Scripting News - Latest Comments in Why I like netbooks (Scripting News)

Re: Why I like netbooks (Scripting News)

Guest — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 12:13:55 -0000

Here here! Long live the Ubuntu netbook!

Re: Why I like netbooks (Scripting News)

Foomandoonian — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 03:37:41 -0000

Thanks!

I am writing this on a two-week old Asus Eee PC 1000 (Linux, 40GB SSD). I quickly installed the Ubuntu Netbook Remix, and have been pretty happy with the results.

I have wanted an Eee since the first models, but there was always a better model around the corner. That race will probably go on for a few years, and the price of each new model always goes up. £350 was a good cut-off point for me, and like I say - no regrets so far.

Re: Why I like netbooks (Scripting News)

Fanfoot — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 17:14:20 -0000

Well, we're all hoping Apple *does* do something in this space and sooner rather than later. There's certainly room for them to improve things, and of course charge their usual premium.

Make it thinner than the other netbooks. Something along the lines of the ASUS S101, or even thinner.

If its going to have that big Apple trackpad, it seems unlikely it'll be an 8.9" model. A 10-incher is probably a better choice anyway if they're not going to do both, which they obviously won't. The good news is they can do the new trackpad with no buttons, saving on vertical space, which is critical on a netbook.

Push the limits a little--edge to edge keyboard a la the HP Mini 1000. Maybe even a very thin bezel around the screen to make the screen bigger while keeping the device the same size, i.e. "a 10-inch screen in a package the size of other 9-inch netbooks". Or an 11.1 inch screen in a 10-inch package.

Increase the screen resolution? No issues with Windows limits here, so go crazy. Like 1024x768 in a 10-inch display, or 1366x768 in an 11-inch. Or something. Just more than 1024x600. At least a little more vertical.

Multi-touch gesture support. Actually a lot of netbooks already have this.

A non-plastic case. Most likely the same machined aluminum as other MacBooks, but something... carbon fiber, something.

And of course it runs OSX, and comes with Apple support and software.

An SSD drive, necessary to allow it to hit the battery life and thinness targets. By waiting they can introduce the device with an SSD that has better performance than the others.

Price is flexible, but only because its Apple. Everybody else has to be under $400 at least for 3-cell versions. I think Apple could sell this for as much as $799 or so and still find buyers, and that's not even for the most expensive version...

Re: Why I like netbooks (Scripting News)

Fanfoot — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 17:04:02 -0000

Like others here I would recommend Micro Center. They generally have several netbooks out that you can actually touch, including a couple of Eee models and an Acer Aspire One. This will give you some idea of the size and by trying out the keyboard you can figure out whether you can live with the compromises inherent in an 8.9" keyboard. And screen I suppose, though I don't actually think that's all that important.

If you want to go on price, buy an Acer Aspire One. They're the cheapest, and apparently quite nicely built. Crap keyboard layout, but that's pretty common.

Want to mod/upgrade it? Then an ASUS Eee or the Dell Mini 9 are the best choices.

Want a decent keyboard? Then the HP Mini 1000 or the Samsung NC10 are your best bet. Nice full-sized right shift keys.

Want it to be bullet-proof? Go for an SSD. If you don't want to spend a TON then this will be a small SSD like 8GB or 16GB. If you need more space go for one with a hard disk. Windows XP itself will fit in 4-5GB or so. Linux in less.

Want long battery life? Go for a 6-cell battery. The Samsung NC10 has the best out of the box battery life of any netbooks so far. But it looks like ASUS is switching to a different "denser" battery for the Eee 901s now, so it could get interesting.

Re: Why I like netbooks (Scripting News)

hawken — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 00:37:24 -0000

I still use my powerbook G4 12" everyday - take it with me everywhere. Wasn't that apples netbook?

Re: Why I like netbooks (Scripting News)

Richard Cunningham — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 11:19:31 -0000

I think Apple must be working on a netbook, but it won't either be cheap (#2) or have #8 since it will run OS X and no other non-Apple netbook will do that. I would have thought they will make a 10 inch mac book air - i.e. thin / no CD drive / decent sized keys. I expect when it's unveiled Jobs will claimed to have invented the new form factor.

Personally I wouldn't buy one because I couldn't see wanting to run anything but Linux and doing that on a Apple would just be an expensive waste.

Re: Why I like netbooks (Scripting News)

Pete Prodoehl — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 07:42:25 -0000

I paid about $400 for the Asus Eee 701 when it first came out last year, and it's nice. It is small and light and I carry it in my bag everywhere. It runs Linux, and it can handle browsing, email, and I can manage servers and some of the stuff I want/need to do. A MacBook is bigger, and heavier, and more expensive. Still, if there was a comparable Apple netbook, I think I'd pay twice as much as I did for the Asus, just because it runs Mac OS X, and I could do pretty much *everything* I normally want/need to do, with the software I use everyday on my desktop. Linux is ok, but I do most of my real work on OS X.

