Inexpensive Atom-Powered 'Netbooks' Popular at Launch

[MacRumors]

CultofMac reports on the relative popularity of recently introduced "Netbooks" from Asus, Acer and Dell. Amazon's top laptop sales list is now dominated by the $400-$600 devices, with Apple's $1299 MacBook being the notable exception in the top 10.

Netbooks refer to a class of laptops that are small-sized, low cost, light weight and optimized for internet usage and word processing. While versions of these laptops have previously existed, Intel is once again pushing this form factor with the recent release of the low-powered Atom processor. These Netbooks typically have 9-10" screens and can cost as low as $329. Analysts believe that a large part of their popularity is due to their lower costs during worsening economic conditions. It has been suggested that Apple may drop the price of the upcoming MacBooks to try to counter this trend.

It has also been rumored that Apple will eventually adopt Intel's Atom (formerly "Silverthorne") processor in an upcoming device. While talk of an Apple sub-notebook has died down since the release of the MacBook Air, at least one analyst expects that Apple is still planning on another sub-notebook.

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[barcodebawtv]

iPod Touch

I consider the iPhone and the Touch to be their "compact laptop" They can do more, and have more storage than the Asus Eee PC - plus they're cheaper

 

[MikeDTyke]

I'm sure Apple will address the netbook market, question is whether that's in the next few weeks or next year.

Personally i can see room for a netbook from Apple, targeted at Students which is traditional clamshell, but folds over into a tablet and runs in an iphone style UI when in that mode and a key feature will be ebooks.

Expect a $100 premium on other netbooks, but will blow the competition away.

The reason i see this fitting in and not killing macbook sales is the fact that netbooks don't make good primary computers. All the people i know that use one, have either a desktop or full size laptop as their primary machine.

M.

 

[arn]

I consider the iPhone and the Touch to be their "compact laptop" They can do more, and have more storage than the Asus Eee PC - plus they're cheaper

http://www.amazon.com/Acer-8-9-inch...ire/dp/B001EYV9TM/ref=pd_ts_pc_1?ie=UTF8&s=pc

$399. 160GB hard drive. 1GB RAM. 8.9" screen.

I'm not saying it's the same market. But they are more robust than you think.

arn

 

[Rogue68]

It's inevitable Apple will want to run this market. The Air fell between the netbook/ultraportable and high-end gadget markets, satisfying neither, which is perhaps why there's no sign of an update or renewal of the Air format in sight.

I wouldn't be surprised if the forthcoming portables lineup included an ultraportable that combined the design cachet of the Air with the functionality of the Macbook at a <12" formfactor.

Additionally, I expect the existing Macbook and MBP lines to be consolidated into one line of larger portables offering increased specs in 2 or 3 sizes.

How these lines are labelled remains to be seen; it could be that the ultras retain the label 'Macbook' and the larger machines all become MBPs, or that the smaller portables keep the Air tag.

Be interesting to see.

 

[Mazda 3s]

It's not too surprising to me, I use an MSI Wind as my primary computer -- I guess you could call my iPod touch my secondary computer . All I did was upgrade the memory from 1GB to 2GB and upgrade the wireless card from 802.11g to 802.11a/g/n to better suit my hardware needs. I paid $375 after the Microsoft Live Search Discount for the machine itself.

But even with the 1.6GHz Atom processor, it serves all of my daily needs while running Windows XP Home SP3: Google Chrome/Firefox 3.0, Word 2007/Excel 2007, Photoshop CS3, and iTunes. I use other apps every once in a while, but these are the main ones I use.

Most of the time, my MSI Wind is sitting on my desk hooked up to my USB hub, 250GB external HDD, and 22" monitor. When it's not on my desk, the keyboard is a blast to use and the 10" LED-backlit display is gorgeous. I usually have a Bluetooth mouse with me for extended use away from my desk.

My only complaint: the 3-cell battery isn't enough; I'm waiting on MSI to release the 6-cell as a separate option.

I guess I've gotten to the point with computers where I don't care about outspec'ing the next person -- I just want something that works and is affordable.

 

[Tallest Skil]

...which is perhaps why there's no sign of an update or renewal of the Air format in sight.

Or they could be doing what they do with the iPods and iPhone and updating once a year.

 

[DaveTheGrey]

I doubt that apple will go for this market...
I can't decide if it would be cool though.
We'll see, apple knows best

 

[dogbait]

It's not too surprising to me, I use an MSI Wind as my primary computer --

You know that puppy runs OS X beautifully right?

 

[ChamFan]

I consider the iPhone and the Touch to be their "compact laptop" They can do more, and have more storage than the Asus Eee PC - plus they're cheaper

All the people i know that use one, have either a desktop or full size laptop as their primary machine.

I agree - mostly!

I have a MacPro under the desk and take a 1st gen MBP to college. The MBP is a bit too large to lug around all day and doesn't fit well on aircraft/train tray tables. The iPhone is great for watching movies on the go and obviously is a phone as well, but isn't great for all websites (notably ebay uk and java-heavy ones like autotrader). Plus sometimes I do need to type reasonably long documents and a decent sized keyboard and editing functions would be a big help. Something in-between the two form factors and performance levels of the iPhone and MBP would be perfect.

(Personally I'm hoping for macbook-like performance in a 10" shell - touch-screen keyboard of course, and an optional dock for synching everything with the macPro! )

 

[franzmueller]

If Apple releases such a sub notebook I would get it right away for my wife , her ibook G3 is getting a bit old and she only use it for web browsing and e-mails , all the rest is loaded into my macbook and with 250 Gb we have enough space for all our media.

