It's still pre-CES but a lot of news has already come in that's generating a lot of buzz. Lenovo officially put in its smartbook offering, HP announced a line of great new netbooks and we're expecting a few slate tablets to be shown off.
With all the shiny new gadgets and our limited purse when it comes to spending on them, what would be the best device to go after? I myself am looking to replace an old netbook (and it's hasn't even been with me for a year!) with something that will meet my needs more. So, will it be a smartbook, netbook or tablet?
All of these will likely have the same bells and whistles of a laptop – WiFi and/or 3G, keyboard of some sort, long battery life, room for expansion like USB or microSD/SD slots and a comfortably sized screen. I think the biggest thing that will differentiate them is in usage, though not by much.
More after the jump…
If all you do on your netbook is to consume content like movies, RSS or music, a slate tablet might be a suitable upgrade. It's thin and lightweight and so will be perfect to carry around. It has the touchscreen for input, which will be easier to use when just browsing or watching.
One thing it isn't though is durable. By its very design, it will not be able to take bumps and bruises well if you're a road warrior. The thin frame won't stand for it. You will also need some peripherals for it that need to go in your bag like a stand to prop it up on and a case for better grip. Also, don't expect to bang out a spreadsheet or article on this thing since it doesn't have a physical keyboard on it.
It will however be a great item to use at home, maybe as a combo remote control for a media center and a personal screen for news in the morning.
One the other hand, if you are looking for something lightweight and still be able to do work on, a smartbook would probably be your weapon of choice. Lenovo's new Skylight is a picture of things to come and offers the sleekness of a tablet but with a physical keyboard. Mobile professionals will surely appreciate this as well as the always-on feature which lets them keep on top of emails, IMs and (gasp) tweets while on the move.
The thing is, this will definitely be labeled a work device. The weaker processor will mostly be used for running mobile applications and though you can watch movies or play games on this, you certainly don't want to run out of juice when that important slideshow comes in that you need to show your client. So it definitely will be used like a cellphone, mainly for communication and some grunt work.
For a robust mobile device, the netbook will likely be your go-to computer. If you have no specific need for entertainment or work, this is the one to get and it will surely never get old with all the improvements that are being thrown at it. It has a mature community around it with an ecosystem of apps, accessories and upgrades already available.
Compared to the other two, it now looks bulky though it wasn't that way when it was first introduced. It's the result of making something that caters to everyone.
Either way, you won't see netbook sales slowing down just because of the introduction of other offerings, even with the new netbook-tablet hybrid. Why? The main reason would be the price. A slate tablet or a smartbook will often cost way more than a netbook because of the special secret tech and design poured into it. They will get more affordable as time goes by but another thing people will look to is reliability.
Netbooks have been around for a long time in internet years and the form factor is the same thing people are used to. The manufacturers even mimic the designs of their notebook lines into their netbooks so you can actually have a matching pair.
Of course, all these ramblings will get thrown out the window once we get more advanced in the technology for these devices. But for now, I've convinced myself to wait it out and see what comes out of CES before placing my bets on an upgrade.
A post from the Asus Eee PC blog.
Smartbook, netbook or tablet? Some initial thoughts
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