Netbooks as we know are those small, lightweight affordable mini computers used for quick and convenient access to the web.
They have caused an absolute storm ever since they made their first appearance two years ago in October 2009 by eating into the laptop market sales as consumers bought cheaper Netbooks when they might otherwise have bought a laptop.
Now though, laptops are fighting back and in some cases their prices are being lowered to compete directly with netbooks says Bitkom, a German computer industry group based in Berlin.
Who wouldn’t choose a more capable laptop instead of a device with lower processing power if you have to fork out the same amount of cash?
“There are entry-level notebooks with prices under 400 euros,” says Manfred Breul of Bitkom.
Some might claim that this will only add to the confusion that consumers already face when making a choice about whether they want a laptop or a netbook and they may well be right. It really all comes down to what you want to use your computer for.
Netbooks are not designed for anyone who wants to perform tasks more sophisticated that surfing the web, writing emails and carrying out some basic office tasks.
On the other hand, with a laptop you can do much the same as what you can do with a desktop PC. “In many cases, a notebook can replace a PC. Not so with a netbook,” says Breul.
Netbooks also tend to have smaller screens, lower processing power, smaller hard drives, no optical drive and cramped keyboards.
“If you want to be mobile, but don’t want to do without computing power, a large hard drive or a larger monitor, then you are best off with a cheaper laptop,” adds Breul.
The trouble is some consumers, particularly those who are buying a computer for the first time, will have a hard job telling the difference and could end up disappointed.
According to Georg Tryba from German consumer protection agency Verbraucherzentrale in Nordrhein-Westfalen, consumers cannot even rely on the sales staff in stores to give good advice.
Last year they posed as shoppers in ten electronics stores and asked sales staff if they would be able to use Netbooks to edit photos, play DVDs or run Windows Vista. Shockingly, only two out of the 10 advised against buying a Netbook.
Tryba says that even though the test was conducted last year, he would expect similar results today.
Nope, you just can’t get the staff these days.
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[...] they seem to fail to tell you what is good and bad about a laptop and netbook. Read the article on GeekWithLaptop to learn more about it: Laptops fight back against netbooks but don’t trust the sales staff [...]
In my nearly three years experience with Netbooks, first in SouthEast Asia and now the United States, overwhelmingly the people who are active users of Netbooks will tell you that they purchased their Netbooks not for the sake of replacing their laptops, but to upgrade their smartphones/pdas. Netbooks are extremely popular in Asia and I see more and more Netbooks when I am out and about here in the States. I believe Netbooks will continue to saturate the market with continued longer battery life, 802.11n, bluetooth and GSM-SIM Card Capabilities like the soon to be released Nokia Booklet. The trend will be for a total communication tool that is both mobile and versatile.
[...] 6. Laptops fight back against netbooks but don’t trust the sales staff [...]