So ...Steve bring it on !! Christmas is around the corner

Saludos

 

[Mazda 3s]

I consider the iPhone and the Touch to be their "compact laptop" They can do more, and have more storage than the Asus Eee PC - plus they're cheaper

A device with a 3.5" screen and soft keyboard can do more than a $399 netbook which has an 8.9" or 10" display, 80GB+ HDD, 1GB of RAM, usually three USB 2.0 ports, Bluetooth, a 95% full size keyboard, trackpad, and can run Windows XP, Vista, or Mac OS X (yes, Mac OS X has been hacked to run on the MSI Wind and other netbooks).

http://forums.msiwind.net/mac/first-post-updated-leopard-installer-disc-for-msi-wind-t857.html

Stop being delusional

 

[Mazda 3s]

You know that puppy runs OS X beautifully right?

Yeah, I posted a link above regarding the Wind running OS X. I've been tempted to try it, but I'm content where I am right now.

 

[elcid]

Listen to either TWiT or gdgt's new podcast this week and you will see why Apple won't enter this market.

One of the guys says he was sitting next to a rep from Sony who said netbooks are "a race to the bottom". There are such small margins in the netbooks arena that Sony (who is a higher priced, "better quality" brand like Apple) is very reluctant to get into that market.

I agree with him. Look at some of the machines and then think of how much they are actually making. Apple is such a margin business, if manufacturers are putting out machines for 399 for pennies Apple would have to charge 4-599 for the same laptop.

I highly doubt they will go this direction, closest thing would maybe be a new spin on the 12" PB, maybe a 12" MB. They certainly dont want to get pulled into a price war with 399.

 

[DARKJ3DI]

10" is tiny! The 13" screen on my MacBook strains my eyes after 30 minutes so would hate to have to use a 10" MacBook.

 

[Detektiv-Pinky]

Listen to either TWiT or gdgt's new podcast this week and you will see why Apple won't enter this market.

One of the guys says he was sitting next to a rep from Sony who said netbooks are "a race to the bottom". There are such small margins in the netbooks arena that Sony (who is a higher priced, "better quality" brand like Apple) is very reluctant to get into that market.

I agree with him. Look at some of the machines and then think of how much they are actually making. Apple is such a margin business, if manufacturers are putting out machines for 399 for pennies Apple would have to charge 4-599 for the same laptop.

I highly doubt they will go this direction, closest thing would maybe be a new spin on the 12" PB, maybe a 12" MB. They certainly dont want to get pulled into a price war with 399.

Well, I for my part would gladly pay the Apple premium here. I might even buy 2 of these machines, instead of 1 MacBook (with ComboDrive) ;-).

 

[Mazda 3s]

10" is tiny! The 13" screen on my MacBook strains my eyes after 30 minutes so would hate to have to use a 10" MacBook.

Your eyes don't get strained looking at website text on your 3.5" iPod touch?

As for the 10" screen being "tiny", that's the point. My MSI Wind only weighs 2.3 pounds.

 

[tirant]

I got a netbook, not because it was cheap, but because it was an affordable ultraportable.

900g-1Kg ultraportable laptops tend to cost around €1500-€2500.

 

[arn]

I agree with him. Look at some of the machines and then think of how much they are actually making. Apple is such a margin business, if manufacturers are putting out machines for 399 for pennies Apple would have to charge 4-599 for the same laptop.

You don't think a $600 Apple sub-notebook would be appealing? Apple's never competed on price, so I don't think it's that out of the question. They just have to differentiate it enough from the low end MacBook.

arn

 

[wheelhot]

I dont know what's with all the Netbook hype is all about, isn't this category called ultraportable a few months ago?

 

[quadgirl]

The whole point of a netbook is size and price. Recently, a few decent manufacturers are breaking into this field, namely Lenovo and Toshiba, but their suggested retail price is a little higher than Asus and Acer, and as a result, they are receiving a lot of early criticism.

Apple are extremely unlikely to go into the netbook market for the same reasons as Sony won't.

 

[Carniphage]

You know that puppy runs OS X beautifully right?

MSI Wind + OS X = MacBook Mini.

I love mine. Instant on. Fast, cheap and light.

I can see why Apple do not want to release such a machine. It would certainly cannibalise the netbook-like Macbook Air.

But a low-cost. OSX running Netbook for $600 would be the perfect machine for education. It not half bad as a road warrior machine!

C.

 

[starman0147]

The Macbook air should have been a netbook, its really a missed opportunity to get ahead in the market.

Hopefully Apple will rethink their ideas for it and the direction it going in and reduce its form factor so it competes with other netbooks.

 

[Apple Ink]

So direly that I want it to happen..... the 12.1" form..... I dont see it happening any time soon as in this year!

Apple has never really focussed on any Mac ranging below $1000 and the ini is a good example!

Starman: The MBA was NEVER EVER meant to compete in that category! It is, was and will always remain a luxury portable device and nothing more and nothing less! Proof: Of many many proofs... a 13.3" screen, an SSD BTO and a $1600 price tag (comparatively cheaper than most others in its class) doesn't figure as a netbook!

 

[a456]

Well someone has been forward thinking enough to reserve MacAtom.com - looks like it was only done a week or two ago. Atommac.com is still available but not as attractive as a name.