Digital Trends
Businessmen don’t use netbooks. Sure, all-day battery life would be nice for those long flights. They do fit awfully nice in most briefcases, too. And the Intel Atom is more than enough for Firefox, Excel and Skype. But the humble netbook has always been plagued by an image problem. They look cheap, and that’s not the impression an executive wants to exude when he lays his laptop down on the walnut conference room table.
The first of the netbooks to hit the market were underpowered when it came to decoding most video, especially if that video was in HD resolution. This left users frustrated with choppy video playback or the outright inability to play some videos.
NVIDIA stepped in and launched its Ion platform that allows the lowly netbook to offload the decoding of HD video from the processor to the GPU for smooth playback and better overall system performance. NVIDIA set some lofty goals for its Ion chipset and aimed to oust Intel integrated graphics from notebooks and netbooks with the new offering. It has taken a while, but netbooks and other machines using Ion are finally hitting the market in force.
Looking for a convenient and wireless way to view your PC’s content on your crisp HDTV? HD semiconductor manufacturer AMIMON may have the connective solution for you. Today, AMIMON introduced its WHDI modules which can be embedded into notebook and netbook PCs for a “seamless” wireless HD connection to your HDTV. Meaning: You can watch Hulu on an actual big screen, rather than the maximized screen size of your laptop.
With Windows Vista, Microsoft revamped many features and piled on a lot of functionality that Windows XP didn’t have — among other things improving security. An unfortunate side effect of this, though was that Windows Vista was much bulkier than Windows XP and more battery hungry. As a result, up until October most netbooks used Windows XP.
With Windows 7, more new features were added, but this time a more disciplined approach concerning OS bulk was taken, helped, in part, by a large public testing phase. Windows 7 was trimmed down from Vista both in memory and install size, and many of its critical metrics (boot time, etc.) approached the high bar set by Windows XP.
Apple has long opted for a system of closed computer hardware, disallowing third party OS X computers. Nonetheless, small companies retailing cheaper OS X boxes have continually popped up, the latest of which is Psystar. Legal pressure from Apple has typically succeeded in eventually killing such companies, but it typically isn’t long before a new one pops up.
Individual users also are forbidden from building their own OS X machines, something that has long irritated enthusiasts who like Apple (largely graphics professionals). However, for years rebellious customers have created “Hackintoshes” — custom built computers running OS X. Among the most popular recent builds are netbook Hackintoshes, as OS X, like Linux tends to run rather lean (Snow Leopard uses ~225 MB of memory when active), perfect for an ultraportable PC with minimalist hardware.
Why do people love netbooks? They’re ultraportable, inexpensive, fast and connected, and they’re just too darn adorable. Netbooks featuring Windows 7 operating systems have all of these qualities and more—like an improved user interface, faster start-up, and better graphics capabilities. Here’s our pocketbook-friendly picks for the best netbooks featuring Windows 7.
Acer Aspire One AOD250 Netbook
The AOD250 has a 10.1″ wide-screen LED-backlit LCD screen and a reasonably sized keyboard. This Acer Aspire does a dual-boot with Google’s Android 2.0 for a faster start-up. The prices start at $349 and go up from there depending on the specs.
Personal computers are changing — and not just because of the recent launch of Windows 7. Visit an electronics store and you might also find laptops are missing a familiar component. You could experiment with new ways of controlling some computers. And you’ll see portable PCs slimming down.
Even with all the attention lavished on Apple’s iPhone and Amazon.com Inc.’s Kindle this year, your PC likely is still the center of your digital universe. Here’s a look at what the season’s computer trends mean for you.
— We’re over drives.
Thought the heretofore booming netbook industry was on a major upswing as price-conscious PC owners flocked to score one of the low-cost, highly portable laptops that emphasize performance over power? Guess again, as industry experts warn that the companies producing these systems and actual consumers buying them may be on different wavelengths.
With the holidays nearing and the machines’ stocking-stuffer-ready size and cost, netbooks are anticipated to be a big buy this gift giving season. But with the introduction of 12-inch screens, ION processors and rising sticker prices, some technology insiders say the lines may be getting a little blurry for these pint-size PCs. Many industry analysts noted that, in the coming months, we may see netbooks grow rather than shrink—a little “switcheroo” for the technology world—as unlike most machinery, dwindling in size with advancement, this hardware is growing and ultimately defeating its original purpose.
It’s no secret that Intel’s Atom processors don’t back enough punch to keep up with the big chips in desktops and gaming rigs—but then, they weren’t supposed to, either: instead they’re intended to bring enough oomph to handle common communications and Internet tasks without draining a netbook battery in less than 20 minutes. But now new computer maker Haleron seems to be thinking where one 1.6 GHz Atom processor isn’t enough, maybe two will do the trick: the company’s new Swordfish Net 102 Dual sports dual Atom processors, along with 2 GB of RAM and a 10-inch 1,024 by 600-pixel LCD display.
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