The underground war between laptops

The reason for netbook competition with affordable, ultra-thin laptops is mainly price.

Previously, affordable laptops had to sacrifice design and features to get cheap prices. But the popular concept immediately turned into a mini laptop, also known as a netbook, with the Asus Eee PC 701 model priced at $ 589. At the time of launch, two years ago, that price made the market have a different perspective on laptop prices. In turn, 7-11.6-inch screen netbooks are constantly appearing at cheaper and cheaper prices.

Netbooks quickly affect traditional laptops, forcing manufacturers to lower prices to about $ 700 for the basic configuration. Although consumers or manufacturers see the drawbacks of netbooks, there is no denying the strong, somewhat threatening impact on the traditional ultraportable laptop segment.

Mini laptop - Asus Eee PC 701 netbook appears, significantly impacting the laptop market.(Photo: Ebay)

The emergence of Intel CULV processor or AMD Neo platform creates a new wave of laptops, including products such as HP Pavilion dv2 and Acer Timeline with prices ranging from 950 to 1,250 USD. These machines are classified as ultra-thin laptops with portability and performance in between netbooks and traditional ultraportable laptops (ultraportable laptops).

These ultra-thin models are popular with 13.3 and 14.1-inch screens and their main drawback is to remove the optical drive. In addition, Intel CULV and AMD Neo laptops are also limited in multi-tasking, HD video playback and running Adobe Flash applications. Overall, the power of the above processors is just a bit more than the Intel Atom CPU used for netbooks.

Acer Timeline ultra-thin, located between netbooks and traditional ultraportable laptops.(Photo: Gadgetophilia)

New models on the market like Dell Inspiron 11z, Acer Aspire AS1410 and Gateway EC1403 all have 11.6-inch screens with HD-Ready resolution. Instead of equipped with SU CULV Core 2 Solo or Core 2 Duo CPU - series or Intel Atom, they use Intel Celeron or Intel Pentium Dual-Core processors and Intel GMA 4500MHD integrated graphics chip for only 660 USD. Along with the ability to play HD video, these 3 laptops all have HDMI video output. Despite maintaining high mobility and affordable prices, the limitations of these new laptops are about 5 hours of battery life compared to 8 to 11 hours of ultra-thin laptops and netbooks.

These models are not included in netbooks and are not in the ultra-thin laptop segment. Firms have yet to come up with a common term to correctly identify them. Cnet Technology magazine has temporarily called an ultra-thin mobile laptop (portable ultrathin laptop).

Dell Inspiron 11z is not a netbook, but an ultra-thin mobile laptop.(Photo: Buzzcritic)

At least four of the low-cost laptop categories mentioned above include netbooks, budget laptops, ultra-thin laptops (ultrathin) and ultra-thin portable laptops (portable ultrathin). Cnet predicted that netbook performance would be improved with configuration upgrades to play HD video and run Adobe Flash, while selling prices would fall below $ 370. Meanwhile, ultra-thin mobile laptops are more suitable for users who often have to move, and ultra-thin laptops are the right choice for those who need large screens but do not require high performance.

Sony Vaio TT costs over 1500 USD, a " victim " of traditional ultraportable laptops. (Photo: Laptopsarena)

But the main " victims " of these battles are traditional ultraportables and manufacturers. With so many options for a low-cost laptop, spending $ 1,500 for a 12.1-inch laptop like the Sony Vaio TT, Toshiba Portege R600 or Lenovo ThinkPad X200 is too wasteful to just add the drive. Optical and high-end design, more rugged. In addition, the profit from each product sold is declining, making the manufacturers gradually go into the " natural selection " process, only those companies that produce the most suitable product can survive. at and growing. A prominent example is the Japanese electronics company, NEC has pulled out of the international laptop market, and in the near future will likely have more firms.