The skinny on netbooks

Looking for a lightweight laptop that doesn't cost a bundle? If all you need is to e-mail, surf the Web, and do a little word processing, a netbook might be a good choice.

A netbook is a downsized laptop with a 10-inch or smaller screen that weighs 2 to 3 pounds and costs $300 to $400, though with holiday season bundling deals and sales, you may be able to find one for even less. Some come from computer brands that are household names, like Acer, Dell, HP, and Lenovo, while others are from brands you may not have heard of.

Netbooks are hardly powerhouse computers. Their processors can be slow, because they're designed to minimize power consumption. The operating system is a lower-cost alternative, too, either Windows XP or a version of Linux. You'll probably get just 1GB of memory at most, a small hard drive of 80- or 160GB (or even less if you opt for a solid-state drive), and no CD or DVD drive.

And while a netbook might help avoid the backache you might get from lugging a heavier laptop around, it could still take a toll on your hands. The keyboards on many are small and uncomfortable. Left- and right-click keys are sometimes inconveniently placed on the side of the trackpad instead of at the bottom, and the trackpads themselves can be small. The only way to install new software is by using an external CD drive.

Still, their price and convenience make netbooks worth considering for limited uses, and they have more features than you might initially expect. Many have bright LED-backlit displays, a webcam and microphone, a headphone jack, and a couple of USB ports. And, of course, they've got Ethernet and WiFi capabilities.

We've just finished trying out six netbooks in our labs, including some of the latest models from Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo, and MSI. We'll be posting our comparison of those models in this blog in the next couple of days. To see how they stack up, be sure to check back.

—Donna Tapellini

Comments

[RetE9]

I'm looking at a cheap Emachine (D620)14" screen,6 lbs, for $379 or a Netbook. The emachine comes with a DVD drive so loading software's not a problem. I want to use it for traveling out of the country and weight is a real consideration.

Any suggestions for netbooks?

[Beth]

After reading about netbooks for weeks, we got the new ASUS eeepc 1000HE (not HA). 9.5 hour battery life (really!), 92% chicklet keyboard, LED screen, and for us touch typists, the shift keys are where they should be. It's a little larger than some (about 3 pounds?) but the larger battery doesn't stick out much -it's almost seamless. Thought has even been put into the brick on the power cord - it's miniscule. We changed the memory to 2 gb from 1, and got rid of the word processing software it came with and loaded Office. It's much faster than I thought it would be. My eyes aren't great but the screen is so crisp it's fine for my 50-some-year-old eyes.

[C Wagner]

To the 'senior couple, poster I'd suggest trying them out as the keyboards and screens are small and not as good as most larger laptops - however the tradeoff gains you extreme portability and sometimes better battery life.

Some of the posters criticize CR.org for being a bit late to the starting gate with this report. However, I applaud you CR folks for at least trying. It's hard to stay on top of technology/computing changes because there is such a huge disparity in the needs of those who will be hard-pressed to figure out what to do without a CDrom and those whose first step after buying a netbook is to delete the harddrive and reinstall Ubuntu or Windows 7 Beta etc.

One poster points out that the Samsung is supposed to be really nice - and as we speak there are newer Acers etc. I'd suggest that folks assess how comfortable they are with small screen, keyboard and no cdrom drive- or how much they are willing to learn. For example a retired man or woman could easily surf the web to become more savvy about life without an internal CDrom, but perhaps a 45 year old with no time or patience for that would have a harder time.

My personal choice was a dell mini 9. Not the best, since it has a crummy keyboard and 8.9 inches is a bit hard on my 40 year old eyes. However, I paid less than 230 bucks for a nice refurbished unit, and I'd never had a laptop. I am very very pleased with mine. However, I do have a big old, ugly but trusty desktop computer and I'd suggest that anyone purchasing a netbook have a 'big computer'. That said, they are not really underpowered, if you compare them to computers of about 2-3 years ago.

Good luck everyone, netbook computers will do to laptops what the ipod and iphone did to mp3 players and telephones.

[david]

Acer Aspire one is now being replaced by a new model of the Acer Aspire A-150 (or something. I notice there's a difference in the quality of the LCD screens. The old Acers had an Acer "ChristalBryte" technology which gave excellent color quality and sharpness of detail by cutting out light diffusion. The new LCDs seem to be much "fuzzier" when you see them side by side.

Anybody care to comment on this ... before I go buy one of the old ones?

[Dave]

"The only way to install new software is by using an external CD drive." ??? Are you joking me?! Why do I have a subscription to this site? Using CD's to install software is becoming obsolete. Get with it CR!

[Chad T.]

I have built a laptop mount in my car for the Aspire One and I use it for GPS mainly but with a small bit of changes in the networking I can use the CDRom on my desktop computer right from my AspireOne making the need for an external unit not necessary. Nothing like being able to update the GPS instantly with my Sprint wireless for realtime traffic, road construction and weather. And MUCH easier to read than my old 4" gps unit attached to my window (now in the wifes car). Overall I love the device and I even bought a car charger for it on eBay for less than $5 with shipping.

[Kisse]

Being a Senior couple with dwindling eyesight ,I am attracted by the note book but feel lost with all thats there.We travel,so we e-mail a lot,we down load lots of pictures,Nice to use Skype to communicate,nice to find maps on where we are and where to go and occassional down load documents by being able to connect it to a computer.Nice to watch news,could but do not watch movies on long flights ,can use to lisaten to music or watch Youtube or shows.Prefer battery shortage not being an issue...can anyone suggest what to buy?
Taking a dive not an option!!

