Netbooks – Smaller, Lighter, Less Expensive Notebooks

By Wayne Maruna

As you read this, school will have been back in session for about a month.  Back-to-school means a restocking of school supplies and perhaps discussion about whether it is time for sis or junior to have their own PCs, or whether the budget will allow you to send that college-bound offspring to school with a laptop in the backpack. 

The people who build notebook PCs are making it harder to say no.  The lower end of the price spectrum has nose-dived to where sub-$600 notebooks are not uncommon.  In fact, you can buy a new one for as little as $330 if you’re not wedded to Microsoft and are willing to live with a smallish screen.

The laptop in my kitchen is essentially a desktop replacement with a small footprint.  I can take it on trips, but it’s a heavy bugger to tote around thanks to its 15.4” screen.  I almost never run it off its battery pack, so battery life is not important to me.  But to someone who wants to carry their notebook to class or to Dunkin Donuts after school, weight and battery life are very important, more so than screen size.

First came luggables, then came portables, then came notebooks.  The newest category is being referred to as netbooks, highly portable computers with near-normal size keyboards that are designed to provide internet connectibility, instant messaging, email, and even webcam support from anywhere an open wireless connection can be found. At the core of many of these ultra-small notebooks is Intel’s newest processor, called the Atom.  In a space of only 26 square millimeters, Intel has managed to pack an astounding 47 million transistors.  (I’m taking them at their word on this.)  The result is Intel’s smallest and lowest power-consuming processor.

Acer Aspire One - Linux Lite

 Three netbook models are leading the way in the market.  The Acer Aspire One wins the low price trophy at just $330 by making some significant compromises.  First, no Windows.  You get Linpus Linux Lite as your operating system.  Other than perhaps having some issues connecting to compatible peripherals like printers and scanners, one can live happily with a Linux OS as long as the wireless capability has already been built in, as is the case with the Aspire One.  The diagonal measurement of the screen size is only 8.9”, and there is no hard drive in the common sense. Instead, one gets an 8 gigabyte solid state drive (think ‘thumb drive’).  That’s actually a workable amount so long as you have an external USB drive to pass your data and music files to.  Installed memory is 512MB, which is adequate for the Linux system.  At a mere 2.2 pounds, you won’t find a more portable device with a ‘real’ keyboard, and it’s said to boot up in a quick 25 seconds.  For an additional $70, you can trade up to 1GB of RAM, a 120GB hard drive, and Windows XP.  Sounds like money well spent if you ask me.

Catch the Wind

The MSI Wind (Wi-Fi Network Device) ups the screen size to 10” and adds a traditional 80GB hard drive.  Installed memory is 1GB, which is more than enough for the Windows XP (yes, XP, not Vista) operating system.  You get your choice of white, black, red, or pink case, and if you look around you can find a ‘Love’ version with hearts and squigglies embossed into the case cover.  I suspect this might be quite popular with some of the fairer gender; for the guys, eh, not so much.)  This is another lightweight at only 2.3 pounds.  After rebate, this wee thing is selling for around $450 as I write this (09/08).  MSI stands for Microstar International, a leading maker of desktop PC motherboards.

Asus Eee PC with XP

The Asus Eee PC 1000H is equipped similarly to the MSI Wind; the screen size, hard drive size, installed memory, and operating system are all the same.  The Asus is a tad heavier at 3.2 pounds but reportedly has longer battery life than the MSI Wind.  You can increase the installed memory in the Asus to 2 GB if so desired, though it is not necessary.  Price at the end of Sept. 2008 was around $480.  Asus is well known in the computer community as a manufacturer of high-end desktop PC motherboards. 

All three units above include wired Ethernet and wireless capability, memory card readers (for camera cards) and webcams.  In the interest of size and weight, all are lacking an optical drive, so you would definitely needs an external USB DVD burner at a cost of around $60 in order to load software from disk or play music CDs or movies. 

After my latest trip to a restaurant, complaining about smaller portions at higher prices, it’s nice to see something with a downsized price accompanying the smaller size.  And the lighter weight is a trend to which we could all stand to aspire.