Great article by Clive Thompson in the new issue of Wired (the paper version, so no link to the text right now) about the ways in which netbooks are changing the laptop landscape. And, at the same time, cementing the idea of cloud computing in our lives. Estimates are that netbooks will hold 12 percent of the world’s entire laptop market next year, which is amazing when you think that the Eee PC is less than two years old. And their adoption says a lot about how we think about our computers these days.
As Thompson points out, 95 percent of what we do on computers can now be accomplished through the browser. I don’t need a huge hard drive or speedy fast processors as long as I have a solid, broadband connection to the Internet. (And even then I don’t need much; I’m writing this in a Google Doc while offline on a plane to Seattle.)
Netbooks are evidence that we now know what personal computers are for. Which is to say, a pretty small list of things that are conducted almost entirely online…Netbooks prove that the “cloud” is no longer just hype. It is now reasonable to design computers that oursource the difficult work to someone else. The cloud tail is wagging the hardware dog.
Nice.
I’m looking at my almost two-year-old, dropped a dozen times, bent up MacBook Pro, thinking I’m going to need to replace it in the next few months and wondering should I go with a netbook. Better yet, should I go with like seven of them (or more) which is about many I could buy for the same cost as my Mac. Don’t get me wrong, I love my Mac. And I really want to do more video work using iMovie this year. But it would be really nice not to lug this thing around everywhere in my travels.
So I’m hoping some netbookers might chime in here. What did you buy? Why do you like it? What are you doing about the things you can’t do on it?
This last week I had no broadband connection and went back to the days of dial-up till today.
I’ve been saving thoughts on Word. I realised I had forgotten what those icons are for and I wish the help box worked like a Google search in my FF. No way. The concept is entirely different. Help is what I get when someone answers my question in a tweet. Personal. Very personal.
All I have been using the last two years are a couple of browsers and broadband. Everything I produce is somewhere online accessible from any computer.
I’m thinking of buying a laptop. However, Netbooks are far more affordable in Argentina. So I am evaluating and reflecting on what I would really like to do with a portable computer. For anything else I have hardware at home.
Yes, Netbooks.
Netbooks are coolio, with some having amazing 6+ hours of battery life. I’m a big fan. However, the limited resolution of 1024 x 600 means the screen can be a tad cramped for extensive writing / blogging. Try one first.
Also, newer Netbooks that support better HD video playback are just around the corner.
HD video coming to a Netbook near you
http://www.last100.com/2009/02/09/hd-video-coming-to-a-netbook-near-you/
– Steve
P.S. I hope you’re well
Hey Will, I’m new to checking out your blog. I watched your presentations yesterday. enjoyed it. It’s interesting to think about how many people are effected by what you say and blog.
Oh, my opinion is a yes on the Netbook. I don’t have one, so I’m no help. I think we should start getting carts of them for school use.
It’s interesting that you mention configuring mobile labs with netbooks. I have a friend who works in the Windsor school district in northern Colorado pursuing the same goal. He found several problems, however, keeping him from going through with it:
1 – Battery life. Most netbooks get only 2-3 hours per charge. This might seem good for a single user, but these mobile labs are usually checked out all day, allowing only an hour for charging during lunch. They simply won’t last.
2 – Operating System. My friend is a big fan of FOSS/Linux, and was looking to run Ubuntu on the netbooks. Unfortunately, Ubuntu based netbooks seem to be getting even WORSE battery life than the windows based machines at this point. He only confirmed this as far as his personal testing.
3 – Operating System (Again). You wouldn’t believe the fuss teachers put up once they hear a computer will have Linux on it. The ignorance of school faculty is truly becoming a barrier to FOSS adoption throughout all K12 schools in America. (Need I remind you all of .)
