This month's best selling netbook is the ASUS Eee PC Seashell 1005PE-PU17-BK 10 inch netbook with Windows 7 starter. Priced at $368.59, ASUS retook it's top spot as a longstanding bestselling netbook manufacturer this month. It appears consumers have decided to forgo the budget netbook shopping seen in December and opt for slightly...
I'll be leaving for Las Vegas NV for CES to give you first hand videos of the latest netbooks tomorrow morning, but before I go I wanted to take some time to reflect back on the past year and give you my picks for the best netbooks of 2009. It's very difficult to pick the very best netbook so I'm going to share my top favorites for the best 5 netbooks of the year...
This month's best selling netbook is the Acer AOD250-1197 10 inch netbook with Windows 7 starter. Priced at $279.99, the Acer netbook has finally toppled the long standing champion the Asus Eee PC 1005HA (which held the top spot for five months...
This is a series of posts based on reader questions. If you have a question about netbooks feel free to ask it by contacting me and I may share it on the blog as well (In either case I'll be sure to provide you an answer).
Netbook vs Laptop - which to buy? In this often discussed battle I've decided to share my thoughts on the differences between the two in an effort to help people better decide which option would be best for them. In fact, I receive emails from readers daily on this exact subject so when I looked back through my past posts I couldn't help but notice I never took the time to actually discuss netbooks vs laptops before so that's why I'm doing it today. These are some easy questions you can ask yourself to help determine whether a netbook or laptop is right for you. If you answer yes to more of these questions in one category than the other then you should have an answer as to which product will work best for you.
Netbook:
Is your budget less than $500? Do you prefer your device be something small and light weight? (10 or 12 inch screen size? around 3 lbs or less) Do you plan to use your device for MS office suite, Facebook, email, iTunes, Skype video chat Do you plan to use your device to play intense games? If so, consider a netbook with Nvidia ION built in Do you need a battery life that can last a full day without needing a charge?
If you answered yes to most of these questions you should buy a netbook. Every month I discuss the bestselling netbooks and on a semi regular basis I discuss netbook deals (look there as a starting point for which netbook to buy)
Laptop:
Is your budget over $500? Over $1,000? Over $1,500? Do you prefer larger screens and don't mind the increase in weight? (13 inches up to 17 inches? 4 lbs to 7 lbs [sometimes more]) Do you plan to use your device for tasks that are considerably more processor intensive than using the MS office suite, Facebook, email, iTunes, Skype video chat? i.e. 1080P HD video editing, Highest possible graphic settings in a PC game Do you need a battery life that can last a full day without needing a charge? (If so expect to spend more)
If you answered yes to most of these questions than you should buy a laptop. I also run Notebook Reviews which focuses more on laptop information. You can also simply check out Amazon's bestselling laptop list to get an idea of what is most popular with consumers.
Conclusion:
What this argument really comes down to is a few key points: what is your budget, what do you need the device to do and does the size and weight of the device matter. It's really that simple. I believe that most people only need a netbook and even if you can afford to buy a laptop why waste the money if all you plan to do is use the Microsoft Office Suite, Facebook, write emails, video chat on Skype and store music for iTunes? Besides I've already proved you can play some intense netbook games as long as you buy a netbook with Nvidia ION inside so why spend considerably over $500 when you don't need to?
Long time readers know that moving into the weekend I occasionally write a post about netbook deals since most netbook news breaks during the week. Today's post will be different in the sense that I'm only going to focus on cheap netbooks deals that are less than $300 or just barely above that price. After looking at the data from the January bestselling netbooks of the month list I can see that most people are slowly transitioning to the new netbooks utilizing the more efficient Intel Atom N450 based netbooks, but there are still come great deals on netbooks using the old processor which I've included on this list as well. We'll start with displaying the deals for these new netbooks first:
Specs: Windows 7 Starter, Intel Atom N450 1.66 GHz, 1 GB RAM, 250 GB hard drive (see full specs)
If you'd prefer to try and save a little money or get a little more bang for your buck consider purchasing an older generation netbook. I've added more deals on these netbooks after the break
Sony sent me their new Vaio series W netbook and I put together an unboxing video and provided some of my first hands on impressions:
Sony Vaio W Specs: Intel Atom N450 1.66 GHz processor, 250 GB hard drive, 1 GB RAM, 802.11b/g/n and Verizon mobile broadband card built in, 1366 x 768 screen resolution (see full specs)
The demo unit I received is the Sony VAIO VPC-W215AX/L with 8 Hours of Battery Life. At first I thought it was blue then I thought it was black so it it's actually a pretty dark blue as you'll see in the video. The netbook is currently on pre-order for $599.99. The price was my only primary complaint, but remember the specs you'll get on this unit that most netbooks don't offer (3G access built in and 1366 x 768 screen resolution).
If you want to get a cheaper Sony netbook I would suggest you check out this model: Sony VAIO VPC-W121AX/W
The netbook maintains the higher screen resolution of 1366 x 768 but drops the 3G access. It also has a 250 GB hard drive and 1 GB of RAM (see full specs) for only $468.34.
Would you pay $599 for a netbook or would you prefer the less expensive model at $468?
Intel just posted the results on it's Submit Early. Win Big contest which is a contest they used to kick off it's developer program for the Intel Atom family of processors. More winners will be revealed on March 9th, as well as details on the next Intel Atom Developer Challenge. So if you're a developer and haven't heard of this program (where have you been) you can download the SDK here. Idea: I want to see a lightweight video editing application that can accept various file formats like those specifically used by Flash HD mini camcorders (i.e. Flip)
Winners:
The first place winner was an application called "DeskSpace" which was created by Otaku Software. The image to above is an example of what it looks like while running on your netbook.
DeskSpace is a 3D virtual desktop that gives you more space for your windows and icons. You can eliminate desktop clutter by arranging your windows and icons across up to six desktops, all easily accessible via a revolutionary 3D desktop cube.
I could see myself using one side for casual browsing, another side for games and another side for work / blogging.
The rest of the winners can be seen here: Results Page
If you haven't downloaded the AppUp center for your netbook you should download it here. With the AppUp center you can download both free and paid apps specifically designed for use on your netbook.
This month's best selling netbook is the ASUS Eee PC Seashell 1005PE-PU17-BK 10 inch netbook with Windows 7 starter. Priced at $368.59, ASUS retook it's top spot as a longstanding bestselling netbook manufacturer this month. It appears consumers have decided to forgo the budget netbook shopping seen in December and opt for slightly more expensive netbooks using the new Intel Atom Pinetrail processors. In either case let's move onto the rest of the list:
This month showed one of the first times we've seen a near sweep by one manufacturer - ASUS. I was not surprised at all by the fact that new netbooks using Intel Atom's pinetrail processors led the charge. Priced at only $368.59 the ASUS Eee PC 1005PE has the new Intel Atom 450 Processor which helps to contribute to it's insane 14 hour battery life. The rest of the list is a mix of older generation netbooks and new netbooks in various colors. The Toshiba NB205 is also on the bestsellers list like it has been almost every single month - albeit this time in last place. Priced at $322.84 it's a great deal despite the fact that it's using the older generation Intel processors.
If you're looking for a deal on a next generation netbook, I put together a list of the new cheap netbooks under $300. These netbooks all include the Intel Atom N450 processor which offers improved battery life and a slight performance boost
10 inch netbook with Windows 7 starter. Priced at 
10 inch netbook with Windows 7 starter. Priced at 
(which held the top spot for five months...
)
Intel just posted the results on it's 
