What would be your perfect netbook?
Netbooks are taking over …
In early 2009 netbooks are the only personal computers that are seeing sale increases (laptops and desktop sales have been declining).
Netbooks are significantly cheaper than regular notebooks. They’re portable, equipped with a decent memory for storage and can perform basic computer applications such as web-browsing and e-mailing.
The question is – What would be Your perfect netbook? Here’s mine -
My Perfect Netbook
Now, having said all that, what would, in my opinion, make a perfect netbook?
Price less than $500
To begin with, price tops my wish-list in selecting a netbook. It should have a good system utility similar to a regular notebook sans the multimedia devices and space-encroaching applications. Thanks to cloud computing, I can live without a lot of software that takes up hard drive space. A good netbook shouldn’t be over $500. Although, I am willing to compromise on the price for a particularly beneficial feature like 2GB or more memory or an optical drive.
10″ High Resolution Display
The Eee PC 1000 series boast a 10.2″ wide screen display and 1024 by 600 resolution and that’s just perfect for portability. I remember my first netbook that had a measly 7″ display screen and 800 by 400 LCD panel. In a span of one year, netbooks have improved hugely in the screen size and resolution department.
HP’s mini-note is by far the best in the display screen department with their 1280 by 768 resolution. Since progress is moving faster than expected, I am hoping for a better LCD resolution in the coming months. The extra pixels would be a plus.
Near Full Size Keyboard
My perfect netbook has plenty of room for a decent keyboard. The keypads are not all cramped up, not spilling over to the sides and no letters falling off whenever I’m typing real fast. The netbook’s keyboard should accomodate my long fingers and also provide support for my huge hands while I’m typing. As it is, the netbook’s miniature form makes fast, accurate typing close to impossible but I’ve found HP’s mini-note keyboard easy to use – comfortable and it didn’t tire out my fingers from typing a long essay. But it still has room for improvement — a sturdier keyboard is always welcome.
Also, its great to hear that Samsung have fit in a full-size keyboard onto their N120 netbook. A step in the right direction.
Fast, Powerful Processor
The CPU should be fast enough to perform basic computer tasks. My first netbook ran on VIA C7-M with 1GB DDR2 667 SO-DIMM and comparing that with Intel’s Atom platform, I prefer the latter for speedier processing. Memory should be 1 GB minimum although stepping it up to a 2GB configuration works better for me.
8+ hrs Battery Life
Moving on to battery life, a six-cell unit battery that lasts six to eight hours is ideal. Netbooks running on four-cell unit and below mean the netbook is forever attached to a wall socket which defeats the purpose of its portability. Ideal is eight hours of battery life. Asking for ten hours might be unrealistic. I’m willing to pay for the additional cost for battery life because this feature is important especially when I’m traveling.
Some Trimmings
For the wi-fi, I can live on a 802.11b/g. It should also be bluetooth enabled in case my netbook can’t find a good wi-fi signal.
Another feature I want for my perfect netbook would be a dual-layer DVD rewriter like MSI’s Wind series. I can compromise on the added weight and slightly thicker form for this added feature.
Closing Thoughts on My Perfect Netbook
My perfect netbook is already available in the market. It’s just that it’s not found in one netbook alone. However, at the rate netbook technology is going, all the features in my wish-list may soon be developed in one powerhouse netbook.
Related posts:
- Samsung NC10 Netbook Review – Samsung 10″ Netbook
- Dell Mini 10 Netbook – Dell’s 10 inch 720p Screen netbook
- MSI Wind Netbooks – MSI Wind U100, U120 10″ Netbook
- Toshiba Dynabook UX 10″ Netbook – Big in Japan?
- Touch Book Netbook + Tablet hybrid from Always Innovating
Filed under: Netbook Thoughts