Articles: Terrors Of Tiny Town – Harley Ogier looks at Netbooks – Issue 74

Harley Ogier loves netbooks. He gives us the lowdown, and takes a closer look at three of them.

Tiny computers have always been a fascination of mine. I’ve had a notebook PC for years and have been through more handhelds than I can count. As a professional geek, I enjoy being able to check my email, play decent games and write code anywhere I happen to be. As an avid reader, I like being able to load up a year’s worth of text on a notebook PC or PDA for those times when carrying a thick stack of books just isn’t practical.

But there’s a compact alternative to the conventional notebook. Referred to as ‘netbooks’, they’ve been around since the late ’90s in much the same form – tiny notebooks with no floppy or CD drive, designed primarily for online browsing and web applications.

Lacking the grunt of a full-blown notebook, they none the less run full-blown operating systems and applications, giving you a lot more flexibility than a PDA or Smartphone can possibly offer.

Netbooks have previously always been a niche item, coming and going under different names, and often at higher prices than regular notebooks. Asus’s release of the Eee PC in October 2007 changed all that, finally giving a miniscule computer an equally miniscule price tag. Asus seems to have opened the floodgates with the Eee, leading to a rush of ultra-portable, low-cost notebooks from Acer, Hewlett-Packard and other big-name manufacturers.

Another product of the netbook revolution are so-called ‘nettops’, ultra-small form factor PCs. These are also an old concept, only now attempting to join the mainstream. Like their netbook cousins, nettops sacrifice computing power and luxuries such as disc drives for portability and price. The most promoted (and arguably the slickest) of these nettops is Asus’s Eee Box, reviewed on page 78.

The What For

One of the core purposes of netbooks is to provide web access: a full-scale, desktop-quality web browser for use with modern web applications. These are applications such as webmail, YouTube, Google Maps, social networks – services you access using a web browser and little or no additional software. These applications do the majority of their work on the web server, meaning you don’t need a terribly high-spec machine to take advantage of them.

Beyond the internet, netbooks have a great deal more to offer. Though their low processing power makes them useless for modern 3D gaming, video editing and other resource-intensive tasks, you can still run a broad range of offline applications. Suites such as Microsoft Office or the freely available Open Office run like a charm, as do many image editing packages if you’re not doing anything too stressful. I wouldn’t try doing professional graphic design on a netbook, but you can certainly touch up a few photos from a point-and-shoot digital camera without returning to the desktop.

The advantage over conventional notebooks is clear: at almost half the size and half the weight, you can carry a netbook without a specialized bag. Asus’s Eee PC comes with a well-padded sleeve that protects the netbook within your existing satchel, briefcase or even purse. With a little protection, any netbook becomes as portable as a real book.

U-Computing and You

A term we’re hearing progressively more these days is ‘u-computing’. Much like the earlier fad of prefixing everything with an ‘e’ for electronic (e-books, e-business, e-commerce, e-mail), ‘u’ is a generic prefix for ‘ubiquitous’ – technologies that are ever-present, woven into our lives. Ubiquitous computing is seen by many as the future of the industry, and ultra-portable devices like netbooks are a major driving force.

Computing anywhere at any time has gained a foothold through internet-capable mobile phones and the humble PDA. However, no matter the computing power of these devices, their usefulness is always limited by their screen size and awkward input methods. I’m never going to write a review using my mobile phone.

The netbook helps pave the way for u-computing here and now, as more than just a gimmick. You no longer have to carry around a notebook for access to the ‘real’ internet – not some watered-down version that fits on a two-inch screen. You no longer need room for a full-sized PC just to add an internet connection to the kitchen for recipes and grocery orders; or to add internet access to your home theatre system without settling for some short-lived, proprietary set-top box.

Netbooks and nettops demonstrate the concept of computers as compact, ubiquitous tools like the clock radio or blender – not self-important metal blocks that designate the room they’re in a home office.

Going Green by Powering Down

One concept manufacturers of netbooks are really pushing – Asus especially with the Eee Box – is that the tiny machines are inherently ‘green’. This is due to the lower energy consumption of the devices, unencumbered by power-hungry disc drives, high-speed processors, cooling systems and the like. The Eee Box is advertised as having a carbon footprint up to a 90 per cent smaller than a standard PC’s. With its low 20-watt power consumption, this is probably quite true; however, overall it’s not quite that simple.

Netbooks and nettops are cheap but they’re not all that expandable. Most of the models I’ve seen can have their memory or storage upgraded somewhat, but they’re certainly not as flexible as a desktop PC or even a conventional notebook. After a year or two when the next model comes out, you’ll probably be quite tempted to just trash the old one and buy a replacement. After all, who thinks twice about replacing an old $500 computer with the latest model that now offers twice the performance at the same price?

My desktop PC is around six years old and still going strong. I haven’t been able to play the latest release games for a while, but the I was never much of a gamer. If you’re throwing out computers every year or two, the green concept goes straight out the window with the old box. If you’re truly concerned with sustainability, lower-power computers are a good idea – but only if you’re willing to hold on to them for a while and sell, donate or properly recycle them when you’re done.

The Future of Netbooks

Netbooks, subnotebooks, tiny computers – whatever you want to call them, they’re out there now and rapidly securing market share. They’re not a replacement for notebooks, nor for full-blown desktop PCs, but a separate tool altogether. Expect to see progressively more processing power, graphics capabilities, memory and storage as these devices flow further into the mainstream, bringing the internet to places it has previously failed to take root and leading us further down the road towards a future of ubiquitous computing.

