With all the noise about netbooks over the last 2 years and a Skribit suggestion on the same matter, I think I’m overdue for a post divulging my thoughts on netbooks. First off, what are these so-called netbooks? You’ve no doubt heard the term countless times. It refers to a small, generally affordable (I’m looking at you overpriced Sony Vaio P) and ‘connected’ lightweight mobile computer. Netbooks are made for browsing the web, anywhere. This pure mobility naturally comes at the expense of system speed and comfort; keyboards are generally 10-20% smaller than a regular laptop keyboard and the most common display resolution is a mediocre 1024×600.
The typical netbook will run $300-400 USD, have an 8-9 inch LCD display, 1.3-1.6GHz (with Intel Atom being all the rage) processor, 512MB-1GB of RAM, 802.11G, anywhere from 16GB of SSD storage to 160GB of hard drive storage anda battery life of at least 3 hours. It is rare to find a netbook with an integrated optical drive.
I love the idea of the netbook. Yes, I have an iPhone and many people will argue with me that a netbook is a cheap computer made for the web and if it’s the web I want, well an iPhone can do most of the same stuff and it’s with you everywhere. That still a moot point; netbooks obviously offer more uses in that they can run full-fledged operating systems and have keyboards.
But I Already Have a Laptop
And if you’re anything like me, it isn’t as mobile as you’d like it to be. On top of that my MacBook Pro is always docked to my external display and keyboard. The cycle of disconnecting/reconnecting power, audio, 2 USB cables and ethernet (much faster MBP <-> NAS/HTPC transfers) and then readjusting windows on both displays has become such a burden I can hardly find the motivation to move to the couch much less take it out of my apartment.
Netbooks are portable enough that you don’t have to think about whether you want to lug it with you to the coffee shop down the street. While performance vs mobility is generally taken into consideration when picking out a full-size laptop, netbooks aren’t meant to be your primary computer. Netbook users know there are compromises that have to be made in the name of cost and size. That’s that.
Intermission: CrunchPad
While not technically a netbook and more along the lines of a cheap tablet, TechCrunch has engineered what they call the CrunchPad. With a 12-inch touch screen and rumored price tag of ~$300, I feel that it will share much of the same audience as netbooks.
As Michael Arrington pointed out, the touch screen CrunchPad is ideal for Internet consumption, not data entry (try typing with an on-screen keyboard for more than 10 minutes). We won’t know what it’s like until they start selling, but I have a feeling the form factor will inherently lend the CrunchPad to not being quite as useful as a regular netbook. Holding the CrunchPad all the time or using a stand seems like it would get annoying. Then again, I’ve never been a tablet fan so I’m coming in with a little bias.
The Problem I See: Software
So far we have learned that netbooks are affordable computers with enhanced-mobility ideal for secondary computer use. But we haven’t talked about software yet. Over 90% of netbooks shipped to date come with some form of Windows XP. Others use slightly modified Linux distributions like Ubuntu. While netbooks are built for Internet use hardware-wise, they are still using the same desktop OSes. That just doesn’t pan out too well when you have small displays and OSes that were built assuming you’d have no problem clicking on a tiny taskbar icon. And with newer netbooks boasting impressive resolutions like 1280×800 on 8.9-inch displays (or the 1600×768 resolution on the Sony Vaio P’s 8-inch screen), this issue will only get worse.
But change is coming. Microsoft is working on Windows 7 Starter edition, geared for netbooks with such limitations as only being able to run 3 applications at a time. That’s interesting but what I’m really looking forward to is platforms built early-on with mobile in mind. For example, Google’s Android platform wasn’t made with only mobile phones in mind; it plans to work with any device.
And then there’s Jolicloud. Under the direction of Netvibes founder Tariq Krim, Jolicloud might look something like the screenshot below. A trusty Linux backend with a netbook-friendly interface taking note of iPhone-like design methods.
Jolicloud Netbook OS
Netbook OS initiatives like Jolicloud will be crucial to the proliferation and seamless adoption of netbooks in the near future. Netbooks are kind of like the awkward PDA back in the mid-90s. They can do some stuff but without new software applications and OSes designed with their constraints in mind, they won’t reach their full potential. Going back to the PDA analogy, I would really, really like to see netbooks start coming with WWAN connections like current 3G offerings as well as new technologies like WiMAX.
