For as little as ksh19000 you can get an acer aspire one Aob110b, the most basic model that has the 8gb SSD (solid state drive; the same technology used in USB flash disks) a 1.6Ghz hyper threaded processor and an 8.9inch screen that’s shipped with Linpus, A variation of Fedora Linux. This was instantly a hit in kenya and abroad! There are many models, some with larger ard disks and screens. HP and dell don’t really focus on the low end market with their netbooks, with their models being priced at ksh29000 upwards. At first local consumers were sceptical, but after a few trials owners were praising them. They quickly got popular! So popular that Wireless service providers have teamed up with banks to offer them on sale at pretty decent prices. Go to a hotspot and you’ll see a few owners using them… The key question is, why are people using them?

For Students, a netbook is extremely useful. Take for example an HP mini 2140 pictured below, A typical one would have a 160gb hard drive and windows XP home installed. The regular student on the go would use it for typing assignments, watching movies and surfing the internet. It weighs 1.19kgs and has a 10 inch screen. at Ksh29000 it’s priced fairly well, easy for a student to finance. It easily fits into a bag that has textbooks and notes. It’s light weight will not bother the student. One told me that “he rarely notices he’s carrying it around”, with his power cable included.

Even for ladies, netbooks have taken popularity with them. Not only can they fit in their designer handbags, but their light weight and interesting designs make it a positive choice over the bulky regular sized ones.

For office users, netbooks are useful for carrying their work out of the office. Those who do not need power find usefulness in netbooks. Their light weight make it easy to fit in a briefcase or sleeve.Bear in mind netbooks are not meant for serious gaming or graphics manipulation. they are meant for basic spreadsheet/word processing/database management, emails and internet use.

And then there’s desktop space. Netbooks unlike convectional laptops, have a small footprint (area covered by the body) which translates to more working space on the surface. Take for example those small tables at popular internet cafe’s, a standard 15 inch laptop covers more than a third of the table, whilst a netbook can fit inside the space occupied by the laptop’s keyboard. On the desk the netbook occupies very little space… Hence with a netbook, there is space for drinks, your meal and your documents! I find this very useful.

Personally, I think they’re the perfect tool for users in developing countries where GDP/GNP isn’t that high. Not many individuals can afford the high end notebooks that are made of metal and have optical drives and weigh abit heavier than netbooks. Decent prices, Good specifications and serious portability make these devices popular! I’d say they’re a mixture of both work and fashion; looking good while being able to perform.

batian