News 2009 - the year of the netbook?

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/hardware/2009/04/02/2009-the-year-of-the-netbook/1

Research organisation DisplaySearch is predicting that netbook sales will grow a massive 65 percent this year - but claims the bubble will burst as the economy recovers.

 

I personally don't think I'll get one any time soon, maybe ever, but I can see why most people find them attractive. If all you do with a computer at home is surf the web and send a few emails then you really don't need much more than that. On the other hand, me and most of the people here will require a lot more horsepower than what a netbook can provide you with so it's either buy a suitable laptop or get a powerful desktop and a netbook for light computing around the house and such. If you look at these 3 scenarios, 2 of them require a netbook so I can definitely see netbook sales going up.

 

I have replaced my brick of a laptop with a samsung nc10 and I can't see myself going back. Travelling with a full scale laptop is not worth the hassle.

 

Yeah, everyone loves a tiny laptop!

Only thing really, as people miss the point and demand full HD, or the need for an optical drive.. Then ask for increased CPU power... Well, the netbook won't last simply because they'll all end up being full laptops anyway.

 

10 inch is the perfect size for a laptop, small enough to be insignificant when you carry it, large enough to have a decent screen and keyboard. Yeah they could do with more power, but I hope this form factor stays

 

I don't see the form factor disappearing, because people clearly like it regardless of the cost. However, I do see increasing variety in the options offered within the netbook form factor, including greater processing power and better feature sets to rival larger notebooks.

Some people seem to get frightened or offended by these options. I don't think the cheapest, lowest-power netbooks will die out as a result (which seems to be what these people fear). We'll probably just have more choice, which is good for everyone.

Personally, I love the form factor of my MSI Wind, but I do wish it had a bit more power (it struggles to play full-screen video, whether it's HD or not), so I would welcome more diversification in the netbook sector. I love the specs of the MSI X340 - I just wish it came in a 10" version.

 

its going to get a great boost from my state goverment, every student in years/grade 9-12 currently enroled in a public school (over 200,000) will receive a free Lenovo IdeaPad S10e

http://www.itnews.com.au/News/100064,nsw-school-students-spared-vista-netbooks.aspx

last i looked into it the kids get to keep it when they graduate, but with this economic crisis it wouldnt suprise me to see them treated as text books and the kids are asked to hand them back when they leave/graduate

either way i look forward to it since i have a brother in year 9 now so ill get to have nice little play with it heh

 

I bought an Asus EEE PC 900 when it first came out and, when my desktop decided to die, instead of fixing it I decided to leave it when I went back to university - taking only the netbook. I have done without a desktop since last August. While it means I have not played any 'proper' games, my grades have improved significantly. Contrary to popular belief you can use it as a your main machine.

 

Indeed. I've used my MSI Wind as my main home PC since I got it last July. I game on my X360 and enjoy media on my PS3, so I really don't need my PC for anything other than web and office tasks.

 

I hope they stick around.. and I hope the small form factor stays in place.. they're ideal for traveling .. I just took a trip down to D.C. this past weekend and though how nice it would have been if I had a small light netbook to bring with me ... the thing I'm looking for is for the price to come down to where it was initially in the sub $300 market for a lot of models

 

Im thinking of buying a samsung NC-10. Ive always been put off by laptops because of their short battery life, size and weight, but this netbook is exactly what I need for computing on the move even it it will be mainly used as a retro gaming machine

 

in the same way that contrary to popular belief you can drink your own urine.

 

And from this point on the thread just gets weirder and weirder... lol