What You Said
I did a little experiment, similar to what I did with my location sharing post, and asked my ~10,000 twitter followers what they thought about netbooks. I figured including their thoughts would provide a clear view of the netbook landscape. Here’s what they said:
Chanathan: @Stammy ideal for students, good as a 2nd computer, not powerful enough feature wise to be a primary machine, can see the appeal for certain lifestyles
lashakrikheli: @Stammy Quote from my blog: It cannot be your primary work machine, and it probably should not…
Penguin: @Stammy Paired with OS X, Web sync & a Cloud Life; Dell’s Mini 9 is the perfect travel weapon. The price of a MacBook Pro buys 10 of them.
dbarner: @Stammy buy on value, period. To some a MacBook pro is a must, to others a netbook provides total value. Diminishing marginal utility is key
bleikamp: @Stammy Dell Mini with Ubuntu and 2GB of RAM = nice on the go dev machine + local server :)
jakebellacera: @Stammy I like them, they come in handy when I need to quickly meet up with clients and I have a mini projector nearby.
mustangman311: @Stammy new round of of them seem a lot more promising than the original Eee and such. Actually usable machines now, maybe.
amdev: @Stammy generally I like netbooks but i can’t get over the realistic inevitability that once i buy one, i won’t use it. MBP all the way..
Twaites: @Stammy — I personally think they’re useless… Under powered, basically no storage. And for email or surfing I always have my iphone.
Twaites: @Stammy … and my macbook is just as portable as any netbook in my opinion. So they’re is no need for a netbook in my life.
michaelper22: @Stammy Netbooks are definitely ready for prime time, hardware-wise. Now software vendors need to push apps that take full advantage of them
skalnik: @Stammy Netbooks rock for small day to day tasks, but seems like a bit of a waste of money, I’d rather just have 1 laptop for everything.
kearneykd: @Stammy Until the prices come down I don’t see how they can compete with the smart phone and laptop combo.
WiLLGT09: @Stammy are you thinking about getting one? have one already? I’d get one, but currently don’t have a need for one. macbook is plenty small.
patrickryan: @Stammy I wrote a blog post about my experience w/ the hp mini 1030nr
elliothere: @Stammy At least for me, impractical. If I need to work, MacBook. Need to quickly check email/the interwebs, iPhone. Why add another device?
titanium_geek: @Stammy I’m a one computer girl (macbook 13in) for budget reasons- netbook=light, but wouldn’t want to rely on one as only computer.
aravindjose: @Stammy Very handy. A netbook + a smartphone = ultimate combination for mobile warriors. On-the-go presentations and demoing etc.
cconover: @Stammy I think they’re a great idea, especially for students in class. However, I’m inclined to wait for a Crunchpad vs. a netbook :)
gjhickman: @Stammy I’ve been reading reviews about putting os x on the lenova s10 and dell 9. my buddy is doing the 9 right now. I like the lenova…
squawkbox: @Stammy I use NC10, brilliant device for teaching, much less bulky than l.top which I don’t really use now.
adnymarc: @Stammy netbooks are improving and gaining popularity but still require a significant tradeoff in usability and performance for portability
tommcfarlin: @Stammy great device for web browsing, not so good for writing or development. high on portability, low on keyboard and resolution quality.
Verdict
I don’t have a netbook (although having one strictly for couch/bed use is enticing) and won’t be in the market for one until more operating systems are available that really make use of the unique constraints and affordances netbooks bring to the proverbial table. I expect that will be in 8-12 months.
For further netbook reading, Wired has some interesting articles about the success of netbooks and the current landscape of netbook OSes.
Related: Hands on with the OLPC “$100″ Laptop – March 2007
Netbook – yay or nay? If you’ve got one, which one and how do you like it? What do you use it for?
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But this would give you a great excuse to return to your gentoo/fluxbox days :)
I purchased an Acer Aspire One back in September, for my wife to take to Europe. It worked well, but I hated the Linux distro on it, a pain to use. Nearly made the system unusable. I sold that, and purchase a Dell Mini 9, installed MacOSX on it, absolutely love it. It won’t replace my desktop mac or PowerBook, but for checking email, or traveling, you cannot beat it. I liked it so much, I bought a second.
That’s great to hear Keith – were there any parts of the OS X install that were particularly tricky/didn’t work?
Nope. Just bought a stock mini9, upgraded to 2GB ram, easy as pie. Make sure you have a 16GB SSD, the 8GB install was tough. Everything works, just like it was built by Apple.
Instructions can be found in this forum:
http://mydellmini.com/
Keith, once I install OS X on Dell Mini9, will I be able to install mac updates and stuff. I have a IBM Think Pad T42, that I would like to update. Do you know whether OS X can be installed on a T42 ?
Raju
Not sure. BoingBoing has a compatibility chart for netbooks, the mini9 is the only one that will work without any problems. I have had no problems installing updates, though I have yet to encounter a system update.
http://gadgets.boingboing.net/2008/12/17/osx-netbook-compatib.html
http://gizmodo.com/5156903/how-to-hackintosh-a-dell-mini-9-into-the-ultimate-os-x-netbook
Here is a step by step guide Gizmodo did a while back. I’m seriously considering getting a Mini 9 to run OS X, but the only problem is I’ll need to get a retail copy of Leopard since an OEM copy won’t work with this method. And you’ll want to use this method since it does not modify the OS, so you can still get automatic updates and such.
