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Nothin' but net(book): They're must-haves. But which one to have?
Nov 03, 2008 (Philadelphia Daily News - McClatchy-Tribune News Service via COMTEX) --
What high-tech gizmo is cute as a button, amazingly light and surprisingly affordable? Capable of zipping around the Internet, doing serious chores and keeping you entertained?
The netbook computer, also known as the mini-notebook, and maybe the hottest little product in consumer electronics today. Not even an international financial meltdown is diminishing the appeal of these little wonders from Acer, Hewlett-Packard, Lenovo and MSI, among others.
NET-WORKING: In recent months, eight of the 10 top-selling portable computers at Amazon.com have been netbooks, though most are Far East brands you've never heard of such as Asus, which gets credit for popularizing the category with its EEE series.
Intel chief Paul Otellini said recently that his company can't keep up with the demand for the power-conserving Atom processors used in most of these devices.
And AU Optonics, which supplies the 8.9- and 10.2-inch LCD screens used in Acer, Asus, Dell and Hewlett-Packard netbooks is predicting worldwide netbook sales of 13 to 14 million this year. That's 40 percent higher than some earlier estimates.
WHY THE FUSS? Netbooks' popularity largely boils down to the marriage of portability and price.
There used to be a cardinal rule that the smallest mini-computers (like Sony Vaio's TT series) were the priciest, selling in excess of $2,000. But the least expensive of the four netbooks I've been testing sells at Amazon.com for all of $319, and the most expensive for $599, making these babies almost an "impulse" buy.
With their cramped keyboards and downsized screens, these are not the computer you'll use every day. Their graphic-processing skills aren't great for gaming, either. And none have chassis room for a built-in CD/DVD drive.
But given their diminutive size (10 inches across, 7 inches deep and an inch thick) and less-than-3-pound heft, plus their reasonably sturdy build, built-in webcams and wireless connectivity with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and (in some cases) broadband-mobile card slots, these things beg, "Take me along!"
But which one to take?
Here's how four I've been trying shaped up and shook down:
ACER ASPIRE ONE: I'll always remember my first netbook love, the Acer Aspire One. Its 8.9-inch screen is sharp, its keyboard tight but manageable. (With all these netbooks, a typist's fingers need to dance lightly above the keys and sensitive touch pad.)
Aspire One was the lightest (2 { pounds) and fastest to boot up, the coolest running and most energy-efficient (four hours on a 3-cell battery charge) and economical, selling for just $319 at Amazon.com.
This basic model deploys an 8 GB, solid-state drive (SSD) in lieu of the much larger capacity (80-160 GB) disc drive found in most netbooks. And instead of running with Microsoft XP or Vista and Internet Explorer Web access, it uses a free and breezy Linux operating system, Mozilla Firefox for Web connectivity, plus the free OpenOffice.org productivity package (writer, spreadsheet, presentation) and off-brand software to store music and photos.
Some light games are bundled in there, too.
Storage capacity can be upgraded with an SD card installed in one of the two (!) slots, and there are three USB ports - both features one-upping what's found in other netbooks.
Aspire One moves smoothly to Internet sites and Outlook e-mail, blowing up the latter with bigger fonts than did netbooks running Microsoft software. It took a bit of effort, though, to figure out how to send a writing sample to a computer running Word (though OpenOffice claims "compatibility"). Options include converting and sending a document as a PDF.
Streaming music through this netbook was fun; video was iffy. Aspire One played short clips from NBC.com and live streaming from HBO.com just fine. But full shows from NBC.com and ABC.com only play nicely with XP and Vista.
HP 2133 MINI-NOTE: A serious aluminum casing, shock-resistant hard drive, larger and spill-resistant keys, and a glossy, scratch-protected, 8.9-inch LCD screen make this netbook a mite heavier (2 pounds, 13 ounces with the standard 3-cell battery).
But it's also the most likely to survive four years at college or rough airline handling.
The HP starts more slowly and runs warmer, using a non-Intel processor and loading full-blown Windows Vista.
That OS is a mistake in a computer with a screen this small, as icons, text and some pages are rendered smaller than with XP. Oh, you can get XP, but the professional "downgrade" for the $599 version I tried would lift the price about $130 - a total rip.
I also wish the HP's screen tilted back farther for sharper viewing in some positions. The speakers did play louder and more clearly than the tinny norm.
MSI WIND AND LENOVO IDEAPAD S10: I'd recommend both these Atom-hearted netbook models. The Wind U100-016US comes with 1 GB of RAM and 120 GB HD, and is priced at $419 at Amazon.com. The S10, with 1 gig RAM and 160 GB HD, is $469 from Lenovo.com.
Both boast an excellent, 10.2-inch screen with non-reflective surface and XP Home operating system. They run smoothly around the Internet and with programs like Microsoft Office (pre-bundled for your testing/buying pleasure).
The MSI gets winded a little sooner, its battery lasting just over two hours with a mix of Web surfing and video viewing. The Lenovo got two hours, 26 minutes in its "Performance" energy management mode. (Double-capacity, 6-cell batteries are optional.)
I liked the textured feel of the MSI Wind keyboard and touch pad but not some of its undersized, awkwardly positioned keys.
The keys on the Lenovo S10 are a tad wider, and the S10 has the best touch pad of the bunch, with the pinch-to-reduce, stretch-to-expand feature we've learned to love on the Apple iPhone and iPod touch.
I prefer the wider range of screen tilt on the MSI and its louder speakers, and bow to the Lenovo for its dedicated Wi-Fi power- and system-restore buttons.
The Lenovo also has a slightly sleeker look. But truth is, people will gather around to coo and sigh when you pull out any of these baby 'puters.
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E-mail Jonathan Takiff at takiffj@phillynews.com.
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(c) 2008, Philadelphia Daily News.
Visit Philadelphia Online, the World Wide Web site of the Philadelphia Daily News, at http://www.philly.com/
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
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