It's time to stop calling the netbook name

The distinction of netbooks and laptops is fading by netbooks, mini-laptops, and more and more new features and screens are also bigger .

The new netbook has been around for 2 years and is slowly replacing the laptop in some way, especially the fierce competition with the ultraportable laptop segment using power-saving processors (CULV CPU). In theory, netbooks with small screens, keyboards, lack of optical drive performance and the equivalent price of a laptop CULV full keyboard, strong battery.

The distinction of netbooks and laptops is fading. The difference really exists only when the new netbook comes out. These are 7 "8" inch "small" machines, packed for "Online" and Linux operating systems. But things have developed in a different direction when netbooks have become hot products on the PC market and switched to Microsoft Windows XP. Then, big names in the computer manufacturing industry "rushed" into the "small" device market. Initially, netbooks are also considered "companions" beside traditional laptops. If at home you use an "online" laptop for sending mail from e-mail with Yahoo or Gmail, storing and sharing photos via Facebook or Picasa, or listening to music from Pandora or Last.fm on long trips, On the road, you can still do the same thing with a netbook. This device developed very quickly, only in 2008, the North American market alone consumed 16 million units. Simply because they meet the needs of users on the familiar interface, Windows XP operating system, while reselling prices are much cheaper than traditional laptops and everyone is having to "tighten their belts" coping with the economic recession.

Earlier this year, "boss" in the semiconductor industry, Intel began to promote the sale and use of CULV processors, affordable CPUs that contributed to improving battery life for laptops. This idea is welcomed by PC manufacturers because they easily "pack" them with other hardware components and come up with "affordable" CULV laptops but bring more profit than with netbook sales.

The most obvious example is still the Dell Inspiron 11z, not unlike netbooks, but the price is completely different. As Dell advertises, Inspiron 11z has a more powerful processor and more RAM memory.

Dell Inspiron 11z. Photo: Slashgear .

Each company has a definition of different netbooks. Acer said that netbooks are 1.4 kg lighter laptops, screen sizes from 10 to 11.6 inches, using Intel Atom processors and selling prices below $ 500. According to HP, netbooks must be smaller than 12 inches, a product that goes hand in hand with popular use while laptops are more versatile. Besides general use, netbooks are also used for creative activities. In the beginning, the netbook was only 7 inches and the price was much cheaper. In fact, there is still no clear technical definition for this product.

For example, the Dell Inspiron 11z and Dell Minu 10 laptop comparison tables:

Compare Dell Inspiron 11z and Inspiron Mini 10 configurations

Configuration

Dell Inspiron 11z Laptop

Dell Inspirion Mini 10 Netbook

Color

Black (Obsidian black)

Black (Obsidian black)

Processor

Intel Celeron 723
(1.2 GHz)

Intel Atom Z520
(1.33 GHz)

Operating system

Windows Vista Home
(Free upgrade to Windows 7)

Windows XP Home Edition SP3

Screen

11.6 inch HD
(1,366 x 768 pixels)

10.1 inch HD
(1,366 x 768 pixels)

RAM memory

2 GB

1 GB

Hard Drive

HDD 250 GB

160 GB HDD

WIFI

802.11b / g

802.11g

Webcam

1.3 MP

1.3 MP

The battery

28 Wh (3 hours duration)

28 Wh (3 hours duration)

Design, color, screen resolution, battery, Wi-Fi, or integrated Webcam are the same. The obvious difference is that Inspiron 11z has a larger screen than the Dell Mini 10, "deeper" is a faster CPU "little peak", more than 1 GB of RAM and a larger hard drive capacity. In addition, if you buy a laptop you will be upgraded to Windows 7, and the netbook will cost you to run Windows 7 Home Premium.

With such a different configuration, users will be confused and do not know which one is better to choose. And yet, Dell's ads make it hard for them to choose: "Inspiron 11z has high netbook mobility and laptop performance".

In fact Inspiron 11z weighs 1.36 kg and the Dell Mini 10 is 1.18 kg, slightly lighter to match this ad. Therefore, it can be concluded that there is no difference except in the name.

Dell Mini 10. Photo: Yugatech .

In addition to Dell, many computer manufacturers produce both netbooks and CULV laptops such as HP, Acer, Lenovo . But the boundaries between these two products are not clear in the entire PC industry. It seems that manufacturers are trying to balance the amount of laptops sold with interest rates by directing users to more CULV laptops instead of letting them buy less profitable netbooks.