mini-notebooks - Gizmodo

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Are Netbooks Too Small?
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Caption Contest: Wishful Thinking
Dell Inspiron Mini 12 Review
Dealzmodo: $300 MSI Wind or Acer Aspire at Microcenter
AMD Has No Interest in Netbooks, None
Dealzmodo: Acer Aspire One Priced at $350, Too
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Ooohhhh: $200 Eee PCs Next Year?

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strider_mt2k
12/13/08

In reply to Are Netbooks Too Small?
Netbooks rock.

Quit yer bitchin'
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Jesse in Japan
12/12/08

In reply to Radioshack Officially Selling 3G Aspire One for $1540
They've been doing deals like this in Japan for months. Only the service here costs 30 bucks a month (actually 33 with the yen so high).
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not_a_virus.exe.vbs
12/12/08

In reply to Are Netbooks Too Small?
A 10" screen is the magic number for me. I have huge hands and a smartphone is too small for me and carrying around a laptop just for email is a chore.
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CraziestGadgets.com
12/12/08

In reply to Are Netbooks Too Small?
someone needs to come up with a butterly style expanding keyboard on one of these.
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1350ft.in.a.Concorde.blow*ng.up.balloons
12/12/08

@CraziestGadgets.com: Or a butterfly laptop with expanding legs that hold usb hubs. Add speakers to the top beside the screen, small enough for planes and light for travel.
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1350ft.in.a.Concorde.blow*ng.up.balloons
12/12/08

@1350ft.in.a.Concorde.blow*ng.up.balloons: ..and a touchscreen..and...

*dream*
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Kaiser-Machead
12/12/08

In reply to Are Netbooks Too Small?
I think that, for the most part, the biggest problem with the netbooks are their controls, namely the trackpad. I love my Macbook's trackpad because it's spacious and allows more control, compared to my previous laptop, which had a tiny 2x2 square to poke at. These netbooks seriously need to pull a Thinkpad and start adopting the toggle, much like the X200. It allows so much more control over the computer for the space given.

As for the sheer size all around, I think that they're damn near perfect. If you were planning on doing lots of typing, then you may have been better suited with a full sized laptop. To me, a netbook is something that I use for internet browsing, which does not actually require a great deal of text input, just enough to have moderate comfort when doing searches.
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noamjamski
12/12/08

@Kaiser-Machead: I assume by "toggle" you mean that nub that looks like a pencil eraser? My office was issuing Lenovo's for a while and I came to really hate and resent the nub. Especially when it started disintegrating, like an actual pencil eraser does after a while. Nasty.
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OMG! Ponies!
12/12/08

@Kaiser-Machead: Perhaps Apple will come out with a 10" or 12" MacBook.

They could do a DS style MacBook and shrink the keyboard by making it like using an iPhone keyboard. Granted, the computer would cost a fortune.
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Kaiser-Machead
12/12/08

@noamjamski: I actually don't like the nub that much either, that is, until I used it for a few hours and tortured myself. I eventually learned to get a feel for how sensitive it was and I slowly gained accuracy, and now I have the hang of it. lol
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IN THE FACE!
12/12/08

@Kaiser-Machead: Yeah I had an old dell that had a nipple. There is definitely a learning curve on them, but they are quite useful once you are proficient. Plus if you are typing a lot you don't have to move your hands as far from the keys to move the cursor around.
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Lite: hates Illinois Nazis
12/12/08

@Kaiser-Machead: Were you using a netbook or a woman?
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Lite: hates Illinois Nazis
12/12/08

@Lite: Currently my work laptop has both. The trackpad seems flaky, and the nub is well, yeah. The learning curve.
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1350ft.in.a.Concorde.blow*ng.up.balloons
12/12/08

In reply to Are Netbooks Too Small?
I think the company who makes a netbook and adds this.

