Acer Review, Asus Review – Netbook 10

The more netbooks I rate and review, the more I’m beginning to see a standard netbook configuration emerge. This is what it looks like -

1. Operating system: Windows XP Home. In 6-9 months this will be replaced by Windows 7. However, until then I don’t see this changing at all.
2. Screen Size: 10″. 10 inches, 10.1 inches, 10.2 inches. It’s all the same. 10 inches seems to be the best trade-off between portability and viewability.
3. Price: $349-$399. Asus Eee PCs, Acer Aspire One AOD150, MSI Wind U110 and U120, and so many other netbooks are converging towards this price point.
4. 6 cell batteries with 4.5-5-5+ hrs battery life. In 6 or so months I see 9 cell batteries becoming the de-facto standard (without price increases).
5. 120-160 GB Hard Drive. Apparently the SSDs weren’t as big of a hit as people want to actually store lots of documents and movies and music on their netbooks.
6. 1 GB Ram, with an option to manually upgrade to 2 GB.
7. Looks are still diverging – however, the body design seems to be converging to this cute, bright colored smooth edged netbook design that everyone seems to be embracing.
8. 90% sized keyboards and touchpads.

Why are we converging to this Standard Configuration?

A few reasons are obvious -

1. Users aren’t used to anything other than Windows XP.
2. The 10″ screen size works very well.
3. 6 cell batteries with 5 hrs or better battery life are necessary to get the portability benefits of netbooks.
4. A price lower than $400 clearly differentiates netbooks from laptops and highlights the price savings.
5. You need 1 GB RAM and 160 or so GB hard drive for optimal use of a netbook for movies etc.
6. 90% sized keyboards are necessary for usability.

Are there other competing standards that are going to emerge?

I think there are 3 other standard configurations that are going to emerge -

1. The ‘gaming netbook’ for people who want to play games on the go – the Asus N10J is a good example of what these will probably evolve towards.
2. The ‘luxury’ netbook for people who also want their netbook to be a fashion statement – the Asus S101 and the HP Vivienne Tam edition are good examples of these.
3. The ‘super cheap’ segment for people who want to spend between $250-$300, and still get a lot of benefits.

These, together with the current $349, 10″, XP Home, 1 GB RAM configuration, will rule the netbook market. The gaming netbook and the luxury netbook will be relatively niche with <5% of the market.

Related posts:

1. Dell Mini 10 Netbook – Dell’s 10 inch 720p Screen netbook
2. Blue Netbook Guide – Best Blue Netbooks
3. White Netbooks – Is a white netbook the right colour for you?
4. MSI Wind Netbooks – MSI Wind U100, U120 10″ Netbook

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