Netbook: Small laptop, big disappointment

Most people who have bought netbooks have been very disappointed with this product, the main reason is that they were delusional or too expecting it .

According to a new survey published by NPD Group, only about 58% of netbook buyers (instead of a full-featured notebook) are satisfied with their choice.

Netbook: Small laptop, big disappointment Picture 1

60% of customers choose to buy netbooks because of its portability but due to disappointment, they never take away.(Photos are for illustrative purposes only)

The survey was conducted with about 600 US users and the main reason for those who were dissatisfied with netbooks was because they had hoped this mini laptop could replace a multi-purpose notebook.

NPD analyst Stephen Baker said 6 out of 10 netbook customers still think netbooks and notebooks are "equally" about performance and entertainment.

In theory, notebooks have larger screens, more spacious keyboards, high-capacity hard drives and "more" memory than netbooks. They are also capable of operating on different versions of operating systems instead of being "deadly" with the only option being Windows XP Home or Linux like netbooks.

Perhaps this is also the reason why a well-known technology company like Apple is not "interested" in the netbook market and instead is directed towards the high-end laptop segment.

" Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) have not marketed this product line (netbook) properly, making many users mistakenly believe that they can use a netbook similar to notebooks, " Baker said.

The group of customers aged 18 to 24 are the most disappointed with netbooks. 65% of customers in this age group said they hoped netbooks would be more efficient and only about a quarter (27%) said they were satisfied with what netbooks brought.

'Luckily', as many as 60% of people surveyed said they bought netbooks because of their portability but it was also 'weird' when they said they never brought netbooks out.

" I am very impressed with the proportion of people who choose to buy netbooks because of their mobility ," Baker continued, " which means that at least an important marketing message from manufacturers has reached people. use '.

Another result of the survey may cause Microsoft to worry when most think that the operating system is the second most important feature in their decision to buy netbooks.

So far, most netbooks on the market operate on Windows XP Home.

Microsoft still hopes that OEMs will soon abandon XP Home to use the Windows 7 Starter version (the cheapest and least feature version) on the netbook in the future. However, the price ambiguity as well as the possibility of 'blurring' of this version made OEMs unable to think about parting with Windows XP Home.

" Retailers and manufacturers should stop propagating the netbook's ability to be 'as powerful as a PC' or worse, being able to replace notebooks with netbooks. Their compactness makes customers not disappointed as they are today , 'concludes Barker.