[Trevor Turner]

I bought my Acer Aspire One a couple months back and love it.

I also bought a DVD-ROM drive at the same time to kill the issue of how to install new products. The screen is really clear and easy to read. Also, with the built-in monitor port, it was easy to set up with monitor and DVD drive. it also has a built-in function select when you add another monitor. I also has 4 USB ports built in for easy setup with a larger keybord and mouse. Plus unlike a lot of the other netbooks I looked at, it had a 120GB hard drive rather than a smaller solid-state drive. It also had Windows XP rather than the memory-hog operating system that was on my last laptop. The touch mouse was a little hard to get used to with the buttons on the sides, but that did not take long to adjust to.

Overall, the only things lost going to the Acer: screen size and a CD/DVD-rom drive. But with the price savings, I bought a drive.

Great computer at a great price.

I also had a problem with the wireless card at first. I found that when I used the manual shut off on the front of the computer and rebooted the computer, then turned the card on manually, it would not work. I uninstalled the wireless card and reinstalled it. It worked fine (after I updated windows) and I have not had a problem since.

Final Note: My wife liked my Acer so much she made me buy one for her.

[David]

The article says, "The only way to install new software is by using an external CD drive".

Not so. Fact is, there's a lot of useful high quality public domain software out there on the web, including the OpenOffice suite, one of the best firewalls available, several utility-grade anti-virus applications, and a raft of other useful software that can be legally and legitimately downloaded directly to a hard drive and installed without use of any CD drive.

[curt bartlett]

I have a 10 inch Asus.

I have found that the 10 inch is really the smallest one can
go to be able to engage in standard typing/word processing.

I tried the 8.9 in the store and found the keyboard is too small. The 10 inch keyboard is large enough with a minor annoyance in using the right hand shift key.

Other than this minor issue it is great computer to carry found for interviews as it is so light.

For those with slightly above average hands - the 11 inch might be the best option.

12 inch laptops and above are simply too large for ideal portability (carrying out for interviews or on plane)

[Chris Koze]

Too bad the review didn't wait for the availability of the Samsung NC10. I received one of the first this past week and I am very pleased with it. I've had a few Acer regular notebooks over the years and they have served me well but for the netbook I picked Samsung for the 10" screen, and bluetooth over the Acer One.

[Mike]

I picked up an Acer One for my wife, and we've used it for travelling extensively. If you want edit video or spedn hours online, it's a little difficult on the hands. But for quick things, e-mail, IMDb, ordering pizza or groceries or hunting down hard-to-find items on eBay or Ikea, it rocks.

It's great on the dock at the cottage, too, and travelling in general. Battery life can be limited, but if you use a laptop for more than a couple of hours straight, buy a full-format model.

The only issue she's had is a killed connection when it goes into hybernation, and the need to reboot as a result.

[Ron Shurie]

This from a repair shop for all things notebook, laptop & desktop: These smaller "Netbooks" are typically more expensive to repair because they are harder to gain access to internally and parts are harder to find. We suggest an extended factory service warranty or consider the unit disposable and a one-time expense.

[Rick bell]

I have an Acer Aspire one. As a professional pilot I have found the Acer to be very useful. It is light (2.2 lbs)has fast internet and a great value. I did get a logitec nano mouse and a nano bluetooth adapter. I cover the unit with a leather daytimer zippered binder with the ring binder removed. As far as software I have removed the installed antivirus,adobe PDF reader, and installed AVG and Foxit pdf reader. The screen is bright and sunlight readable. With the dual SD card slots (one is a multi card slot) its easy to load programs on a SD and then transfer the program/ file to the acer from another computer. At $350.00 this computer is a GREAT value.

[Mike McEvoy]

These devices have a real niche - portability and an easy way to get to the Internet. I work as a computer and networking consultant and would offer a piece of advice for anyone considering a netbook - test drive before purchasing.

Some people have no problems with small screens and small keyboards. Just as some people have no issues with viewing and typing on a smartphone. However, if you haven't used something the size of a netbook before it would be well worth spending a little "hands-on" time to get a feel for this form factor before making the plunge. Especially if you will be viewing or typing for large stretches of time.

[jOSEPH]

I own an acer ONE bought at costco and running XP>

There seems to be a problem with the wireless card; it stops the laptop from going into hibernation or suspending (randomly) and can drop connections or turn off.

These problems can be "fixed" by switching (under hardware, advance settings) power save feature. It seems to waken the card or resolve the problem.

Updated drivers (with windows update) do not resolve the problem).

[linda seymour]

I have the latest Acer with the 6 cell battery. I added a wireless mouse, a retractable ethernet cable and a earbud headset and I used my laptop for a week while traveling around the world. It worked great, I never needed to recharge the battery and I was able to video chat with my friend and family for free. At around 2.3 pounds it was a joy to be rid of my heavy old 15.4 Toshiba. I did not miss the cd drive at all. Having XP made it really simple and I added Mozilla/Firefox and Skype. The keyboard takes some getting used to, but if you can text on a tiny phone keyboard, you'll adapt to this quickly. Going through security at different airports was a breeze, the little thing fit in my purse! I found a neoprene slipcase at Walmart that was originally designed for a portable dvd player and it fits perfectly. If you travel, this is a great, inexpensive laptop.