I’ve been a fan of netbooks since Asus came out with the first generation EeePC, the 701. The week it was released locally, I went to my favorite laptop store and bought myself one. An early Christmas gift, I told myself. And I’ve been hooked ever since.

In the days before the EeePC, subnotebooks ruled the ultraportable market. But they were far different from netbooks as we know them today, especially when you look at the price factor. Subnotebooks used to cost upwards of $2,000. And that’s just for the basic models from Toshiba and Fujitsu. Back then, you didn’t even have WiFi connectivity!

But today, you can snap up a netbook from a multitude of brands for as low as $250 or even less, with tie-ins with telecoms providers. Of course, the argument here is that while they are cheap, they’re not as powerful as their full-fledged notebook counterparts. Does that worry a netbook user like myself?

Enough power for my needs

For most users, a netbook is powerful enough for the usual tasks, like email, Web browsing, and document editing. You can even work on spreadsheets, albeit the small screen sizes are limiting. The point is that you can’t really expect a netbook to be able to edit videos, mix music tracks, or compile thousands of lines of code. Netbooks are meant for people who are on the go. Netbooks are meant for people who don’t have very heavy computing needs.

Portability

For a road warrior like myself, netbooks are a boon. Before, I used to carry my 4-pound laptop all over, since my business required me to be able to check email and Web forums every so often. Now, I just carry my 2-pound netbook. It’s lighter, and it’s smaller in every dimension, too! It’s easier on my back.

Price

It’s also easier on the pocket. I bought my first netbook for about $400. I bought my second and third netbook for about that price, too. But as the months go by, netbooks become more and more feature-packed. Sometimes I wonder if they will surpass notebooks in that regard, and for a cheaper price.

There’s a reason why netbooks are surpassing notebook sales. It’s mostly because of price. Manaufacturers have realized that people are willing to sacrifice a bit on power and functionality if they can get themselves an affordable computer that does what needs to be done at a fraction of the cost and weight. Sure, netbooks are not for everyone. But for most people, netbooks are good enough.

Image credit: Flickr

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