Netbooks

By: Chris Rice

The Netbook

Netbook's Display

It was a sunny November morning. I rose out of bed, did my usual morning routine, and sat down to check the news on my laptop. After pressing the power button at least 13 times, I came to the conclusion that something was wrong. I went and got it checked at our local computer store, where the technicians told me "for the price it would cost to fix it, you might as well get a new one". So, after 3 solid years of using my laptop (aka Lappy), I now have to buy a new one.

While shopping, I came across a new style of laptop that is really catching on, the netbook. A netbook is basically a laptop with a smaller screen and no CD/DVD drive. There are tones of brands selling netbooks, such as Acer, Lenovo, Toshiba and Asus. Since I've only had good luck with Acer, I bought the "Acer Aspire One" netbook.

Review time. The keyboard is a standard US layout that is modified to fit the laptop's small chassis. However, if you are a fan of the numeric pad to the far right of a standard full-sized keyboard, you're going to be missing it. The actual buttons on the keyboard are tiny, but should only take a week or two to get used to.

Netbook side by Side with traditional laptop

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13/01/2009 04:23 PM

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Less Table (lap) space

There are no fancy upper buttons to control the volume, screen brightness, or quickly access the internet, however they are integrated into the keyboard, and can access them by holding the 'Fn" Key. The touchpad is motion sensitive, meaning that the curser will move at the speed your finger is travelling across the touchpad. Even though the touchpad is very easy to get used to, I still suggest looking into a mouse. I preferred the Logitech VX Nano for its ultra compact design.

Viewing photos and watching movies would be more enjoyable since the Acer Aspire One has an 8.9" CrystalBrite display with a resolution of 1024x600 pixels, and high-gloss, anti-reflective LCD screen technology. If one would go for image clarity, color brilliance, and wider viewing angles, then this is the best choice.

Together with the CrystalBrite feature is the unique Acer CrytalEye webcam located at the center above the screen, perfect for live video streaming, video calls, and conferences. In fact, the webcam's image clarity beats my $80 webcam I have for my desktop computer. The only drawback to the netbook I've noticed, is the loss of the CD or DVD Drive. But, that is the purpose of the netbook, because most things that are on CD media now of days, are downloadable on the internet.

The laptops technical specs include, 1GB of DDR2 Memory, a 160GB Hard Drive that you can store all of your videos and photos on. The Aspire One also harnesses the new Intel "Atom" processor. The Atom is the processor that is in most netbooks. The clockspeed runs at about 1.6GHz. The laptop's external power supply is very small, and charges a 6 cell battery, which lasts about 7.5 hours on a single charge. There are 3 USB ports, 1 high speed Ethernet port, and 2 memory card readers on the sides. If you're a headphone user, I recommend using a pair of headphones, since the built in speakers are not the loudest. Since netbooks are not the fastest laptops on the market, the Aspire One comes with Windows XP Home, instead of the new Windows Vista.

Overall, if you're in the market for a notebook, I suggest looking into netbooks.

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