Mini Laptops & Notebooks

Mini notebook hit the market as shown by the volume searched keyword which I input in Google Trends. Initially this mini design was intended for use by students in developing countries, which are Asustek’s Eee PCs and One Laptop Per Child’s XO laptops. The mini notebook’s most competitive selling point is of course its weight and size. XO laptop for example is only 7.5 inches and about 3 lb. With this mini notebook, we can still access the internet anywhere and everywhere.

There are some features that we need to know about mini notebook though. Mini notebook may not suitable for big tasks such as photo manipulation. The followings are definitely what you can do with a mini notebook: 

• Access the internet

  Some mini notebooks have got Wi-Fi device which enables you to connect to the internet and share photos online, check email and do other online stuffs. Some other notebooks – usually the early models – need external device to connect to the internet.

• Play games

  Since mini notebook Asus Eee hit the market last year, the other competitors like MSI, Acer, Dell, HP have penetrated the market with higher performance in disk storage, memory, and battery. Lenovo S10, for example, includes the Intel Atom processor at 1.6GHz, 160GB hard drive, 512MB/1GB RAM for US $ 449.99. This specification is quite enough for certain games.

• Write documents

  Word processors are the main thing in a notebook because it is what a computer was initially intended for. You can either use Microsoft Office or Open Office program to make documents. However, you need extra budget for using MS Office of course. 

Acer Aspire One is in demand in Asia market, especially Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, and the Philippines. Acer is a product of laptop manufacturer based in Taiwan and its reputation is quite known for good sales after HP and Dell. 

As I compared with other mini notebooks, Acer Aspire One gives more features rather than the others while its prices are likely the same. There are some types which has built in 3G modem also so that we don't need external modem to go online but I think this varies according to the country.

Although Asus Eee is also a product of Taiwanese laptop manufacturer like Acer Aspire One, its market is different. Asus Eee is well sold in Europe such as Russia, Czech Republic, Norway, and Sweden although Indonesia and Philipines also shows a high demand.

Asus Eee is more famous rather than Acer Aspire One because it is the first mini notebook which surprised the market. However, I guess Acer Aspire One has stepped forward Asus Eee in terms of design and features though their prices are very competitive with little difference.

No doubt that this might be the most expensive notebook that is shown here. Some Fujitsu Lifebook use different processor which is 800 MHz Intel Pentium 4 while other notebooks are using Intel Atom now - soon AMD will also be found in mini notebooks!

Even though smaller than other mini notebooks, it does not mean that its specification is better. Certain Fujitsu Lifebook has smaller hard drive size which is only 40 GB. While Fujitsu FPCM21621 LifeBook U820 is build with Intel Atom inside yet only has 60 hard drive size. This is quite small compared with Acer Aspire One, Asus Eee and other mini notebooks with 160 GB hard drive capacity. 

• It is expensive

  Usually the smaller becomes more expensive. However, it is different with notebook. The cheapest mini notebook is of course the notebook for developing countries students, XO laptop which costs for only US $ 200. However, the standard price range of mini notebook is only between US $ 200 – $ 500, cheaper than normal notebooks, though some mini notebooks may cost up to $ 1,000.

• The battery does not last longer

  Batteries’ durability in notebook usually varies according to its battery cells and also the processor. Let’s take Acer Aspire One for example, which comes with low-power processor Intel Atom processor, which means batteries last longer – around six hours between charges. That amount of time is quite enough for mobile internet surfers.

• Mini notebook runs very slow

  It actually depends on the product of the notebook. Acer Aspire One, for example, with Windows XP model will have 1GB of memory and 80GB hard disk, while the Linux model has only 512MB of memory and 8GB of storage. Other notebooks have also choices of WiMax, HSDPA and EV-DO/W-CDMA modules. In this case we can’t say that all mini notebooks are running very slow, depending on the model.

HP mini notebook seems not to be in hot demand rather than other mini notebooks. HP 2133 is however still desirable in Asia market such as Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia, Taiwan, Philippines and Japan. I am not really sure why mini notebook is hitting Asia market so I check what brand is in demand in the U.S. and U.K. market.

In the U.S. Asus Eee is more favorable followed by Acer Aspire One, MSI, Fujitsu Lifebook, HP and Dell Inspiron Mini 9. While in the U.K. the mini notebook market demand is almost the same with in the U.S. In this case, Asus Eee is leading the mini notebook market I guess.

Dell Inspiron Mini 9 is integrated with web cam and its price is quite expensive rather than Acer Aspire One, Asus Eee, and also HP. What is annoying is its hard drive which can store 8 to 16 hard drive capacity.

Well, for $600 mini notebook, I do prefer the one which has large storage because people buy mini notebook because of its simplicity and they don't want to be bothered with bringing external hard disk or other storage devices. Of course, sooner Dell Inspiron Mini 9 will have its storage capacity enlarged, yet its price is still higher than its competitors I believe.