10 tips for extending netbook capabilities

One notable limitation of netbooks is the storage capacity. But the Internet can help you solve these problems.

Currently, netbooks offer a maximum storage capacity of 20GB, and less if using SSD solid-state drives, while the cheapest laptops also have three times the storage capacity. times, even more. This affects the ability to store music, video, image files and other data files. This also limits you from installing additional software that the netbook you have purchased does not yet exist.

Here are 10 ways to help you expand the hardware and software features for your netbook - free or nearly - just use your netbook and the Internet.

1. Doubling storage capacity

Add you 20GB (or less) of storage with an online storage service. There are hundreds of services for you to choose from - the largest free service is The Linkup (http://www.thelinkup.com) which allows you to increase your storage capacity more than twice instantly - provided 25GB of content amount with a free account.

You can also use 5GB for free from Xdrive (http://www.xdrive.com), Divshare (http://www.divshare.com) or Windows Live Skydrive (limited to some countries). Most of these services will give you more storage capacity with a very small monthly fee.

The advantage of online storage is that you can access data files anywhere - even from an Internet point or a cafe when you don't carry your netbook.

2. Music collection available

With limited storage, your netbook can't store many music files - and if you choose an operating system other than Windows, iTunes won't run on Linux.

You can own a huge, free (and legal) music library delivered directly to your netbook using Internet radio services like last.fm (http://www.last.fm), Jango (http://www.jango.com) and Musicovery are suitable for many different moods (http://musicovery.com). This is an available music collection that does not occupy storage space on your netbook.

3. Communicate with family, friends and more

Your netbook can be a landline phone - or a gateway for you to connect with friends around the world. For example, Asustek's Eee PC, pre-installed Skype (http://www.skype.com). With a very reasonable monthly fee, you can make unlimited calls to phone numbers in your country. This fee includes both voicemail and online phone service.

You can also use your netbook to join a social network like Facebook - or create your own social network with Ning (http://www.ning.com/) exclusively for you and you. his friends, or build a new community.

4. Instant message

If you have a netbook running Linux, one of your challenges is not being able to send instant messages to your friends. But this challenge will no longer exist. Try using Meebo (http://www.meebo.com), just log in with your AIM, Yahoo!, Google Talk or MSM accounts and you can immediately go back and contact with his friends. No need to install anything - and it's free.

Users who are more interested in technical issues can test an open source instant messaging product like aMSN (http://www.amsn-project.net) - however, Meebo is easier to use. a lot of.

5. Photo editor

Some netbooks come preinstalled with basic tools for editing and editing your photos, but if your netbook doesn't yet have these tools, there are plenty of great tools available online. One of the latest tools is free Picnik service (http://www.picnik.com) and a more professional service with a monthly fee of $ 9, Snipshot (http://snipshot.com). .

No installation required and can work with online photo storage tools like Flickr (http://www.flickr.com) and Photobucket (http://photobucket.com).

6. Upload photos to Flickr

When you edit photos, you may want to share that photo with friends and relatives using Flickr or a similar online photo hosting service. For example, some Asustek Eee PC computers have the option to pre-install the photo management program. If you don't have this program, and you know a little bit of technical knowledge, you can try an open source tool like jUploadr (http://juploadr.org).

Of course, you can ignore this with using an online tool like Picnik - a much easier and faster option if you don't have much technical knowledge about Linux.

7. Don't break and burn

You will hate losing all important data files if your netbook is broken - so you have to store backup somewhere. You can copy that data to some USB drive, or to a larger external hard drive - but this can cost you the same cost as the netbook. The alternative is to use a service like Mozy (http://mozy.com), free with 2GB of storage or $ 4.95 per month for unlimited backup storage.

Because Mozy is owned by EMC, your files will be backed up by the technologies that big companies are using. And of course, if your netbook is broken, you can immediately restore all your data files.

8. If you remember Windows .

The popularity of netbooks has made Internet forums offer a variety of tips and tricks. Some interesting tips are to make your netbook look more like Windows, with a 'Start' button instead of the big icons on the screen (http://wiki.eeeuser.com/howto:introtofulldesktop).

If you're really desperate to run Windows-developed software on your Linux-based netbook, you can search for software such as Codeweavers's Crossover (http://www.codeweavers.com). /), although minimal system requirements may damage the machine.

Or you can buy a netbook running Windows XP!

9. The TV can move with you

Netbooks are the biggest reason for catching Internet TV sites like Youtube or Soapbox. You can also choose a number of sports channels or other channels - search engines like Find Internet TV (http://www.findinternettv.com) will help you find favorite channels.

In the future, new movies transmitted via the Internet are very feasible - especially if you have enough bandwidth. Currently, these services are limited to the US market (Netflix) and Australia (EzyDownload, which will be released in September).

10. Write documents

Most netbooks will come with pre-installed word processing software and productivity enhancements - OpenOffice on Linux-based netbooks or Microsoft Works software on netbooks running XP.

Of course, you can completely ignore the above toolset and instead use an online toolkit like Google Apps (http://www.google.com/a), including the Shared email program and work programming.