I think Netbooks are completely viable for classroom use though. With the combination of either a lightweight word processor (OpenOffice) or Google Docs (Free for Educational Use), you can save a lot of money and streamline student computing experiences. Keep an eye out on the HP-Mini models. They’re slightly more expensive, but they do offer a nearly fullsize keyboard. I get by fine enough on the Asus EEe keyboard (after some getting used to), but I have several friends who had to switch to HP-Minis just because their hands were hurting so badly. 😉
Cheers,
David
I went with the MSI Wind U100 model for several reasons. First, it has a slightly larger screen for roughly the same size computer. It’s a 10.1 inch screen where most are 8.9 inches. I did opt for the 160 GB hard drive and the 6 cell battery. I get approximately 5 hours of consistent use, depending on what I’m doing. Wireless, video and audio do drag down that number a bit, but I’m still able to accomplish what I need.
Additionally, I upgraded the RAM to 2GB which was a breeze, no pun intended. That’s the max the Wind will hold. My biggest draw to the Wind, although it’s a questionable practice, is its ability to run OSX. The hardware available for the Wind allows OSX to run just fine, and the process isn’t too difficult.
The user community surrounding the Wind is fantastic. There is a forum at MSI Wind.net with lots of information about tweaking the Wind to do just what you need.
The screen height is a bit annoying with some programs, but overall not a huge problem. There are a couple of posts on my blog linked above titled Unleashing the Wind about setting up OSX on the Wind. I love having both available to me for a fraction of the cost of a MacBook.
This week my kids have been on a Of Mice and Men webquest using $1,500-$2,000 Mac Books. It has been extremely frustrating as my school uses OLD G4s as servers for the student’s user accounts (which give them access to M$ Word and such). It took more than 25 minutes for some of the profiles to boot and to then get into a blank Word doc.
With netbooks and wikis, Moodle or a Google Docs like platform we could have been up and running with this collaborative project at the speed of our broadband connection. Plus we could have had 3-5 netbooks for each of the Mac Books.
Does anyone know of districts that have switched to netbooks? For my district, the netbook’s time is definitely, certainly, absolutely due. Like, NOW!
And I am debating which netbook to buy for my personal use. I bought an OLPC but it’s…well, less than what I need.
Will, speaking for the 8 and 9 year olds I teach, yes, netbooks work just great for writing. At school my kids are very adept at using word in a networked environment, saving, revising, etc – and then publishing to their blogs.
But… they are also quick to grasp and use their blogs as tools (google docs blocked at school, but not classblogmeister) to save writing that is not finished, go back and work on it later, from home as well as school. They use un-networked XO laptops in the classroom that way right now. (only problem is webkinz doesn’t run so great on them – ha)
Hey stop by our class, we’re in Seattle:) http://roomtwelve.com
I am in the process of setting up a special ed classroom with 12 netbooks. We are looking at the Asus 1000 and the Lenovo s10e, both with the 10 in screen. I want to use Ubuntu, but some of the software in use in the classroom only runs on Windows. The whole school will be wireless next year. We will also have a mimio IWB in the room.
I’ve had an eeePC for more than a year now and I love it. It’s great for research at the library, email and photo uploads while on a trip and keeping me occupied while waiting for the doctor or whatever. Will it ever replace my “main” computer? No, but it’s a real portable that fits into my bag and can go just about anywhere. The fact that it’s Linux means there’s much less to be concerned about attacks by the many Win-focused nasties either. If something happens to it, I’m only out $300 – not $1500!
Hi Will,
We have over 800 netbooks (mostly Asus eeePc’s) in Littleton Public Schools. Between those and a few other solutions, we have increased the number of student screens by almost 22%, while reducing district and individual school Microsoft licensing costs. Yep. This has all been accomplished within the last twelve months, bad economy and all.
I spend quite a bit of time in schools–what I see students doing 95% of the time is word processing, Internet surfing, emailing, and occasionally working on a web app. of some sort, say a teacher’s blog. The eee’s do all that with aplomb. Small footprint leaves more room for paper and pencil on a desk, and the boot up time is incredible. Durable? We had an grant that provided for 300 of the netbooks. We put them into fifth grade,and have only had a very small (3-4?) number of defective or damaged machines. The SSD ‘hard drive’ is quiet and light.