Re: Why I like netbooks (Scripting News)

Michael Horowitz — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 22:52:52 -0000

I agree that Netbooks are the dawn of a new era in computing. Their price and size will result in people using them for things we haven't yet imagined. I purchased two for the same reason as Dave, the new device category is fascinating. With halfway decent marketing for Linux based machines, Netbooks could be serious competition for Macs. Problem is, getting halfway decent marketing is not likely.

Yes, a Netbook conference is inevitable as is a new trade association to push it.

When Netbooks have a similar always-on Internet connection to the Kindle, the game will *really* change.

For now, I have only used a 9 inch Netbook, but based on that I'd definitely opt for a 10 inch model.

Re: Why I like netbooks (Scripting News)

grvaughan — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 23:17:58 -0000

Yeah, seems to be a pattern. Made me think also of X-Plane creator Austin Meyer's adamant email about how he couldn't produce a version of X-Plane for the iPhone, sent days before announcing just that.

Wonder if he picked up that idea during couple of weeks he spent in Cupertino getting X-Plane for iPhone ready.

I'd love to see some smaller-format and less-expensive Macs, it's amazing what you can buy on the PC side these days. Apple is once again losing ground on price.

Re: Why I like netbooks (Scripting News)

Foomandoonian — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 08:43:33 -0000

Thanks for the link - Liliputing is a great name for a netbook blog :)
I've tried the 900's, and I think I would struggle with one. Shame, because I really prefer the size. Thanks for the advice!

Re: Why I like netbooks (Scripting News)

Foomandoonian — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 08:41:53 -0000

This is my big reservation. For the £350ish I could spend on a 1000 model, I could get a full laptop (albeit not one I desire). I think I'm going to go for it though - the 1000's are still plenty small enough to fit in my bag.

Re: Why I like netbooks (Scripting News)

Dave H — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 06:20:51 -0000

The MacBook Air has a small volume because it’s way thin, and excessive thinness doesn’t matter. Being excessively thin won’t help it fit into my coat pocket (like the Aspire One does, just).

Re: Why I like netbooks (Scripting News)

Bob D — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 23:35:59 -0000

I read Jobs' words as saying that Apple will do a netbook, just not yet. "we have some ideas:, etc,

There is a huge, obvious gap in Apple's product line between 3.5" and 13" screens. I could see at least two products - a larger iPod Touch. maybe with a 7" screen, and a netbpok with a 9-10" screen. With netbook prices climbing, Apple wouldn't have to hit the $500 price point, even $600-700 wouod be OK.

I keep waiting for a small (the Air is light, not small) Apple. When they announced the Air, I bought an iPod Touch. When they announced the new Macbooks, I bought an Asus 901 (Linux version). I carry it in preference to my Macbook unless I need to do something that it just can't do. It can't do games well, but I use the iPod Touch for portable gaming. I would love to have a small OS X machine, though.

I think you will see an Apple netbook when the price of 64GB solid state drives get cheap enough (it's almost there now). Jobs is obsessed with light weight and thin, and eliminating the hard disk would help.

Re: Why I like netbooks (Scripting News)

George Galla — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 20:23:15 -0000

Dave,

Glad you picked on that remark by steve j. First i want to say that I love apple and love steve j. I have a mac mini and like it a lot. I am constantly impressed by the amount thought that went into the design. That being said I also have a acer laptop with a 14 inch screen, vista and I like it a lot. The acer cost 479 and it is not junk. It is a capable computer. It can do many things the mac cannot.

Re: Why I like netbooks (Scripting News)

Steve Jobs — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 18:32:18 -0000

Dave you are simply being disingenuous here.

The Macbook Air being small and rugged is NOT subject to question. Based on the specs at the Apple website vs. your Amazon link, the MacBook Air is about 0.6 times smaller than the Eee. It's 57 cubic inches for the Air vs. 92 cubic inches for the Eee (go ahead and average the taper if you want to do the multiplication yourself to check my math).

If you want a narrower or shallower MacBook Air you will have to say so specifically, because in the "Smaller" and "Thinner" departments the Air beats the Eee by a country mile.

The Air's unibody enclosure, the first to be machined from a single piece of aluminum, has also proven to be very rugged: http://forums.macrumors.com...
and they did not add a glass trackpad to the newest redesign for a reason.

The MacBook Air also has 3 extra usb connections, you just can't get to them:
http://www.maushammer.com/s...

