Notebook Trends, 2008

Already, early in 2008, I'm noticing that the emphasis is not on traditional notebooks, and on a new category. They're not quite subnotebooks, but their weight seems to be in that amount.

The three products I'm thinking about are the OLPC, the Asus Eee, and the latest is the MacBook Air. They all have svelte lines, and promise stronger battery running times than traditional notebook computers. They also all feature portability that trumps traditional notebook offerings. However, I wouldn't buy any of them.

Of the three, the most intriguing, at least to me, is the Asus. Maybe it's just that it's the bargain for what you get (Don't get me started on the silly OLPC's pricing, they could include a $20 donation, but $200 is ridiculous. Recall that this started as the $100 laptop.). Anyway, if I was looking for a very basic computer, that only could surf the web, and do some basic word processing, than the Asus Eee would fit the bill at an affordable price. In my mind, it makes it like my Palm, but with a larger screen and keyboard.

However, these machines sacrifice too much utility to be useful as real computers. As soon as the optical drive gets ditched, than it means that I'll jump through hoops to load any new software onto the machine. It also means that I can't watch a movie on it, or listen to a CD- both key components to a multimedia experience. So really, is email and word processing that core of an application that I can justify a machine just for that? In addition, the processors and RAM are generally underpowered.

Most users will be better off with a more traditional notebook. In fact, most use their notebook as a desktop replacement, and with space at a premium, I can't blame them. By way of comparison, that same $400 that you'd spend on the Asus can buy an Acer Aspire AS4315-2963. Sure, its got a Celeron processor, and only 512 megs of RAM, but the 14" screen, the 80 gig hard drive, the built in WiFi, Ethernet port, and that it runs Windows more than make up for it in my mind. I'm not touting it as the end all of notebooks, but it is a real computer, for not much dough.

I'll leave you with this buying advice: "keep it real."

Jonas