"Not I". Said the little red hen.

Submitted by Talcum X on Wed, 08/20/2008 - 4:37am

 Have no need for laptop, notebook or anything that resembles one.  So, in this arena, I'm not a statistic.

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Every morning is the dawn of a new error.

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I'll certainly be in the

Submitted by Asterixx on Tue, 08/19/2008 - 3:03pm

I'll certainly be in the market for one when this Gateway monstrosity of a laptop I'm currently suffering finally craps out for good. I'm not a gamer, graphic artist or video editor, so I don't need horsepower. Gimme a screen of at least 1024 (and preferably 1200) pixels wide and a DVD player/burner, plus enough battery life to watch two DVD's, and I'll be happy. I made the "more is better" mistake when I bought this Gateway three years ago. I didn't stop to think that a 17" screen means a bulky, heavy brick, the AMD64 4000+ processor runs too hot and sucks too much juice, and the extra money I spent on the discreet ATI graphics was a complete waste. The most I ever ask in the way of gaming is old MAME arcade games. Somehow I don't think a game produced in 1982 would have much trouble running on any modern processor. 90% of my computing is surfing the web, 5% is word processing, 4% is making crude concept drawings using MS paint, and 1% is gaming, if you call Pac Man gaming.

 The screen in this thing is acting up (flickering whenever the machine is moved) and the battery life is getting dismal (45 minutes, tops). I could probably take it apart and fix the screen problem (likely a loose connection) and I'm sure I could get a new Chinese battery cheap enough on eBay, but doing so would strip me of a potential excuse to "downgrade" into something lighter and more suited to my needs (or lack thereof).

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Here to stay

Submitted by skhills on Tue, 08/19/2008 - 1:41pm

Until this wave of ultra-portables consumers had to choose a stripped-down, but extra bulky, notebook if they wanted low cost, or pay through the nose for a fully-featured thin and light setup.

I can't speak for everyone, but there is definitely a place in my home for a sub-$500 ultra-compact netbook with basic webcam and internet capability, and outstanding battery life.  It will by no means be my only PC, or only notebook for that matter, but I look forward to leaving my laptop behind when I travel without sacrificing the connection to friends and family.

I'm glad to see vendors offering desireable features standard instead of pushing them as add-ons for an added cost.  Netbooks offer acceptable RAM and hard drive configurations, connectivity options, and webcams, as well as decent screen resolutions with LED backlighting.  This is a shift from corporate-based thinking to consumer-driven design.

 

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