Are Netbook Buyers Satisfied with their Purchase?
Posted 01/23/09 at 05:30:00 PM by Paul Lilly
Comments
Print
Email
Despite a struggling economy, the worldwide PC market continues to grow, which is largely the result of mini-notebooks. The immense popularity in low-cost netbooks has also favored Intel, whose Atom CPUs contributed to record growth in the processor market in Q3 2008. But are consumers truly happy buying underpowered ultraportable PCs? According to a study by Biz360, an information-services company, customer satisfaction is falling short of the sales growth.
"The results of the analysis indicate that there is a lot of opportunity for improvement across the board for Netbook products," Biz360 concludes. "Netbook manufacturers also face a significant challenge with consumers whose expectations are based on years of desktop pc usage."
Surprisingly, Biz360 found that Acer ranks lowest in Net Advocacy (Biz360's proprietary metric that factors the positive and negative sentiment of individual comments), despite being the top seller in Q4 2008. Acer's Aspire one series had a 34 percent lower Net Advocacy than the average for all laptop brands.
Not so suprisingly, the number one complaint against netbooks has to do with performance, in which Biz360 found opinions to be "predominately negative."
Lenovo S10 (Black)
Submitted by jrbales on Wed, 02/04/2009 - 12:19am
I have had my Lenovo S10 netbook for several weeks now and love it! It has excellent build quality, a 10.2" screen, 160GB SATA HDD, 1GB DDR2. HDD and memory are easily upgradable. While the keyboard is small even for my small hands, that was a tradeoff I expected to make when buying a netbook. WiFi connections work great and the computer has built-in Bluetooth. The computer came with Windows XP with SP3 installed. I've added several Windows programs I want to carry with me and all seem to run fine on the Atom processor. The Lenovo was very competitively priced, particularly compared to several other major manufacturers, particularly considering the hardware and features it has. So far the S10 had gotten generally good reviews online. I'd recommend it highly!
I enjoy my Eee 1000H.
Submitted by deject on Sun, 01/25/2009 - 10:31pm
It's not the fastest machine ever, in fact, it isn't even really faster than my 4 year old Dell to be honest. What it does do though is satisfy all my music playing, video watching, and web browsing needs when I'm not at home. I even do my comp sci coursework on it. The battery last a long time and the hard drive stores all my stuff. For $450 you can't buy anything else with all that in a package that isn't over 5 pounds.
Very Happy
Submitted by TL600F4i on Sat, 01/24/2009 - 10:26pm
My Lenovo S10 works exactly the way I need it to work, long battery life, small,light weight, great compliment to my larger system.
Submitted by rb3m on Sat, 01/24/2009 - 10:55am
I bought a Eee701 about a month or two after they came out and I still carry it with me every day. I've been thinking of replacing it recently, but finally decided against it as it still does what I want it to do so I'll just wait to see what else comes this year.
Seems to me that the people who are unhappy with netbooks are the ones who thought they were getting a laptop. The netbook is not a laptop replacement, much less a desktop replacement. It's a complement. If you want or need a laptop, get a laptop. Expecting a netbook to be on the same level of a full-fledged laptop is just as silly as using a Honda Civic for hauling and cargo.
It is what I thought it would be
Submitted by Colt725 on Sat, 01/24/2009 - 8:31am
I bough an Acer Aspire One for my wife and she loves it and so do I. True, it is not as fast nor does it have anywhere near the power that my desktop PC has. When she, we, or I travel, that is where the netbook shines. It is light, small, and great for checking email and doing surfing the web. The size screen is good and I have no problem using the keyboard with my big hands. I had to get a USB mouse but that was expected.
The bottom line is, as with most products I buy, do your home work. read specs, read reviews, and play with the product before making a purchase.
It does what I want it to do, nothing fancy, nothing overly complicated. I am happy.
Submitted by MleB on Sat, 01/24/2009 - 6:41am
I've had a EeePC 701 almost since it first came out and have been mostly happy with the experience. A little research beforehand meant I wasn't expecting miracles from the thing - and that it was capable of the things I wanted it to do, plus a few things more. Of the regrets - I'll be looking at a larger screen in my next netbook purchase, maybe look at the keyboard layout and it won't have Linux. Asus' Xandros has simply confirmed for me that Linux isn't ready for consumer primetime yet and is best left to hobbyists to play with.
But as a simple, cheap, light, very portable subnotebook with good battery life that I can toss into my bag at a moment's notice, it does 95% of the stuff I do on my home computer - my 'old' HP notebook now tethered to the desk. And it still warrants stares and queries when I'm using it.
