Netbook Options

The hyped Acer Aspire One Netbook is another option to look at.  It has ballooned to becoming one of the most well known netbooks on the market.  The netbook has many great features.

Pros

Processor- Awesome and powerful 1.6GHz Intel N270 Atom processor

Weight- Weighs in a a mere 2.2 pounds making it simple to take with you wherever you need to go.

Storage- This netbook is offered with a regular hard drive or a solid state hard drive.  I prefer the option of the 160GB HD they offer so I can load all kinds of media onto it.

Built in Webcam- Makes it easy to communicate with others.

Cons

Screen- It is only 8.9 inches, making it a great travel computer but just not quite big enough to sit around and use for long periods of time.  Also there is a lot of unused space around the outsides of the screen.

Touchpad- The touchpad is almost too small and the two buttons are located on either side of the touchpad as opposed to the bottom of the touchpad.  Most of the time I just tap, but sometimes its nice to use the buttons and especially when you need to right click.  Its a way to save valuable space, but is a drawback.  The buttons also tend to be a little difficult to push down.

CD- Again, this is a netbook, and doesn’t come with a cd-rom drive, which is not a big deal these days.

Bottom Line: This is a very small netbook.  It is great for using quickly, chatting, and skyping with friends, but more difficult to write papers or get work done.

A netbook is a small computer, a notebook, a mini laptop.  It is something that is convenient, easy to use, and can easily be connected online.  They are meant to be simple and easy to transport.

Netbooks offer great features that keep getting better. They have anywhere from 8 inch to 11 inch screens and usually weigh less than 3 pounds.  They come in a varying array of hard drive sizes and amounts of RAM storage.  It is very easy these days to get a netbook with a 160GB hard drive and 2GB of RAM.  Many netbooks come with the new Intel Atom processors that are extremely mobile and use a little amount of energy.  Many also offer built in webcams and microphones in order to talk to others online with ease.

Most netbooks are priced in the $300-$500 range.  This makes them hot products for students and others looking for ease of portability without dropping alot of money.  Apart from cd-rom drives, netbooks now contain some of the same features as regular laptop in a much smaller package.

There are many netbook options to choose from.  Some of the main and popular netbooks include:

• Acer Aspire One
• Asus eee PC 900
• MSI Wind U100
• Dell Inspirion Mini 9
• HP 2133
• Lenovo Ideapad S10

With a world that has 1.4 billion internet users and is becoming more and more wired, netbooks are something to think about and a wonderful option.

Extensive research steered me towards the MSI Wind Netbook with its sleek, powerful, and neat design. Let me go ahead and break it down for you about the likes and dislikes of the computer that I have had since owning it.

Pros

Light and portable- A little over 10 inches long, 7 inches wide, and weighing in at 2.6 pounds, the MSI Wind is extremely portable and lightweight. I no longer venture anywhere without it. Processor- The Wind Netbook features a fast and portable Intel Atom 1.6GHz processor- plenty fast for everything that I do.

Screen- Features a 10 inch LED backlit screen. To me this basically means that the screen can be turned really bright with amazing clarity. The widescreen is crucial in that you can look at an entire webpage without having to scroll to the side (which can be extremely annoying).

Keyboard- It is only 20% smaller than a normal keyboard, making the MSI Wind easy to fully type in normal fashion. You can be sure the keyboard will last a while as well, as each MSI Wind has passed what they call the “1 million times” test. Basically all the keys have been tested to be pressed many times before they will ever underperform.

Built in Webcam and Microphone- With portability and the age of virtual phone conversations and video conferencing, the built in 1.3 mp digital camera and microphone work like a charm. I talk to friends all day long via skype utilizing these features, hasslefree.

Storage- I wanted something that had ample space for my videos, pictures, and music. The MSI Wind has provided me with a 160GB hard drive that accommodates all my desires as well as 1GB of RAM for multitasking.

FN Features- Extremely easy to use second commands for buttons, whether you want to control the battery, screen brightness, audio level, or other necessary adjustments.

Great Design- Of all the other netbook options out there, the MSI Wind has the best looking design. It is clean, compact and just overall great looking.

Cons

Speakers- The speakers are not great when listening to music. This is not a real problem as inserting head phones makes sound much better and louder. Talking with people via skype without headphones is fine. Voices can be heard fine, its more the music that doesn’t sound great.

Position of Control Key- Not a big deal, but on many other laptops, the control key (often used for all kinds of shortcut codes) is located in the very left bottom corner. On the MSI Wind, the key is one in from the corner with the FN button all the way in the corner. It is just something I had to get use to, but now I am fully comfortable with it.

CD Rom- As with all netbooks, going small means giving up the cd drive. This is not a big deal for me, as I do almost everything through the internet, however, sometimes it could be handy. For the size of a paper notepad, the MSI Wind is a wonderful thing. I would highly recommend it as truly one of the better netbook options out there.

I would give the MSI Wind U100 a 4.5 out of 5 stars and highly recommend it. I am running an entire business off this little machine and love the versatility, portability, and design of the netbook. It would be great as a student laptop, travel laptop, or an everyday use laptop. The low price also makes the MSI Wind an unbeatable option.

In todays Internet craze there is an every growing craving for Netbooks and an ever growing array of netbook options. I too wanted to get into the craze of being truly ultra portable and connected to the internet at all times.

I conducted quite a bit of research from going to Best Buy and Fry’s Electronics, to searching product reviews and surfing the net. More and more people are looking for more Netbook options, reviews, and benefits of owning one. For a few hundred dollars these days, one can obtain quite a great portable machine convenient for on-the-go as well as everyday purposes.

Great netbook options!!!