They are small, light and cheap and intended for the internet, not for running games and large applications. Mini-notebooks, more commonly known as 'netbooks', were originally designed and marketed as secondary personal computers. Today, they are the best-selling PCs on the market.
At last month's International Consumer Electronics Show in the United States, the world's biggest consumer electronics trade show and exhibition, netbooks took centre stage as most of the major PC makers showcased new products and prototypes. According to electronics retailer Fortress and netbook software supplier Microsoft, the most in-demand models include Acer's Aspire One AOA150, the Eee 1000H from netbook trailblazer Asustek Computer, Lenovo Group's S10, Hewlett-Packard's Mini 1001TU, the Inspiron Mini 9 from Dell and Samsung Electronics' NC10.
Their compact size, helped by a display that can range from 7 inches to about 10 inches, means you can take netbooks, which cost from HK$3,000 to HK$5,000, almost anywhere - the smallest models fit inside a briefcase or handbag. They are light and reasonably robust; most netbooks come with the latest solid-state drives for storage, in lieu of hard-disk-drive technology, to make them capable of withstanding the odd knock. Like regular laptops, netbooks have pre-installed operating systems and built-in cameras, memory-card readers and Wi-fi support. Some models even have 3G modems. Netbooks need relatively less power and some deliver up to eight hours of battery life.
Mini-notebooks have their drawbacks, of course. They are not intended for anything other than surfing the internet and a small screen used over a significant period of time can strain the eyes. As there is no built-in optical drive, users must attach an external drive to access a disc.
Before buying a netbook, you may want to ask yourself the following:
Regular laptop or netbook? The power of a full-featured PC - with its high-performance processor and operating system, graphics chipset, big screen and full-size keyboard - is better for tasks such as editing a video and preparing office documents. The battery life and low-power processor of a netbook are great when you simply want to watch clips or streaming video from the Net, for example, but will not be enough to run demanding business programs and multitasking applications.