What makes them a feasible option for us is a robust wireless network, filtering on the network, not the device, and web access to server storage. (Not a VPN, but somewhat like that.) After 2 minutes of orientation to the Linux OS, the students are able to find the Open Office programs which default save to .doc, .ppt, etc) and connect to the Web. Finally, we have allowed print by IP, which allows them to work with our networked printers.
Hey, you hit the nail on the head. A MacBook Pro, or Dell Latitude, whatever, is an expensive, high-end machine that far exceeds the computing requirements that most of our kids need, most of the time. Leverage the savings out to more machines is our philosophy.
I have found that I really like my Eee PC 1000H that runs Windows. This way I can install popular software like iTunes (which doesn’t run on Linux). Also, I’m more comfortable with Windows as I know more about troubleshooting it than I do Linux. (I’d love it even more if it ran Mac OS X.)
Students are drawn to netbooks because they can do pretty much everything they want to do with a computer on a netbook–even use MovieMaker and PhotoStory. Personally, the keyboards are too small for my hands and I have difficulty typing. Younger students may actually appreciate the smaller keyboard (about 80% the size of a standard keyboard) because their hands are about four-fifths the size of mine.
For those wanting to hear how teachers are using netbooks, check out the latest episode of the Soft Reset podcast. I interview 9 classroom teachers (elementary, middle, and high school) who recently began using class sets of Eee PC 1000Hs in Fort Smith, AR. The teachers share great curriculum and management ideas. You’ll also hear about just how excited students and teachers are to use their mini laptops.
http://learninginhand.com/softreset/20.html
One important thing from the interviews is to think about battery life. In classroom situations, you’ll want a battery that get go all day. The cheaper four-cell batteries probably won’t last half a school day. However, the slightly more expensive six-cell batteries have been lasting the whole school day for all of the Fort Smith teachers.
I bought a Dell Mini when they came out last fall and absolutely love it. A netbook like mine would be perfect for my 8th graders. It’s small, boots up quickly, and is just powerful enough.
I am in love with the cloud. In fact, I am one of those weirdos who actually likes to compose directly within the wordpress blog interface within Edublogs. To me, it tends to affect my writing directly in a way that tailors it to online mode. (I copy or save my text fairly frequently as a safety measure.) When I compose a post meant for my blog… in a word processor, it always comes out more long-winded (and if you look at my blog, you’ll see that is something I fight as it is) and more formal or academic feeling. Of course, I would like a more conversational tone on the blog, and composing within that interface makes it possible to get that feel for some reason.
That being said- I adore the idea of netbooks. At this point, however, (speaking for myself only and not for a larger school system) it is the operating interface of OSX that keeps me tied to my MBPro. Expose allows me to manage all kinds of modes of communication, work, and play simultaneously. Though when I read your comments from time to time on Twitter, etc. about how you are going out from an airplane seat, it makes me once again envy the minimalist approach.
Interesting topic… one that makes me drool for the day Apple drops a product somewhere in the middle. Did I just say that? Am I that much of a fan? Ugh. 😉
I have 10 eee pcs in my classroom and I absolutely love them. For a relatively small price, we have much more access to information than I had without them. The small screens are sometimes a pain when trying to do some things, but it is a trade off I am willing to settle for. We use them for almost everything. We use the webcams for both photos and videos which we post to flickr. My kids do the vast majority of their word processing using Google docs so the netbooks easily handle that. I was able to install audacity on them (something I thought was sorely missing) and they edit audio with no troubles at all. The small harddrives are regularly cleaned out and we start again. In over a year’s hard, daily use, I have had trouble with one webcam (which was replaced by Asus, no questions asked) and I have one mouse clicker which is not working great. Otherwise, we have had NO technical issues at all (mine are all Linux). We lug them from end to end of the building and to the far reaches of the playground and the town. I believe the small footprint combined with the small price has the potential to change edtech.