I picked up my retail Leopard from eBay for $75. I imagine you won’t have much trouble finding a copy for that much or less.
I have a love/hate relationship with the little buggers. On the one hand I like the portablilty, (who wouldn’t) on the other; the size of the screen sucks! I mean I am only 27, but I squint like I am 70 on one of these.
I like the idea of wiping the system and doing OSX, but as for me; I think I will wait and see what apple does this summer release cycle.
-Ezra Hilyer
http://www.straypoetry.com
“On top of that my MacBook Pro is always docked to my external display and keyboard.”
That puts you in a small minority. If having it docked makes you hesitate about taking it places, you’ve basically turned it into a desktop.
For me, a netbook simply isn’t different enough from my macbook to buy one ‘also’. The only way a netbook makes sense for most people is value.
I’ve been tempted by the prospect of a netbook (especially putting OS X on one), but I rarely find myself far enough away from a computer that I need a full-browser type access. I want to suggest as a possible alternative Amazon’s Kindle 2. A couple versions more and I suspect you’ll have a Netbook-competing product there. It’s sort of a psudeo-tablet, but great for reading (obviously). For people who just want a second, portable internet device, a modern smart phone is enough.
I see Netbooks being extremely advantageous in some degrees, especially for students, journalists, or full-time bloggers: People who need a real QWERTY keyboard (not on-screen or the tiny phone-qwerty) on hand at all times. Typing on a touch screen isn’t fun if you’re composing anything that’s not longer than a paragraph.
Actually, Netbooks kind of remind me of the eMate 300 (just posted about that on my site)
Right now netbooks are in an awkward phase. They are a prototype of an industry that is eager to cash in on a new fad. Give the manufacturers another product cycle and we’ll have processors that are up to snuff, chipsets that support more than 1GB of memory, and SSDs that are in the triple digits in both read and write speeds. The operating systems will follow when the hardware starts to mature.
Honestly though, an OS for a netbook doesn’t need much. Windows XP suffices on current hardware but I’d like to seen OS X Leopard and Windows 7 functionality in netbooks once the hardware gets a speed boost. I know for a fact that Vista can be stripped down to work with 1GB of memory, it is just the slow hard-drives these netbooks are equipped with that is holding them back. Equip a netbook with one of Intel’s X25-M SSDs and you’ll have a speed machine.
For what it’s worth, we have an Acer Aspire One w/ XP and 1GB of RAM that we love.
Personally, I love ‘em. Don’t have one myself, but I got my 16 year old brother and mother one recently, as their primary machine; they’re great for people that want a laptop for portability but won’t do anything more than internet browsing. And combatting the whole size thing is easy: $20 keyboard, $10 mouse and $120 19″ LCD. Still cheap, ultra portable and more than enough for them.
As for myself, I don’t plan on getting one anytime soon. Just holding the Dell Mini 9 makes me really want one (they’re gorgeous), but really I have no reason to. I don’t find myself needing to haul a laptop around enough, the iPhone is usually enough.
“anywhere from 16GB of SSD storage to 160GB of hard drive storage”
Base model Dell Mini 9 has a 4GB SSD standard, 16GB is the high end. But yeah. :p
Base model Dell Mini 9 has a 4GB SSD standard, 16GB is the high end.
Actually, 64 GB is the most that Dell sells for the Mini 9 currently. With the built-in card reader, you can squeeze quite a bit of storage out of this sucker which is good since OS X seems to take up about 12 GB of space by itself.
The use of the same old OS’es isn’t necessarily a negative, nor is the screen size. I don’t think anyone gets a netbook to be their primary computer … or at least no one reading this blog. It isn’t meant to replace one’s primary computer.
The iPhone is great for surfing in a pinch or really more for reading emails than composing emails. The problem I have with it is the battery life. I depend on my phone and the last thing I want is a dead battery because I wanted to watch a couple of episodes of “The Office”.
I just installed OS X on my Dell Mini 9 this weekend and it’s great. I spent about $560 on mine, but could’ve gotten away with doing it much cheaper. I now have an inexpensive Mac that’s suitable for browsing the web, streaming music & video, etc. With the integrated webcam and integrated mic, I can add Skype and do videoconferencing.
I will take this when I take extended visits to see relatives or on vacations. It’ll be upstairs when I need a computer but don’t want to go to the basement to my office PC. If I take an afternoon to hang out where there’s wi-fi, it’ll be with me.