[gizmodo.com]

and then markets them for students will make some big bucks. Why isn't there some sort of multi-media prototype out with school mind?
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MrBlahBlah
12/12/08

In reply to Are Netbooks Too Small?
I find anything 10 in or smaller uncomfortable to use as well as look at. The small screen is a killer for me, especially if it is accompanied with a smaller than usual keyboard
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falandil
12/12/08

In reply to Are Netbooks Too Small?
Honestly, I think Laptops are too small. I couldn't tolerate using a netbook for mroe than a few minutes, I'm sure.
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DiscoDapper
12/12/08

@falandil: That was my first impression as well when I first saw the eee, but once I started seeing the ones with 10" screens and the larger keyed keyboards, I started to rethink things. I will not buy one until it was a touch screen and accelerated graphics so it can run Win 7 next year nicely.
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IN THE FACE!
12/12/08

@DiscoDapper: FYI - There will likely be a lite version of 7 that has already been demoed on existing netbooks.
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admoseremic
12/12/08

In reply to Are Netbooks Too Small?
I feel like smart phones (or "Coms") are slowly taking over this market. If people want a mobile internet, they want it smaller than a netbook, but if people want a notebook they want it larger than a netbook. Netbooks are kinda stuck in this crappy limbo land between what people want.
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Jrsy Devil's Advocate®
12/12/08

@admoseremic: Exactly. Palm already figured this out a while back when they ditched the Folio before bringing it to market.

Oddly enough though I kind of liked the Folio at first, but I don't dig netbooks.

How weird!
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Jrsy Devil's Advocate®
12/12/08

@Jrsy is the dude, playing the dude disguised as another dude: Duh. It's Foleo, not Folio..
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IN THE FACE!
12/12/08

@admoseremic: I think a generation or two from now in smartphone technology and your assertion will hold true, but for the time being though, the proposition of having a full computer in that form factor (the full OS being the main draw) will continue to entice a lot of users.
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daftrok
12/12/08

In reply to Are Netbooks Too Small?
I feel that there should really be only 4 sizes for notebooks.

1) 11" 1280x720. These weigh at most 3 pounds, take the footprint of a piece of paper (sometimes smaller) and STILL have enough space for an optical drive, something I feel that to this day is a must, even for a notebook

2) 13" 1366x768

3) 15" 1600x900

4) 17" 1920x1080
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Eauboy
12/12/08

@daftrok: Agreed. Can we put this to a vote now?
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IN THE FACE!
12/12/08

@Eauboy: the 9" form factor is fantastic. Supreme portability while still having a useful screen. The next gen of netbooks (dualcore Atom) will likely be up at least near 1280x720 screen rez (hopefully).

But honestly this is all up to user preference, why does the existence of small form factor laptops seem to piss so many people off?

No one is holding a gun to your head any demanding that you type 100wpm on it...
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IN THE FACE!
12/12/08

In reply to Are Netbooks Too Small?
People buy netbooks because they are small, if they are too small for your sausage fingers then don't buy one and STFU.
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OMG! Ponies!
12/12/08

@bpapa9013: First of all, cut back on the afternoon coffee. The Buzzworthy pod has a kick but you need to be careful.

Second, this is Giz - we say TFSU.
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OMG! Ponies! was starred OMG! Ponies! was unstarred

IN THE FACE!
12/12/08

@bpapa9013: Additionally, I try to avoid criticizing the writers on blog sites like this; but seriously? An oxymoron of a question and a one sentence explanation of the poll?

Next question: Are Blog sites too Bloggy?
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Jrsy Devil's Advocate®
12/12/08

@bpapa9013: My sausage fingers and ham hands are plenty big enough to fit around your scrawny neck.... j/k
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IN THE FACE!
12/12/08

@Jrsy is the dude, playing the dude disguised as another dude: Sorry, I'm having a very angry Friday (first one in a long time)...
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IN THE FACE! was starred IN THE FACE! was unstarred

Jrsy Devil's Advocate®
12/12/08

@bpapa9013: That depends. How Bloggy is too Bloggy?
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Lite: hates Illinois Nazis
12/12/08

@Jrsy is the dude, playing the dude disguised as another dude: Posting for the sake of posting, rather than posting something interesting perhaps?
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IN THE FACE!
12/12/08

@Jrsy is the dude, playing the dude disguised as another dude: You are correct; that is what I was asking. Do you care to weigh in?
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IN THE FACE! was starred IN THE FACE! was unstarred

Jrsy Devil's Advocate®
12/12/08

@bpapa9013: No problem. I probably would be as well if I had enough energy left to get worked up..