And if you want longer battery life you can simply underclock the Air with CoolBook. Users are reporting up to 5.5 hrs of battery life on the old MacBook Airs with an SSD using CoolBook:
http://forums.macrumors.com...
I'm assuming that CoolBook will work even better on the new MacBook with its 45nm processor and 17Watt TDP (the old processor was 65nm and 20W TDP)

More to the point (in an attempt to give Apple some real specs to actually build to), you simply want an underclocked MacBook Air with the hidden battery and usb ports exposed. That's it, correct?

Sounds pretty easy. And guess what? I want that exact same product, and I'm willing to pay for it, so I don't care if it is expensive.

ps. if you are going to say you want a significantly smaller screen just to save half a pound, well... I just can't back you up on that decision.

Re: Why I like netbooks (Scripting News)

Starry Dynamo — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 18:31:35 -0000

The Mac mini *could* have been much cheaper if they hadn't insisted on making it so small just to make something that small. The market wasn't clamoring for something that small, it was (and IS) clamoring for an affordable headless Mac. If they hadn't insisted on making a 'design statement,' and made it just a bit bigger, they could've used NON-laptop class parts and saved some money. Laptop harddrives and RAM are more expensive than their desktop equivalents. And now comes word they're possibly cancelling the Mac mini altogether. Dumb move. They could've designed this thing better and made a real HTPC out of it, but since they don't "know how" to make what people want, they're just going to cancel it. Smooth. Jobs is simultaneously the best and worst thing that happened to Apple, Inc.

Re: Why I like netbooks (Scripting News)

ix — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 17:56:23 -0000

macbook mini and macbook touch seem a shoe-in for MWSF2009

the whole point is them being cheap and convenient, i dont see how apple can roll one out for less than 50% more than the competition, but that might ust work

Re: Why I like netbooks (Scripting News)

Ranjit Mathoda — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 17:39:38 -0000

If Apple comes out with a netbook they won't call it a netbook. It'll be a closed machine that is elegant in design, both hardware and software, it'll sell at a premium, and it'll have features current netbooks don't have while leaving out things you realize you don't really need.

Re: Why I like netbooks (Scripting News)

Eric Sink — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 17:39:05 -0000

Interesting. Remarks like this make me wonder if I should give the 10-inch netbooks another look.

I have a 901 and I love it. I take it everywhere. The netbooks with the 10-inch screen just look so much bigger. I think it would be more like carrying around a laptop.

Re: Why I like netbooks (Scripting News)

Greg Spira — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 16:38:09 -0000

Reading between the lines, the key may be how Jobs defines computers. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see a notebook based on iphone software from Apple fairly soon. It wouldn't be able to run Photoshop or MIcrosoft Office. It would be like an iphone with a much bigger screen and a mini-notebook size keyboard. Apple would, of course, maintain control over the whole ecosystem. You could browse the web, make basic documents, and do almost anything you can do with a normal Internet browser and the web. Plus, of course, there will be an apoplication store, run by Apple, which will sell aps designed exclusively for the product. But it wouldn't be a computer in the sense that other netbooks are - it would not run linux, xp, or even the mac os. Apple will initially price it at $499, which many people will complain is too expensive for such a limited product, but it'll sell well anyway and 6 months after release the price will fall to under $400.

Re: Why I like netbooks (Scripting News)

AndrewBurton — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 16:36:34 -0000

I think the low price is a deciding factor, it separates Netbooks from the UMPC markets, which are rarely-if-ever below $600-700. The low cost of Netbooks is what makes them attractive to people (like me) who might not otherwise be able to justify the cost of a laptop.

Re: Why I like netbooks (Scripting News)

Josh Bancroft — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 15:48:50 -0000

A netbook conference, eh? That is a BRILLIANT idea. It started wheels turning, anyway... :-)

Re: Why I like netbooks (Scripting News)

sameasiteverwas — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 15:30:54 -0000

Oh, and if you want to stay on top developments in this segment, the Liliputing blog is a good place to start; they cover netbooks exclusively. They also have an excellent netbook database you can use to compare various netbooks feature-for-feature.

Re: Why I like netbooks (Scripting News)

sameasiteverwas — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 14:59:01 -0000

Go somewhere where you can try out a 900 in person (I know they have them at Micro Center and Best Buy, probably places like Fry's too). Put your hands on the keyboard and type something. You will know right away whether you can live with the 900's smaller keyboard or not.

Re: Why I like netbooks (Scripting News)

Carl Dowthwaite — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 14:46:03 -0000

Perhaps a fuller version of Steve's quote might have been "We don't know how to build a sub-$500 computer that is not a piece of junk with acceptable margins and which won't eat into existing mac sales."

I think this points to Apple launching when it believes that it can achieve sufficient differentiation between the MacBook and an Apple netbook. Given what many people use their Macbooks for I don't think that this will be easy. One radical way of achieving this might be launch an ARM based machine - very good power consumption but much less powerful than Intel based macs.