There has been somewhat of a revolution in laptop design over recent years; culminating in the arrival of netbooks. A lighter, cheaper and stripped down version of the traditional laptop, they have come a long way from their beginnings as an answer to providing developing countries with affordable computers.
Whilst an excellent project, (which has helped empower many of less fortunate and vulnerable than those in the western world), it has been throughout the recent recession that netbooks have really come into their own. Indeed, it is this form of computer that has been the one shining beacon in the industry really; as sales of home Personal Computers and traditional laptops have dropped off.
This has of course been hugely driven by the lower cost, with no real degradation in performance and use for most casual users. However, it is far more than price alone which has kept sales rising. They are also highly portable; being lightweight and much smaller of course; quite able to be carried around in a handbag or shoulder bag with ease.
They will not appeal to business users of course; not to any great degree anyway, but for the consumer, they are more than adequate for emailing and surfing the web. Other such basic functions such as simple spreadsheets, and word processing can also be managed perfectly well.
The technology has been possible because of the reduced size, and performance in components. Processors in particular have been slimmed down, whilst batteries too have been attended to. This does not really have negative effects however; as the lesser functionality requires less power in the first place.
Despite the small size however, nothing has been lost in the quality of screen; with most having touch screen functionality. The keyboards too are near full size; and there are a large number of ports for connectivity of all popular peripherals.
But there have been some downsides of course. These have tended to be based around the Operating System that was offered as standard. Though very good, the Linux OS was just not familiar to most users.
However, problems that existed with Windows OSs were soon overcome. The recently launched Windows Seven is set to be further developed; with a newly configured version of the platform being designed specifically. For the growing number of manufacturers of netbooks, it looks likely that they could well become the standard in the not too distant future.
Matthew Kerridge is an expert in computer products. If you want more information about netbooks or are searching for a trusted laptop online retailer please visit http://www.ebuyer.com
