Netbooks' popularity expected to continue in 2010

Ever since Taiwan-based AsusTek Computer Inc got the netbook craze going with its 7-inch Eee PC in late 2007, consumers have been gravitating to the devices

Kudos to Asustek, if it wasnt for them we wud all still be paying for over priced over sized laptops as other makers patently refused to make the smaller laptops even though they cud have years ago just to continue to price gouge us all.

Finally we have REAL competition in the laptop market, about time!

I have an Acer netbook, and I love it. I think they're super convenient, though I still want to hang onto my bigger laptop. There are some things that I would rather do on it. But otherwise, netbooks are great.

Still too expensive in Japan, unless you signup for 2 year INTERNET connection. picked up my netbook in Singapore for 35,000 yen. With 2GB of memory and a dumb drive and bag. Second generation. Love it!

The laptop PC market, especially, seems to forget that humans are not evolving as fast as the chips. My (internet using, wordprocessing, powerpoint, excel, email) needs are met by my 7 year old computer. There is no need for the power of the latest processors in a portable computer. And yet we are expected to keep forking out 1000-2000 USD for the latest technology. To keep laptops at that sort of price makers need to put a lot more into laptops (phones, video cameras, tablets, GPS) and think of new functions for them, or make "netbooks" and give them away.

In the days of the give-away (cheap) computer the Taiwanese/Chinese OEM manufacturers that were always making the computers anyway, should come into their own.

timtak-- I totally agree. My laptop is still only about 5 years old, but it does everything I want it to. It doesn't make sense for me to run out and buy a brand new one for a ridiculous amount just because it's "outdated", though they say the second after you buy any new computer there's already something better. The netbook was a nice in between though.

Well I for one need the most powerful PC's out there. I do a lot of video and graphics work and encoding video churns really give the PC a huge workout. You need a decent graphics card to pay many games now and even to watch HD video on advanced codecs needs grunt.

Sure if you use the PC for net, MS office and email, you can suffice with a older more basic model, but that why makers sell cell budget computers with low end celeron type processors and basic graphic cards.

Dont feel obliged to buy a high end computer, buy a low end one! "horses for courses" as they say

Did they graduate from Wharton to figure this out? Investment pays off!

Are they telling me most people just do a little email, facebook, twitter and maybe some word processing with google docs and the like? Oh, alright, maybe they look at the lousy pics they just took too. And they only need a machine with a wimpy µP and a semi-bright display with Wifi?

Genius!

A netbook is like an inexpensive interim laptop computer, but with a lot of compromises, the biggest being the tiny keyboards and the lack of screen real estate. It does the job but you don't want to spend too much time using them. As for portability, they are just heavy enough to be irritating.