“The purchase is automatically 3Com will support our strategy of convergent infrastructure and strengthen the company in the competitive network industries. Incidentally officer ranks of directors of both companies have agreed on this acquisition,” said GM Networking Enterprise Server and HP Dave Donatelli, as quoted by AFP on Thursday ( 12/11/2009).

3Com will be utilized to complement Hp business package offers a combine datacenter servers, storage, networking, management and services.

Currently 3Com, which was founded in 1979 in this Masschusset already has several brands such as H3C in China, also a computer security business called TippingPoint.

In the deal, 3Com shareholders will receive shares of each $ 7, 9 per share. The acquisition is expected to be closed by mid next year, after obtaining regulatory approval.

The netbooks have further reduced the size of the computers. Pioneered by ASUS the first netbook was pushed in the market in 2007. The model name was Asus Eee PC. The netbooks have a smaller display screen of 7″-10″ size. The netbooks have a smaller keyboard but no optical disk drive. Other hardware configuration includes 1 GB RAM, 80 GB HDD, advanced configuration and power interface (ACPI).

Netbooks are developed to consume lesser power and have a longer battery life in this energy-deprived world. They can provide internet connectivity virtually from anywhere. The material used in making these netbooks is very light which makes them even lighter than the traditional laptops and combined with a sleek design they take work on the move to the next level.

The netbooks come preloaded with Ubuntu Linux but the users can also install Microsoft Windows XP home edition. The Microsoft Office applications run very well thus a major target of these netbooks are the business executives who don’t have time for plunging deeper into the more sophisticated notebooks. They are actually looking for something simple to carry out their daily work.

Comparing the prices of traditional laptops with the new netbooks, Netbooks are a much economical option. As a normal laptop with a premium configuration will come for well above $1000 however, a netbook with some basic configuration is available only for $350. Although there have been trade-offs in the size, hardware and some applications but on the front of rugged operation, mobility and performance netbooks score heavily. With time, netbooks are bound to improve. They are a very good option for students, businesspersons and executives.

A Netbook (InterNET and noteBOOK) is a class of Laptop computer designed for wireless communication and access to the Internet. Netbook is primarily designed for web-browsing and emailing. Netbooks are gaining grounds on their compact design, slimmer looks and sleeker appeal.

Netbook is a Notebook computer with a low-powered x86-compatible processor (compatible with PC standard software), small screen (no larger than 10 inches), small keyboard, equipped with wireless connectivity, lightweight (under three pounds) and generally with no optical disk drive. They sometimes have Solid State Drives (SSDs) instead of Hard Disk Drives, which are lower capacity but have no moving parts and should, in theory, increase battery life and speed. Netbooks can run either Linux or Windows XP.

Why a Netbook

The obvious question is why should anyone buy a device with a smaller screen, slower processor, no optical drive when  you can get a full-featured notebook?

When it comes to a portable computer, the things that matter to most are speed and convenience.A Netbook is more convenient because it is lighter, and it usually has a lightweight operating system. The processor itself isn’t as powerful, but there’s much less processing that needs to be done with Windows XP or Linux in order to be usable.

If we are just looking for a portable computer to take along with us while traveling, to check e-mail, chat on Skype, watch some Youtube videos, take some notes, then a Netbook is what we want. Where as if we’re going to do intensive image editing, multimedia authoring, gaming etc then a Notebook/Laptopi is more suited for our needs.

Don’t confuse these low cost Netbooks with some of the sub-compact full featured Notebooks that are also out there. Sony, Dell and others also offer small lightweight Notebooks that have all the features of a full size computer in a tiny package but at a hefty price of $1400 and up. Some of these have plenty of power and features and up to 9 hours of battery life. These are real computers that are just packed into really small cases.

How does it compares to a regular Notebook

Let’s see the differences between a typical Netbook and a regular Notebook. Features of Dell Mini 9  Netbook  are compared with a regular sized Dell Inspiron Notebook below:

Inspiron Mini 9
Proecessor: Intel Atom Processor N270
Screen: 8.9”
Weight: 5.9lbs.
Battery: 32WHr Battery (4 cell)
Processor speed: 1.6 GHz
Memory: 1GB DDR2, 8GB SSD Memory
OS: Windows XP Home
Options: Camera, Bluetooth
Cost: $299

Inspiron 1525
Processor: Intel Pentium Dual Core T4200
Screen: 15.6” Wide Screen, Optional Hi-Res
Weight: 2.28 lbs.
Battery: 6-cell battery
Processor speed: 2 GHz
Memory: 4GB, Disk 320GB
OS: Windows Vista
Options: Camera, Bluetooth, ext Bat, More mem
Cost: $699

Pros compared to a regular Laptop:
- Excellent portability due to small size and light weight
- Good enough for basic computer tasks
- Relatively low cost

Cons compared to a regular Laptop:
- Small screen/lower resolution, small keyboard due to small size
- Limited processing power
- Hardware upgrades can be more challenging
- Due to lower processing capabilities, size and cost, advanced features are less adopted (FireWire, HDMI, etc…)

Which Netbook to buy?

It seems that Initially Netbook category was lead by Asus, Acer, but today computer giants Dell and HP jumped into the race.

According to the PcWorld.com the TOP 10 Netbooks are:
1. Asus EEE PC 1000HE
2. Acer Aspire ONE AOD150
3. Lenovo IdeaPad S10
4. Acer Aspire One (XP-Based)
5. Asus Eee PC 1000 XP
6. HP Mini 2140
7. Asus N10Jc
8. HP Mini 1000
9. Dell Inspiron Mini 9
10. MSI Wind U100

As with any purchase, you have to decide for yourself on what suits you best.

So go ahead explore the world of Netbooks and see if it’s a better choice compared to a Laptop. While the Laptop market is declining in this economy, interestingly the Netbook sales are predicted to be on the rise.

A couple of useful resources:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/154358/top_10_netbooks.html
http://tech.msn.com/products/slideshow.aspx?cp-documentid=18573429&imageindex=1

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