Definition

• The netbook is an ultra-portable computing device targeted to fill the niche between handheld PDAs or Smartphones and full-feature laptops.
  
  

Netbook Specifications

• Currently, no industry standard exists for the netbook class. Microsoft has issued a set of specifications outlining what hardware will be supported on netbooks designed to run Microsoft XP. Based on these guidelines, the maximum specifications are as follows: screen size of 12.1 inches or less, 1 gigbyte of RAM, 160GB hard drive or 32GB solid state disk, and a single core processor that does not exceed 1GHz clock rate. An upgraded Microsoft Windows 7 system specification list has been informally released that cuts the maximum screen size down to 10.2 inches, keeps the maximum installed RAM at 1 GB and ups the hard drive capacity to 250 GB or 64GB for an SSD.
  
  

Evaluating Requirements

• When looking for a computing device, the specific requirements of the individual user must always be the deciding factor. For example, is a larger screen and full-size keyboard critical or are those specifications secondary to the overall size of the unit? Based on the use this netbook will be put to, is there a need for more than 100 gigabytes of storage space or will 16 gigabytes be enough? If price is a serious part of the consideration the question of whether Windows is required or if Linux will be acceptable needs to be addressed. Once these requirements have been evaluated, the next step might be to look at what the most popular-selling netbooks are. While popularity shouldn't necessarily be weighted as the determining factor in these types of purchases, the fact that any model is mass-produced does indicate that there will be a ready supply of spare parts when and if your netbook requires repair.
  
  

Asus Eee PC Alternatives

• For the first quarter of 2009, Acer's Aspire One captured the number-one spot for sales with one million units sold. The Asus EeePC came in second ,with roughly 900,000 units sold in that same time period. As a convenience a link to Amazon's five best-selling netbooks is provided in the Resource section.
  
  

Major Manufacturers

• Currently all of the major laptop manufacturers--including Acer, Asus, HP, MSI, Dell, Toshiba and Lenovo--offer one or more netbooks in their product lines. Apple Computer is expected to offer their own version of the netbook, which is forecast to be released in the fourth quarter of 2009.