HP 2133 Mini-Note Notebook PC $999

Hewlett Packard’s 2133 Mini-Note is a shiny little machine with a stylish metallic case and high-gloss screen. Its construction is solid, and while at the heavier end of the netbook scale, the Mini-Note is definitely more portable than the average notebook.

According to the PR guff, the Mini-Note boasts a “92% full-sized keyboard”. I actually found the keys a bit too tall for my fingers, though that’s better than too small – within minutes and with very little effort I was able to reach my full typing speed. Like Acer’s Aspire One, this large keyboard leads to a pitifully small touchpad.

In addition to the obligatory Wi-Fi, the Mini-Note supports Bluetooth, which both the Asus Eee PC and Acer Aspire One lack. The Mini-Note also includes an ExpressCard slot for expansion cards, which neither competitor supports. On the other hand, unlike the other products reviewed here, which ship with Windows XP, the Mini-Note includes Windows Vista Home Basic or Vista Business; the business edition comes with double the RAM and a larger hard drive.

While I’m not anti-Vista in general, it does seem an oddly heavy choice for a lightweight netbook. While certainly usable, Vista is visibly sluggish on the Mini-Note at times. A Linux version is also available but for those with Windows-specific software or a strong aversion to change, it may not be a viable option.

If you’re dead-set on Vista or just want a good-looking and sturdy netbook, the Mini-Note’s a sure bet. If you’re particularly concerned with disk space and performance, look at the competitors running good old Windows XP.

Rating: 3.5/5

TECH SPECS

DISPLAY: 8.9 inches, 1280×768

OPERATING SYSTEM: Microsoft Windows Vista Home Basic/Business or SuSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10

CPU: 1.6GHz VIA C7-M processor

RAM: 1GB

STORAGE: 120GB HDD

SIZE: 255 x 165 x 27mm

WEIGHT: 1.19kg

Contact: www.hp.co.nz

Acer Aspire One Notebook PC $848

Physically, Acer’s Aspire One is similar to HP’s 2133 Mini-Note, though not nearly as slick. The Aspire One isn’t a bad looking little notebook: the white outer casing looks good, though it clashes with the black screen-surround. If the entire thing had been white it would have looked better, though who knows how Apple would have felt about that?

The Aspire One has a decently sized keyboard, with full-sized shift keys; capital letters are diffucult on Asus’s Eee PC – not so on Acer’s One. The keyboard comes at the cost of the touchpad, however, which is lacking height-wise and has awkward buttons beside rather than beneath the pad. That said, netbooks are all about trade-offs and a mouse is easier to cart around than a keyboard.

The screen is of the extremely glossy variety. While this does look more impressive than the matte displays out there, it’s not so great for reflection. When your screen is virtually a mirror, glare can become an issue in bright environments.

In terms of performance, the Aspire One features Intel’s new Atom processor – a low-power chip designed specifically for netbooks. Despite the faster processor, the One still seemed sluggish compared to the Eee PC; upping the Aspire One’s RAM to the commonplace 1GB would give better performance in Windows and likely cure this.

Overall, a good netbook for email and word processing thanks to the decent-sized keyboard. For lower noise and improved durability, get the solid-state version. For bulk storage, go with the 120GB hard drive version instead.

Rating: 4/5

TECH SPECS

DISPLAY: 8.9 inches, 1024×600

OPERATING SYSTEM: Microsoft Windows XP Home or Linus Linux Lite version

CPU: 1.6GHz Intel Atom processor

RAM: 512MB

STORAGE: 8GB SSD or 120GB HDD

SIZE: 249 x 170 x 29mm (SSD) or 249 x 195 x 36mm (HDD)

WEIGHT: 995g (SSD) or 1.26kg (HDD)

Contact: www.acer.co.nz, available from Bond + Bond

Asus Eee Box Desktop PC $499

Asus Eee Box is an ultra-compact nettop, weighing in at one kilogram and measuring – strangely enough – one litre. It looks a lot like a sawn-off netbook (sans screen) and sits neatly on the included stand or VESA mounts to the back of any standard flat panel. You could also use the included bracket to wall or desk mount the Eee Box to further cut down on space usage.

The included Express Gate software provides web, email, Skype, chat and media facilities with only a seven-second boot time; for anything more complex, you can boot straight through into Windows XP.

I tested the Eee Box with my humble 17-inch monitor and wireless keyboard and mouse. When booting into Windows XP, it was satisfyingly indistinguishable in performance from my own desktop. The only disadvantage I noticed was that due to its lack of a decent graphics card with dedicated video memory, the Eee Box doesn’t handle much in the way of 3D games. Half-Life (the original) was playable if a little clunky; The Sims 2 looked good but was unplayably slow.

The Eee Box is simply a screenless version of the Eee PC with a faster processor and an 80GB hard drive; it’s no replacement for a high-powered desktop for gaming, heavy image or video editing and the like. But for web browsing, word processing and even a little retro-gaming, the Eee Box is a brilliant alternative to the large, loud and power-hungry desktops of today at a fraction of the price.

Rating: 4.5/5

TECH SPECS

OPERATING SYSTEM: Microsoft Windows XP Home

CPU: 1.6GHz Intel Atom processor

RAM: 1GB

STORAGE: 80GB HDD

SIZE: 223 x 178 x 26mm

SIZE: 1kg

Contact: www.asus.co.nz

This article is from Tone issue #74. Check it out here!