Hi Will,
We recently deployed an Intel Classmate http://tinyurl.com/anuyh3 to a student with a learning disability who is waiting for a standard laptop loaded with Assistive Tech. applications. I played around with it for about a week before handing it over to the student and I have to admit I fell in love with the thing! It seemed so rugged and did everything I wanted it to do. Now, I wasn’t creating movies or working with huge files. However, I took it traveling to a workshop and especially loved how it afforded me some extra luggage space. Working online throughout the day, it held up to its’ bigger cousins throughout the room. Since deploying it to the student, we have noticed that it does not want to run the AT software smoothly. It doesn’t like Dragon NatSpeak or CoWriter. But, these aren’t what it was designed to run, right? I think that if we used some of the web 2.0 AT tools, it might be just the thing for this kiddo.
I noticed that the new classmate features a tablet, which makes me want one even more! Wonder if I can get my hands on one before traveling to Toronto to participate in Expanding our Boundaries next weekend????
Shannon
I joined the netbook crowd and bought an Asus EEE a year or so ago. Great for travel and presentations, I thought. Unfortunately the first gen models and their seven inch screens didn’t work for me and it had a permanent spot in my bag. So I took a a hit and sold it. Then bought a used IBM X40 with 11 inch screen, decent sized keyboard, and 9 cell battery (sticks out a bit). Older technology but way more useful. Slightly heavier but not enough to make a difference. Less cool factor but functionality wins out. I’m not sure Will you can go from Macbook Pro to ultra small netbook. But I can see you in that silver Macbook :-).
I got an Acer Aspire One about a month ago. Linux. 8gb SD hard drive with an expansion slot for another SD card. Runs pretty fast. The touchpad is weird, but I’m used to it now and have no problem with it. Battery only runs for about 2 hours. 8.9″ is about as small as I think I can go for typing. I use wikis and google docs for text storage, mostly. Flickr for photos. Picnik for photo editing. I can slide it into my coat pocket. I’m a minimalist, so I wanted to try something really basic. It’s basic. So far, so good.
Netbook is first and foremost *not* a primary computer. It is good for the road warriors, those that are secured in their techno know-how, and those that are not afraid of the unknowns. It is not good for those that still use a lot of software, those that still call their IT relatives for help, and those that ask “what do I click next” within the past 24 hours.
As much as we like to believe netbook is the wave of the future. It is only so for the a very selective segment of the market. To grand stand it would be like saying combustion engine is dead, long live [insert the next technology of choice here], a la pre-mature.
I love that netbooks have decreased the entry fee to access the web and the applications that lie in the cloud. I’d have one now except that I’m a math teacher and have to wait until they come out with a tablet version if it’s going to be practical.
I went through the whole netbook research path but with a slightly different angle. I was deciding between a high-end mobile phone to do all my mobile tasks from my pocket and use desktop/laptop for larger tasks or by a netbook to carry just about everywhere and a cheap mobile phone.
In the end I went with the former and bought a G1 (google android phone). I’ve found it has worked out pretty well. I can bash out short documents and stay in contact with “the network” everywhere (though gprs is proving to be quite expensive in Vietnam)and hit the larger tasks on my school tablet which usually isn’t too far away.
I guess i’m asking the question “how small is small”? How stripped back could we go with our students? Of course the first counter to this question is once you start getting that small, the price starts going back up again!
I’m using an EeePC 1000 running Ubuntu GNU/Linux (EasyPeasy 1.0). I think it’s great. The screen size is reasonable and the keyboard isn’t frustratingly small like on a lot of netbooks. It also comes with 2 SSDs – one 8 GB which I install the system on and a 32 GB for storage. I like the separate drives as when I reinstall the OS I don’t have to bother making a backup on remote media or creating partitions. The older EeePC 701 model I bought last year I find a little too small for me.
I also have a Dell Inspiron Mini 9 with Ubuntu GNU/Linux and it’s OK but I didn’t like Dell’s custom Ubuntu so I replaced it with EasyPeasy and it’s much better. My only concern is the SSD – it’s only 4 GB. I recommend getting a unit with more storage if you go with the Dell.
