of RAM, they are not suited for running Windows Vista.

Microsoft is countering this by plans for releasing new operating system Windows 7 in the latter part of 2009 which will run on netbooks. Google recently announced plans for releasing their own operating system called "Chrome OS" that will target netbooks.

Sales for for desktop PC dropped for Dell during the latter part of 2008. For Apple, desktop sales drop while notebook sales increased². Although Apple's notebook are not considered netbooks, the trend seem to indicate that people are moving out of desktop machines into more portable computers.

What the netbook is designed for is portability and network connectivity. It is perfect for travelling when you want to just connect up in a hotel or internet cafe to check your emails, or to post your blog, twitter, use Google Map, check weather, find out news, or even watch YouTube videos. Seem like we do everything on the web now, doesn't it?

To save weight, most do not come with CD or DVD drives. However, you can purchase external USB DVD drives. All netbooks have a hard-disk of varying capacities. My model comes with a 160 GB hard-disk and SD card reader, so it is certainly possible to store trip photos taken from a camera.

Connectivity is what give this device the name "netbook". It is designed around our web-centric and internet-available world.

My netbook has a webcam, microphone, and wireless WiFi card all built in. So when you boot up the computer, it will automatically detect for WiFi hot spots and connect to the internet if it is available and if you want it to. As is quite common in many laptops, it has a wireless connection on/off switch so that you can turn on and off this wireless connection at will. It also has a Ethernet port if your hotel internet access is via an plugin Ethernet cable.

Note that if you are traveling from US to Europe for example, your United States AC power supply plug will not be able to plug into the European hotels outlets unless you have an adapter. The wireless connection and Ethernet connection cables are pretty much universals, so they should work in Europe just as well as in the United States.

Now once you have internet connection, then you can run your instant messenger chat programs and run your internet phone like Skype as well. If I make phone calls through Skype it can be less expensive than using my mobile phone when I am out of home mobile network, such as in other countries. Depending on the mobile phone plan, the mobile phone may incur roaming or out-of-country charges. But with Skype voice-over-internet calls, it is as if I'm making a local call from home.

For those who really must have internet access at all times even when there are no WiFi available, there are USB AirCards that uses cell-phone-like technology to connect your netbook to the net.

Some netbooks can be purchased for less than $300, which is less expensive than some mobile phones. It all depends on how your netbook is configured and what options you have.

Because of their low price, many netbook come with only one GB of memory, so it is not intended to run heavy-duty applications such as CAD or Photoshop. With a 10 inch screen, it may be too small of design work. That is why my everyday work machine still is a more powerful laptop. However, I still needed a more portable one for just connecting to the internet while on the road.

Because I don't put any important files or information on my netbook, I do not have to worry about breaking it or losing it with all my important files. I definitely have more peace of mind traveling with an inexpensive non-sensitive netbook around, than lugging a 7 pound laptop with all my important files around.

But more importantly. You really should use your own computer to connect to the internet while in public places than using public computers which may have keyloggers or spyware that can capture your passwords. If you are in a hotel or cafe, it is always safer to use your own laptop rather than the public computer that anyone can use. At least you know that your own computer has anti-spyware and anti-virus software on it and it doesn't run any keyloggers or mal-wares. As for the public computer, who knows who has been on there before and who may have potentially installed software that records your keystrokes. The owner of the establishment may not have any mal-intent. But those spy software could have been installed (potentially even remotely) by anyone with the owner's knowledge.

Here is a story of a person who's email account was hacked after using a public computer.

The above were just some of my own reasons for having a netbook and the article refers to my particular brand and model purchased. Here are some other people's perpectively for having a netbook....

• Five reasons to seriously consider buying a netbook
• Bought a Netbook. Here's why
• Why Netbooks continue to be popular
• Can Netbook replace Laptop?

Obviously netbooks varies in capability and configuration. See 2009 Netbook Review. But don't expect them to perform as well as notebook. The article "As Small Notebooks, Netbooks Largely Dash Expectation" says to think of netbooks with three P's -- portability, price, and power-efficiency.

This video provides a very good explanation of the difference between netbook and notebook.

Article published: July 2009

Author does own Acer netbook and may received Amazon affiliate and Google Adsense revenue via display ads or links in article.