The Rise of Netbooks
The hottest trend in laptops this year is the introduction of the Netbook to the mass market. This sleek mini-laptop category is perfect for road warriors, college students, and anyone else looking for max portability to satisfy their mobile computing needs. Of course, some will argue that a Netbook is inferior to traditional bulky laptops offered in previous years, but the point is subjective. As processors continue to get faster and chips shrink in size, portability doesn't come at quite the cost it would have in years past.
The battery life of an Acer Netbook averages around 5 to 6 hours, a huge advancement compared to a full-sized laptop purchased just a few years prior. The 10.1 inch screen, while sometimes a bit awkward for some websites, works just fine. And the built-in webcam is fun to play around with and quite useful for communicating with people from remote locations.
The standard Netbook comes without an internal optical drive (CD, DVD, or Blue-Ray reader/burners) which helps reduce both the size and cost of the device. There are, however, some bundle deals where retailers and manufacturers are starting to offer external drives to sweeten the deal. For the casual computer user, these external drives are the perfect solution as they allow for specific functionality on an as needed basis. For the more advanced user, programs can be installed and files transferred with the use of pen drives, making the lack of an optical drive nearly a mute point. A product ranking site is a good place to start research on the best Netbook for your needs.
Obviously, Netbooks appeal to a specific sector of the laptop market, and excel in transportability while lacking in other areas such as gaming or high-quality graphics rendering. For these functions, a traditional laptop with all of the accoutrements should be considered. While more expensive and less portable than Netbooks, these higher end laptops will include more processing power, wider screens, better graphics cards, and optical drives such as CD and DVD players/burners. The top-of-market laptops will also include Blu-Ray players and HDV output.
Altogether, this has been a great year for laptops. With the recession looming over us, laptop manufacturers were pushed to provide lower priced machines to open the market to those unwilling to shell out the cash for the latest and greatest in portable computing, while cramming more attractive features into the standard market to convince the gamers and high-end enthusiasts to buy new hardware. The end result is that the market is right and the options are numerous.
Brady Frost is a military veteran and freelance writer who resides in Utah with his wife and three children. To find superior quality Blu-ray DVDs and movies for your Netbook, go to Channel Blu-ray at http://www.ChannelBlu-rayDVDs.com.
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