There’s not much I can’t do with a netbook that I might do with a desktop. Obviously, I don’t play DVDs with it – though I suppose I could buy an external DVD drive and do so. I’ve even done some basic 3D-modeling using K3D on the netbook so the processor and RAM (1 GB) are pretty decent.
Waiting on the Asus T91, which is suppose to be released in a couple months. Netbook with touch screen, and (I’ve heard) gps built in. Retail around $500.
Hi Will,
I purchased an ASUS EeePC 1000 (Xandros Linux – the standard ASUS install) this past fall to use when traveling (when I don’t absolutely need my MacBook Pro) and I really love it as a SECONDARY laptop.
Pros: convenient, lightweight, small (about the size of a book and fits easily in my backpack), handles all of my basic computer needs while traveling
Cons: does not have my favorite Apple apps (iLife and iWork), screen size is smaller than what I use day-to-day, installing new apps not as easy as the mac, no express card slot so not compatible with my AT&T air card (only a problem in “no free wifi” situations)
I also recommend getting a small travel-sized mouse. I bought a Logitech Nano and highly recommend it for size, weight, and performance. Note: I also use a mouse with my MacBook Pro, so if you are comfortable with a regular trackpad then you may not need a mouse.
I do not use this as my primary computer, but it is nice to have for travel.
I will be interested to know your decision 🙂
Will – My wife purchased a Dell netbook a few months ago. She’s an occupational therapist who spends most of her time in schools with wi-fi. Her needs consist of documentation on a secure web site, checking email, and some light word processing. Perfect fit, and the price is right. My smart phone can accomplish the same tasks, but the small screen and keyboard would make it difficult.
Hope you come back to OK soon.
-Kyle
Hey Will –
I have been looking at netbooks for the last year or so. A few New England Conferences had early bird sessions, for an extra $300.00 or so, you could get a ipod, flip camera or netbook. What a great way to get the discussion started.
I held a jam session at MassCUE with a vendor and we showed several UMPCS (ultra mobile personal computers/netbooks). Some of the models included the MSI Wind, Asus/EEE PC, Acer, HP, Dell mini and a few other models. For the most part everyone liked them as an “extra or travel device” but not necessarily to replace their laptop, tablet or mac.
I had a chance to see the new Intel convertible classmate PC last week. As you know, I think the tablets are a great tool for teachers and students. The Intel convertible is low-cost and fully functional tablet PC running the Intel Atom 1.6GHz processor, 1 GB RAM, 60GB hard drive, 9†LCD touch screen and 1.3 MP swivel webcam. It comes with a built-in handle and a stylus pen. It runs Microsoft Windows operating system with touch screen interface.. it looks like a great model for k-8…. I wish they had a more grown up version as well.
I think the netbooks look very promising and may help schools move towards a 1:1 model for students, taking the burden off schools for buying desktops/laptops and allowing them to invest in wireless infrastructure.
I am also hearing that Windows 7 will be running on the netbook and I may wait to see before buying one…. Mary
asus eee books are great. The larger screen sizes they offer make them more usable I think over extended periods of time. Right tool for the right job. If you’re a diehard mac fan what about an Air ? I’ve been experimenting more and more on an iphone and have been spending less time on a laptop. Food for thought. Keep moving forward. It’s more fun.
When they make a netbook with a built-in accelerometer (ala iPod Touch or WII controller), it’ll be the perfect physics-learning tool…
Hey Will and All,
Unless you haul a portable keyboard around with you Will, you’ll be frustrated at how small the netbook keyboard is. It is O.K. for a while but then as your e-mails and blog posts get longer and the more time you spend typing, yikes, you’ll wish you had Dragon 10 to dictate rather that type. Although I can “touch type” I find myself reverting to “hunt and peck” sometimes on the netbook keyboard because my hands are too big.
MacBook Dilemma:
There is the possibility of installing OS X on one of these little ones — works like a dream I’ve heard — but alas, this is not allowed under Apple’s OS use guidelines.
