Are Netbooks pointless or is it just me?

[PracticalMac]

It seems that everybody forgot the whole jonesing over the "subnotebook" that eventually became the MacBook Air. At times, I keep wondering what the heck the difference between a "subnotebook" (I do hate that term) and a netbook is.

I still have no interest in a MBA and would never until it drops in price a ton. A lot of power was sacrificed just to get all of that stuff into a thinner case. Then you don't include an optical drive and make it (at first) about $800 more than a MacBook. Now, I think the difference is $500.

If Apple wanted to really make a netbook, it would've been the MBA. Apple won't make something fugly enough to get near the price of netbooks with their jutting-out batteries and god-awful trackpads. As others have said, the keyboards are a nightmare and the screens really are too small.

Agree.

The MBA is a low end laptop with less ports then a Netbook.
Compare features, they are almost equal, but of course the Netbook is nearly 1/10th the price.

The larger screen is not that big a feature, and if you are tight on money, its easy to see why someone would bet a NB.

 

[BGil]

It seems the people hating on netbooks haven't kept up with the netbook scene at all. Small screens and keyboards are a thing of the past. The current gen of netbooks includes machines with 11.6 inch screens and full-size keyboards.

For example, Best Buy sells a Gateway (rebranded Acer) with a 1.2ghz Athlon 64, 11.6 inch screen @ 1366x768, Radeon 1270 video card, 2GB or ram, 250GB HD, Full-size keyboard, Multi-touch trackpad, Webcam, 3lbs and over 5 hour batter life for $399.

The Acer Timeline 1410T/1810T is basically the same thing with a better processor, better video card, a battery that fits completely within the frame, HDMI out, and 9 hours of battery life for $405 on Bing after cash back ($450 retail). A dual core version comes out in a few weeks too.