On the bright side, even if it's an angry day it's still Friday. You'll feel better after a couple of days off.
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Jrsy Devil's Advocate®
12/12/08

@bpapa9013: I think Lite already hit that nail square on the head.
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Jrsy Devil's Advocate®
12/12/08

@Lite: You just zinged me, didn't you...!!?!!!
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Jrsy Devil's Advocate®
12/12/08

@bpapa9013: Your anger issues aside, the point you made is extremely valid. Obviously netbooks appeal to some segment of computer users. I got a 14" widescreen HP laptop which I thought might be too small. Now however after using it for a while I've grown to appreciate it's size. When I have to engage in more serious computing activities I either go with the desktop or my PowerBook. To each his (or her) own.
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gabestampone
12/12/08

In reply to Are Netbooks Too Small?
Really Apple is it so hard to make one of these?
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IN THE FACE!
12/12/08

@gabestampone: Apple won't ever build a netbook, mostly because at this point they can't claim they invented it.
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OMG! Ponies!
12/12/08

In reply to Are Netbooks Too Small?
My 12" Toshiba Satellite is as small as I'm willing to go. The trackpad on it is small to the point of causing pain when I use it. I can't imagine a netbook having a much bigger trackpad.

I'd rather go with thin-and-light than with a netbook.
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Lite: hates Illinois Nazis
12/12/08

@OMG! Ponies!: Careful, acknowledging anything under a 12" means you're a mac fanboy! Someone in this thread already told me that or something!
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kzooguy
12/12/08

In reply to Are Netbooks Too Small?
I think the main problem is running operating systems designed for normal-sized computers. They should come out with operating system versions specifically designed for smaller screens, something closer to smartphone UIs. (yes, I know Ubuntu's working on this, etc.

A more difficult problem is that websites are by and large designed for bigger screens, and after a point it's just going to be either too cramped or a lot of scrolling.
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IN THE FACE!
12/12/08

@kzooguy: Not if they increase the resolution of the screen...

It's all about pixel density NOT outright size.
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Kaiser-Machead
12/12/08

@bpapa9013: Agreed. If we can deal with peering into 3" smartphone displays, we can deal with 8-9" of display at high resolution.
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Kaiser-Machead was starred Kaiser-Machead was unstarred

Jrsy Devil's Advocate®
12/12/08

In reply to Are Netbooks Too Small?
Yes, dammit. I have big mitts and typing on those things is like texting on a cell phone. Sure I can do it but it's also the reason all my texts look like this:

Srsly dud, wat wrng wif my typn?
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Lite: hates Illinois Nazis
12/12/08

@Jrsy is the dude, playing the dude disguised as another dude: Are you sure that you're not just so addicted to Gizmodo.com that you're subconsciously disemvowling yourself?
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Jrsy Devil's Advocate®
12/12/08

@Lite: No, that was used with some degree of poetic license. I'm probably one of the few idiots who actually types out entire words when I text, with proper punctuation and capitol letters to boot.

Having said that however, netbooks still rank pretty high on my 'It Sucks' list. Just too damn small for me.
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Lite: hates Illinois Nazis
12/12/08

@Jrsy is the dude, playing the dude disguised as another dude: Yeah, just giving you crap. =) I have that same issue.
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Jrsy Devil's Advocate®
12/12/08

@Lite: Hey you want to talk about small, I'm typing this on my Nokia N95 right now...
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