Use in Schools:
Now having said that, this is definitely the “tool du jour” here in our small, mostly rural, school district in Ontario, Canada. Our IT team started by purchasing the Dell Mini 9 last fall [one of them] to try out and the results were positive. The team was able to create a WinXP image for the netbook which topped out in size at 6gig [of a possible 8gig] and we were able to put on 10 or 12 software applications which both invoked quickly [flash memory?] and were very stable. We’ve since rolled out 27 netbooks on a mobile cart [with wireless access points] to one of our small schools where a computer lab/room is not possible.
In addition, we have a “Boys Writing” initiative in our district and hope netbooks will play a part in the initiative. To say the boys [and girls] in my writing groups were excited to use the netbooks is putting it lightly. Below are some pics of the netbooks in action with the boys writing project. Notice the grouping of the boys at the netbook to do their writing. The research says the “social” part of boys writing plays a part. The netbooks certainly helped with this. Some of the lads didn’t want to go out for recess, they wanted to stay in and write on the machines. A great opportunity for a Boys Writers Club.
http://flickr.com/photos/kpix20/sets/72157610589783371/
Thank you for the discussion. Looking forward to “Expanding Our Borders” next week in Toronto.
Wonderful thought … the sad part is that fast, broadband connectivity is not available in most of Africa yet …
We are only beginning to scratch the surface with the mini-laptops (we started with the 7 1/2″ eePc’s) by having six teachers create a 1-1 environment in the classrooms. We are hoping to move to a true 1-1 environment in the middle school. We had challenges supporting Linux, so have gone back to the Windows environment. The teachers involved have been amazed at how quickly and significantly their instruction and student learning changed. We are looking at how we will expand. The original eePc’s were a bit small – especially for 8th graders, but we have tested a few larger models and they seem better. Power continues to be a challenge, but we are figuring that out also. My daughter tested one out during the summer when she was home from grad school. She loved its portability. I don’t think it would replace her full-size laptop (in the field of journalism), but she would love to have one in addition!
Hi Will,
A similar question re netbooks was raised on Twitter the other day. A couple of review pages were shared including http://www.news.com.au/technology/story/0,,25003182-5014119,00.html and http://crave.cnet.co.uk/laptops/0,39029450,49297248-1,00.htm. Though they are not US based the contents of the pages may be of interest to some.
BTW looking forward to hearing from you again in Melbourne on 23rd March.
One of our 10th grade students recently demoed our Aspire One (8.9″) evaluation unit from the good folks at Acer. I interviewed her when she was done with using it at home and at school for 3 days and I posted the recording online here:
http://middleschoolblog.blogspot.com/2009/02/student-review-of-aspire-one.html
Will, I had this exact same thought a few months ago, and started researching extensively. I think for as much travel as you do, maybe a netbook would be a good choice. However, in my research, I found that for $100 more (give or take) I could buy a full sized laptop with better specs than a MacBook, which would allow me to keep all of my music, pictures, etc. in one place and still be portable. Until Apple comes out with something I can’t live without that only runs on a Mac, I’m back to being a PC guy.
My thoughts on it are here.
Hi Will,
Netbooks are awesome. I have tried 3 or 4 different ones and get more and more impressed with each one. My most current (and favorite) is the HP Mini 2140. Granted, it was one of the more expensive ones (~$549) but a deal in my mind when compared to a larger laptop with similar specs. I can’t even begin to say how convenient this little netbook is, especially for traveling. It hooks up to my mini infocus projector creating a seriously portable presentation setup. The keyboard is large (compared with both ASUS netbooks we’ve tried).
I believe we will start to buy these for our teachers and I’m thinking about getting a cart of them for an Elementary School keyboarding program I’m starting next year.
— Jamie
I purchased the EeePC 1000 HA. I seem to be collecting laptops. This is my 4th one. I own a custom built Asus, a Dell Inspiron and a Macbook. The performance of this little machine has been great. Quick boot up, good quality on the screen. I have already used it to do some professional development classes with my faculty. Plugged it into the projector and it worked perfectly. My only negative is the placement of the shift key on the right side of the keyboard. The pageup key is next to it and I have to stop and look for the shift key. It is quite a stretch for my hands.
