Netbook –vs- Notebook
On several occasions I’ve had the chance to talk directly with Pat Moorhead, Vice President of Marketing at AMD. He is a very genuine, and honest person. He’s the kind of person you’d like to have as a next-door neighbor. How many marketing people can you say that about?
Recently, he was asked his opinions about netbooks. What is a netbook? The Asus Eee was probably the first to claim this new category. These $300-500 notebooks occupy a category previously dominated by small and light $2,500 notebooks. These minimal 9-10” systems are mostly geared to access the Internet. However, they have serious compromises. Pat argues that while netbook prices have gone up, notebook prices have come down. Battery life of the netbooks also fails to meet expectations, as well as no optical drive, small screen, and very small or no hard drive. What do you think about Pat’s comments, and about netbooks?
LT said,
Wrote on October 9, 2008 @ 10:39 pm
Until they can make notebooks that match the weight, portability, and cold-start speed of netbooks, they exist in two different spaces. I have one of those $500 15.4" notebooks that Pat Moorhead talked about. It's nice and definitely more pleasant to use than my 10" Lenovo S10, but it weighs a ton, has the same battery life as the netbook, and requires a backpack to transport.
I also have a $2K Dell XT tablet, and without the battery slice, it gets even less runtime. It weighs about 50% more than the Lenovo, runs hotter, and the responsiveness is similar in my experience despite the C2D processor and 4GB RAM.
In fact, but for a smaller screen and more cramped keyboard, there's not a lot of difference between it and my old Thinkpad X40 ultraportable laptop that cost 4-5x as much.
In short, there are indeed trade-offs, but not just in raw spec sheet stats. As a road warrior myself, it's a given that I'm going to have to find an outlet, if for no other reason than not wanting to be caught with a dead battery and no outlet. As a vacationer, I'd much rather get a tiny, almost throwaway netbook than worry about traveling with a laptop.
Blair said,
Wrote on October 10, 2008 @ 3:51 pm
I really like the Lenovo S10. I've been using one for a while, and we'll post a full review shortly.
Tips4pc said,
Wrote on November 10, 2008 @ 5:33 pm
I think the netbook is ok, however why not just get a small laptop and be done with it... You can't survive with just a netbook and in the end we all know you will need a real computer to use to do more indepth stuff.
I love my laptops, and I expect them to be able to do as much as my desktop computer.
Timber said,
Wrote on November 11, 2008 @ 6:43 am
What you have to remember is that a netbook is not meant to be your primary computer. It is meant to be a secondary device for viewing and editing content that you created on your full size PC. That is why the spec of netbooks is low, it is deliberate.
This video makes a good point though in that netbooks are getting expensive, not because the manufacturers are trying to rip us off, but because they are becoming overspeced (Ironically probably to steal notebook customers!) and this is something the manufacturers should reconsider.
The point is that if you want a computer with no compromise due to size, get a desktop! I think netbooks are great, they are truly portable, and generally battery life is good, despite what this video says (did you notice how he picked the worst example of a netbook and the best example of a notebook?). If you consider these factors then doesn't a notebook just like a poor compromise between desktop functionality and netbook portability?