That said, I was speaking to something of a tech wonk working at (of all places) Staples the other day - where they had a MSI Wind, Toshiba NB100, HP 1000, EeePC 900HA and a Acer AspireOne for sale - he says he has seen some returns of netbooks, largely because the buyer did not believe him when he said they can't do everything a more fully-spec'd notebook can do and bought it regardless - because its cool and they may think they have more tech knowledge than they do.
If consumers are voicing complaints, this sales clerk's comment suggests they are expecting far too much from the device, aren't doing their research and, more likely than not, are being sold the products by sales staff who haven't a clue.
I don't want / need my netbook to do everything my notebook can do - especially if it removes the simplicity, weight, battery life, size and cost benefits. Consumers need to get a grip - you don't buy an iPod nano if you really expect a home sound system.
See I told you so. I am just
Submitted by Keith E. Whisman on Sat, 01/24/2009 - 6:10am
See I told you so. I am just about the only person here that has been crytical of netbooks while everyone else was attempting to correct my oppinion on the subject it appears that for a large part I was correct. I knew that very few people would be happy with the limitations designed into these pieces of crap. I'm sorry some people out there love these things go take a pill.
Smells like another apple
Submitted by mdkplus on Sun, 09/27/2009 - 6:44pm
Smells like another apple fanboy in want of a Mac version netbook which would probably start out at about $999 USD
Submitted by dclong on Wed, 02/25/2009 - 1:00pm
What a delightful, constructive little rant that was. Your insights helped my research tremendously.
Dual-cores please!
Submitted by JMG760 on Fri, 01/23/2009 - 7:35pm
If intel or any other manufacture like VIA or AMD can release a dual-core processor anytime soon like the atom at the same performance or better would be nice. It would greatly help the netbooks so anytime! Hopefully netbook manufactures equip them with a decent videocard.
Submitted by Keith E. Whisman on Sat, 01/24/2009 - 6:14am
The lcd's are too small and have too little resolution. The processors are weak but are not what's holding this thing back. Improve the display by making it bigger and improve the touch pad and button placement and you have a product that you'll enjoy getting on the net with. Also build these things with a larger hard drive and add an build in DVD burner. It's not that hard and DVD burners are sufficiently cheap enough to not increase the cost so much.
Submitted by hades_2100 on Sat, 01/24/2009 - 10:04am
What you describe is called a LAPTOP, perhaps you've heard of it?
Why don't you, along with the rest of the people who attempt to use these for what they are not, buy the product that you SHOULD have bought and stop complaining? Of course, everything can be better and faster, but here the focus is on size.
I love the fact that my wife could go to Europe with my son, and her AOA is able to entertain my son on the flight, she is able to do banking/email/web, etc, and we are able to stay in touch via videoconference. All this without breaking her back, like she would have done with my laptop.
Submitted by ilfipian on Fri, 01/23/2009 - 7:19pm
Netbooks are a good idea but I'm waiting for the next revision. Some more horses under the hood, improved graphics, more ports and this seems to be the ideal form factor for the Tablet idea to finally go somewhere. And why do so many neglect n class WAN. A couple more engineering and production cycles and the netbook will be ready to really rock.
i lovethe idea of a netbook,
Submitted by nekollx on Mon, 01/26/2009 - 9:43am
i lovethe idea of a netbook, hell i want to get one for all those time im novelizing o nth go and my 13 inch laptop is to much a hassle. But id prefer to have a bit more power so its not chugging along. i dont need a gpu i just need to make sure it can compete with a 6 year old pentium 4 desktop.
thats not a big request is it?
Submitted by barovelli on Fri, 01/23/2009 - 4:57pm
Started with an 8G, really liked the portability and battery life. Hated the OS. Once I put XP on it the use tripled. Upgraded to the 1000H for screen & keyboard size. Unlike the 8G with Linux, I now use it every day.
Must Read Articles
Feature
Review
Feature
Feature
Feature
Most Popular Articles
This Month's Issue
FEATURE How to Get FREE Programs, Services, Software & MoreFEATURE Digital Photo Printer RoundupHOW TOBuild a 3D CameraFEATUREDIY Arcade PCWHITE PAPERHow TRIM Works
Technology News
Computer Cooling Fans
Computer Cases
PC Game Controllers
PC Games
Computer Hardware
Headphones
MP3 Players
Stream Video
Computer Mouse
Monitors
Motherboards
NAS Storage
Networking
Laptop Computers
DVD Burner
Digital Cameras
Portable Storage
Computer Accessories
Smartphone
Antivirus Software
Sound Cards
Speakers
Computer Systems
Thumb Drives
Video Cameras
Video Card Reviews
Water Cooling
Gadgets
- Keyboards
© 2009 Future US, Inc. All Rights Reserved.