I can really see this in the hands of my middle schoolers. I have already converted 2 faculty members and 1 student. I am working on my head of school on getting the HE model with the 9 hour battery. Having an all day battery is critical. I currently have 40 laptops in the middle school that get 2.5 hours of battery time if I am lucky. Replacing them with netbooks would be not only efficient but cost effective.
We met up at the GFS presentation you just gave. You are always inspiring. Hope to see you at Educon next year.
HI Will, like you – I have a 2 year-old bent up Macbook Pro which has given me a great deal of pleasure. My work flow and productivity especially in the area of multimedia utilising the iLife suite has greatly improved. Prior to this I had an ACER Tablet which I loved and used well. I just prefer the OS X environment and also enjoy the freshness of the Web 2.0 world.
I see the dilemma of purchasing a netbook vs highly spec laptop as similar to purchasing a motor vehicle. For around town, I want a vehicle with fuel efficiency and the ability to park in tight spaces, one that takes up minimal garage space and so on…
For weekends and holidays – I need our 4 wheel drive (Toyota Prado) for towing the boat / caravan (trailer), driving on sandy beaches, accommodating up to 8 passengers, bigger engine, storage space and so on ……
I see the netbook as the smaller eco-friendly, portable vehicle for around town and the Macbook Pro with the extra grunt and storage for weekend work.
For me – it’s ‘horses for courses’.
Cheers – Paul
Will, we are looking at using netbooks when we open a new high school here in the district next fall. Trying to decide which one and exactly what “fit” it should have. Currently the student resource is about 3:1 and PC laptops but with the price savings we hope to significantly narrow that gap.
I have been field testing various models and will tell you that one (Dell mini) accompanied me on a business trip to Boston, MA…I will NEVER carried a full-sized laptop with me again. It felt like I had a novel stuck in my briefcase.
Talk about lightening the load!
Netbooks are great – so small and light.. they are what notebooks wanted to be but couldnt be – easy and portable, light, can access the web and emails wherever you are.
Its taken a few years to get the laptop in to a useable size and netbooks are it!
steven
I’ve had a Samsung NC10 for about 4 months. It’s a great machine, 10.1″ screen, 6 hr. battery life, 160 gig hard drive, 2 gig memory expandable to 4 (but probably not necessary even though I bought the card) and a 92% full size keyboard with the left shift key in the right place (a problem on many machines.) It weight a little over 3 lbs and definitely makes my bag a lot lighter. It runs XP, which is something I wanted. If Linux is your cup to tea then Asus or the Wind are worth consideration.
At the time I bought it, it was the biggest screen available…I think there’s a 12″ out there somewhere now.
Anyway, it’s a GREAT SECOND LAPTOP.
It’s terrific for traveling, presos, etc…the kind of think you do a great deal of.
However, I don’t think it will every replace a full-size laptop for long term typing and/or complex media work. A big screen and enough room for big fingers just can’t be replaced all the time.
I commented because I didn’t see anyone talk about the Samsung and I think it’s well worth considering. The HP, altho it costs a bit more, is also high on my list. I think it too runs XP.
Just my 2 cents.
That would be the right shift key, not the left.
hmmm..it’s still about the learning.
if netbooks only do net and word processing it’s not enough!
where is the higher order?
internet and word processing are mostly just worksheet schooling, possibly lower cost to stay with the carbon model(paper) rather than go for the facade of electronics.
the macbook has the capacity to create way more than a netbook ever can..
question remains why it’s not being done…testing? lack of understanding( by teachers)?
seems the question is more about the curriculum rather than which current piece of technology to choose…wait a few months there will be another latest thing …maybe even a tablet mac touchbook!! just in time for buying season for new US education year
more of the same is not innovation…
Cloud computing and mobility will be huge, and already would be if not for the economic slowdown.
You can go to http://www.wallysweb.com/webkinz.html from your netbook, and you are able to use the site. I setup this page for my son who uses webkinz from his netbook. Hope this helps!