The cost/investment is so low that if something horrific happens to it, I won’t fret too much. Bottom line is I don’t see how you wouldn’t get one :-)
I wrote about my experience of installing OSX on my Mini 9 over at my website.
Wow…my suggestion made it’s way to a post. Skribit at work! I suggested this topic when I was looking at getting a netbook for traveling and the coffee shop. I have since bought the dell mini 9 and have the intentions of putting OSX on it. So far it’s been a great second computer. Once I upgrade the SSD from the stock 4GB and install OSX, I expect it to be even better.
I just bought my wife a 10″ Eee PC. We both really like it. It’s so easy to carry and bring around. I actually upgraded them memory to 2 GB as I don’t think the stock 1 GB is enough. Even though I plan on getting a macbook soon, I almost want to get one for those occasions when I need a computer but don’t need lots of processing power (like taking notes in class).
“”On top of that my MacBook Pro is always docked to my external display and keyboard. The cycle of disconnecting/reconnecting power, audio, 2 USB cables and ethernet (much faster MBP NAS/HTPC transfers) and then readjusting windows on both displays has become such a burden I can hardly find the motivation to move to the couch much less take it out of my apartment.”"
This sure is a big hassle. I have my macbook docked too, and I don’t mind to take it almost everyday when I go to work. But to be in the house and just to disconnect it to move to the couch…bahhhh it’s a burden!
So yeah a netbook like dell mini 9 with OS X only for couch or light usage like email and ebooks might be nice.
P.S
Why this happens…? readjusting windows on both displays!!
I find it so stupid! Why can’t it just keep the relative position of the windows, this means how far they are from the edges of the screen, and automatically readjust them properly?
I have the Lenovo S10e on which I installed Fedora 10. It goes with me *everywhere*. I use wireless as well as umts. I do have a desktop computer, but I barely turn it on anymore. Now I’m waiting for the ARM/Snapdragon powered devices… if they come out. Supposedly there will be netbooks, but also other umpcs, maybe even smartphones. I’d like a netvertible, I think.
Desktop computers are going to die soon (if they are not already dead :) )
We all use our laptops connected to an external display…
In my opinion Netbooks will die too, why do we need them?
- Smart phones do the “soft” work
- Laptops do the “hard” work
Definite yay. I’ve got an HP Mini 1000, and use it for traveling and couch surfing.
For me, it works well because I think of it exclusively as a second computer. I grab it when I just want to read something on the couch, or want to finish writing a blog post on public transit, and all I need is a simple text editor or a web browser. If you need enough power to edit photos/videos, then a netbook isn’t for you, but if all you’re looking for is basically the iPhone’s web browser with a larger screen, then a netbook is the perfect solution.
I have a eee-pc 701SD; the first netbook on the market; (I got it free with a phone contract). I use mine as a home web server; print server and a file server. It’s small, light, quiet, and light on the power bill (about 20w max load). It has a decent 1Ghz Celron, and 512 ram. But this is plenty for a server. It stays on 24/7 being a decent little server running XP pro and I love it.
Believe it or not, My PRIMARY machine is HP mini note 2133. I really love it make my life more productive (I’m always on the go). An as the OS Ubuntu does very fine.
And stam, Sony never called their netbook “A netbook”. I wrote about it here on my blog.
http://chanux.wordpress.com/2009/01/08/sony-shows-a-sexy-netbook-ish-notebook-at-ces/
Bought one (an Acer from TigerDirect) for $200 with free shipping and the Solid State drive for my daughter. Has Windows xp. Prefect for web, email and small spreadsheet and word processing work.
With Linux I can see it being very usable too.
I installed Damn small linux on a 1 gb usb device, so why not a netbook??
Wow, the netbooks look a lot like the C400 Latitude and X200/300 machines from Dell. No optical drive – check. Limited RAM – check. Tiny screen (9″ to 12″ isn’t much by laptop standards) – check. Cool running – check. Less than 4 pounds even with the battery – check. Cheap price – double check. :P
http://tinyurl.com/cutjwb @Stammy’s article on netbooks…i’m quoted
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Thoughts on Netbooks http://ff.im/-25W5o
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> @Stammy: PSTAM post: Thoughts on Netbooks http://tinyurl.com/dyx4mt #feedly Great artcle on netbooks and their future
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Nice – @stammy quoted a tweet of mine in his latest blog post: http://is.gd/sffJ
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
PSTAM post: Thoughts on Netbooks http://tinyurl.com/dyx4mt #feedly (via @Stammy)
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I like netbook , and I think one day netbook must be more popular than notebook .
ok, here I have a good place: tradestead
there are many kinds of beautiful and powerful consumer electronics that I like it very much!
Interesantes reflexiones de Stamatiou sobre los netbooks: http://tinyurl.com/cutjwb
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