[PCWorld]

Post your comments for Are Netbooks Dead? The Prognosis Is Grim here

[LiveBrianD]

What about the 11" ones, such as the ones with AMD E350 processors? Those are pretty good as far as netbooks go and are getting somewhere.

[ultimobo]

still love my 2yo ASUS 1000H eeePC (with 2GB RAM and 4GB ReadyBoost class 6 SD card) - I sit in my armchair with it on my reading board across the arms - convenient, compact, light - not too heavy to lift off every time I get up for something - I leave it plugged in (without battery - lighter, about 1kg) and use it happily for hours every day while my time-shifted favourite TV programs on in the background - perfect !

If/when it wears out - I'll be looking to buy another the same.

[samirsshah]

Dead, dead, dead. Squeezed by Ultrabooks from the top and tablets from the bottom. And Intel's policies surely don't help.

[mrb186]

The 11.6 er's are in a class by themselves. Full 1366 x 768 res and 6 hour battery for $300! They are absolutely a bargain compared to an ultrabook.

[eMJay]

Yeah, netbooks are dying as a mainstream solution in western countries as western folks focus on smartphones and tablets instead.

But the netbook form factor is now the typical PC purchase in many developing countries and is largely responsible for the high adoption rates of Windows 7 (in the form of Windows 7 Starter and Windows 7 Basic) in those developing countries that I do business with. Some governments in developing countries have already initiated policies where these machines are being supplied free of cost to some of their students and teachers in the public school systems.

Yes, these are niche areas, but they're really big niches, so it would be a mistake to dismiss their potential value as a mass market. The developing world accounts for almost 70% of the planet's population of 7 billion, an even larger percentage of the world's children and is the only zone left for the PC industry to get large numbers of first time PC buyers.

From where I sit, the only obstacle that I see hindering future adoption of netbooks in the developing world is the emergence of the smartphone. These devices are becoming increasingly affordable to own, thanks to rapidly lowering prices combined with carrier subsidization. There are already billions of folks in the developing world who own feature phones but have never owned a PC. The smartphone is a natural fit.

I noticed the author brought up ultrabooks. Quite frankly, if expensive ultrabooks become the PC standard in Western nations in the future and manufacturers terminate sales of netbooks, I predict that the PC itself will again become a niche device in the developing world as people will skip the more expensive ultrabook in favor of smartphones. At that point, it would be 'game over' for any hopes that the PC industry had of expanding into the developing world en masse.

[Internet2k4]

I personally prefer the netbook form factor, price and functionality over the tablet, and those are the competing alternatives (i.e. as "companion devices" to a larger computer.) I credit a lot of the failure to Microsoft's insistence on replacing quick XP with the obese and crippled W7 Starter (and nobody is going to do a $80 "upgrade" to fatten the OS on a $200 machine.) One can also credit some of the failure to Linux for failing at its first big chance to provide a consumer-friendly experience, taking it out of the picture. That said, the "app" thing has brought a lot to tablet functionality, and prices are coming down - it's a machine by machine comparison.

[thewazak]

So let's get this right:
Worldwide sales dropped from 9.2 to 6.4 million units per quarter over 2 years.
Yes, a big drop - but netbooks are still selling at 6.4 million a quarter!
Dead?

[RealPaul5d8p]

There are still a number of people to whom the netbook is the perfect devise. One problem with tablets is that you can't plug other devises in. My wife uses her to update her Kobo Reader, for example.

[bikdav]

I'm, not surprised at the netbooks decline. The standard laptop is still way better than the netboks ever were. The tablets and "smartphones" are offering stiff competition from a portability standpoint.

[SeanBauer]

Oh, how times change. I remember all the netbook fans railing the original iPad.

[karthiq]

Netbook makers need to use some imagination if they want to keep the netbook alive.

They should ditch the ridiculous 10 inch from factor and focus on the 11.6 and 12.1 form factors.10 inch screens make sense on tablets not keyboard attached no touch input screens.

They should get pricing right. Ditch HDMI port,limit USB ports to two and a reasonably resolution screen to keep the manufacturing price in check.

And high powered CPUs/GPUs arent required for todays computing tasks.People rarely game on a netbook.So an average cpu/gpu is enough for basic computing on a netbook.

All these with a decent keyboard will be good to go.

[karthiq]

The two most important things people look at before buying todays computing devices is price and screen size.

[marees]

LiveBrianD, on 20 February 2012 - 08:58 PM, said:

What about the 11" ones, such as the ones with AMD E350 processors? Those are pretty good as far as netbooks go and are getting somewhere.

AMD did well to not get their "netbooks" branded as such. Instead they have marketed them a class higher based on thier better Graphics performance and no artificial "netbook restrictions" - case in point being display size and resolution. The consumers dont seem to mind the higher price too and are happy with the package even though the processor is slower then celeron/sempron PCs

This post has been edited by marees: 22 February 2012 - 11:33 AM

[PaulTidwell]

Dead? Squeezed by ultrabooks that run 2-3X as much money? Abandoned by consumers? How about killed off by an industry that refuses to develop people-oriented products with "thin margins" instead opting for more profitable packages that serve the corporate bottom-line. To hell with innovation.

[Sourav8y9s]

I believe it's better to have a netbook instead of a junk (Tablet).

[Sue1352vendue]

Too bad, have a 17" HP laptop but love the Acer D255 for travel and for use at home when the laptop is in use. Also loved the $250 price. Did upgrade it to 2 GB for $30.

[reor]

My 2 1/2 year old Dell Mini is still useful - but I had to massage the OS (had three on it, ending with Leopard, before I found a good combination). Seems incredible, but a standard OSX install runs very well on a single-core Atom! Everything else I tried was too slow. I think the SSD helps.

But these days, I use my Mini for trips only - at home, though I could use it, I find myself gravitating to more spacious machines. I can put up with the Mini's cramped confines better while traveling, when I appreciate the light weight and compact size.

It still works well for what I want, so I don't see myself replacing it anytime soon. At some point it won't fill the bill anymore. Then we'll see what my needs are and what's out there to meet them. If I were to replace it today, it would be with a tablet/keyboard combination, like the Lenovo or Transformer tablets, or maybe even an iPad with a BT keyboard.

My netbook has done a good job! And I had fun hackintoshing it. I don't see myself buying another one, though.

[tptagth]

It's sad because my friend has a Windows 7 netbook with 1 GB RAM. Awful with that OS. What a horrible joke some greedy corps played on people.

[Iceman7]

ha, another dead article. Maybe the sales are declining on netbooks, I think tablets and 4G smart phones had something to do w/ that.