Netbooks Review, Acer Aspire One, Asus Eee PC, Samsung

The netbook/mini laptop market is currently dominated by three brands; Asus, Acer and Samsung. Many of the netbooks from these three brands have almost identical specs yet some models have proven to be more popular than others. Here is a quick review of the devices from each of the brands.

Asus Eee PC: Asus netbooks are currently leading the market for many reasons. For one, it was the one of the first companies to come up with a range of affordable mini-laptops. Secondly, its devices currently have some of the best specs in the market. The Asus Eee PC 1000HE and the 1008HA are currently the only models in the market that uses the 1.66GHZ Intel Atom N280 processor. The 1000HE also currently have the best battery lifespan in the market, lasting up to 9.5 hours on one charge.

Acer Aspire One:With almost identical specs, Acer has manage to differentiate itself in terms of design and pricing. It is currently one of the cheapest netbook series in the market. In term of designs, I must say that it is a little better looking the Asus devices and it also comes in a variety of colors (black, white, blue, red and pink).

Samsung Netbooks:Samsung netbooks are not the cheapest in the market and neither are they the most powerful. Despite that, they are currently some of the most expensive netbooks in the market. Samsung has managed to carve a niche for itself by making some of the best-looking netbooks in the market. The glossy blue NC10 has been on the best-seller's list for a long time now, mainly for its good looks (in my opinion). Other models such as the NC110 and the NC120 also sport very streamlined and sleek good looks.

By: Troy Richard

Latest Netbooks Review

Maybe many people never heard about netbook. They seem to be all the rage in individualized computing these days. So what are they? Netbooks are the new class of mobile computers that offer an deciding to laptops. Basically, they are a small edition of the laptop, both in modify bourgeois and computing ability to execute resource intensive computing applications. They haw very well be the next revolution in mobile computing. Computer manufacturers are now offering a scaled downbound edition of the ubiquitous laptop. The deciding they are offering is one that is smaller, thinner and inexpensive. Inexpensive as compared to the price of a regular laptop and in whatever cases modify less pricey than a mobile phone. So is this scaled downbound edition of a computing papers for you? Are you willing to give up your laptop for a netbook?

Before you decide on purchasing a netbook, it would be good idea to refer and understand your requirements for a mobile computing platform. What do you do with that current laptop of yours? Chances are that you use it more often to surf the web, run office applications for document processing, spreadsheets, presentations, email, etc. If you are a savvy scheme user, you probably could do all of this on the web. Is there any local application on your laptop that could utilize the entire computing resources of your laptop? This probably is a rarity for most laptop users. Games, photo, video, music editing applications, etc., could be part of the mix but modify whatever of these have online alternatives.

Most netbooks run windows software. The operative system that comes installed is mostly Windows XP. So there is nothing new on the OS face that users would require to learn. Specifications in general include the Intel Atom N series chip with a measure speed judgement of 1.6 GHz and installed RAM at 1 GB with the ability to expand to 2 GB. A concealment size of 10.1\" TFT haw be a limiting bourgeois for whatever users, but given the clarity of screens today and the primary motivation being a small modify factor, this could be easily overlooked.

Netbooks are available from most major computer manufacturers most notably from Acer and Asustek. Both Acer and Asustek have a wide product variety and captivating price points, especially suitable for students and business users. Netbooks could serve as the standard computing papers for students in schools, colleges and universities. Small and medium business owners and corporate executives who are out and about, could also benefit from netbooks. Sales force organisation who are constantly on the move visiting customers, could use netbooks to enter with back office applications over the scheme from a customer location.

The Asus EEE PC 1000HE Netbook Review

Price $387 - $400

Larger than some of the competitor netbooks in the same price range, the ASUS model comes with a 10" display, 1GB of RAM, a Windows XP platform processed by a 1.66Ghz Atom CPU, and a 6-cell battery as standard. This is all supported by a 160G hard drive. In addition the package also comes with a 10G online storage option as well.

The display is backlit by a high-resolution screen at 1024 x 600 pixels making imagery sharp. As a result your eyes don't feel like they need their own alka-seltzer drink when done working on the Asus. Your hands will thank you as well after typing on the chicklet keyboard because the wide keys are spread out, thereby reducing your probability of making typing mistakes.

Added features included the 1.3 Megapixel Webcamera which is synced with a standard 802.11N (2.4GHz only) wireless modem, giving you the option of web conferencing or realtime photo sharing.

The Asus 1000 HE body is very similar to the 1000H model with a black glossy lid and port placement. However, beware fingerprints with the glossy surface; they get annoying after a while. The big advantage to body design is the removal of a battery bump. Asus shaped away the obvious battery bulge previously noticed on earlier, bulky models. That said, the 1000HE is still a hefty sumo wrestler compared to similar 10-inch netbooks. The product dimensions ring in at 10.5 x 7.5 x 1.1 inches, weighing a total of 3.2 pounds.

As for the keyboard, sturdy is the name of the game. Gone are the cheapo tab keys that could easily flick off like wheat chex from an upside-down spoon. The keys' positions have also been relocated. For example, the Shift key has been transported from the right of the up arrow to the left of the same button.

Regarding performance speed, a number of tests have rated the Asus in the higher end of the test groups, with a marginal improvement above 5 percent. Unlike competitors, video playback has been commented as being a bit smoother with less coding delay. In addition, the included battery produces a comparable 5 hours of productivity life making the Asus competitive with the Acer 6-cell package and the Samsung NC10.

Some of the improvement is likely due to use of an Atom 1.66GHz N280 processor, and not the industry standard of the typical 1.6GHz N270 processor in most netbooks. But this difference is hard to see on a practical level unles you're using an electronic stopwatch to test the various functions. So it may be more chatter than truth. That said, maximum battery life can be obtained by changing the factor mode to auto power-saving mode, directing shutdown of functions when not in frequent use.

In a nutshell the Asus gives you a bigger screen than most netbooks but comes in weighing approximately 1 pound more in mass. The processor is slightly better, and performance has shown a marginal improvement over competitors. You get a standard 5 hours with your battery, which is better than other packages, but cost-wise you're paying on the higher end of the netbook cost range. Then again, you would probably pay as much boosting some other models with similar accessories, so the cost/benefit evens out in comparison. Similar to other netbook machines there is no DVD player included, but you can load plenty of software with a good USB flash drive, increasing your mobility.