Jennigay Coetzer – Business Day – 30 July 2009

The netbook is becoming an increasingly popular device for connecting to the internet, with hundreds of different models on the market, varying in functionality, size and cost. Smaller and lighter than a laptop, netbooks are ultra portable, boot up quickly, are designed for internet connectivity, are all based on the Intel Atom chipset and run Linux or Windows XP Home operating systems.

When the first models were launched two years ago the aim was to provide a device that sold for less than R3,000, was ideal for connecting to the internet and carrying out light computing tasks and was affordable for every household, says Ray Wood, merchandising manager at Incredible Connection. He says the first netbook, the Asus, emerged two years ago at a recommended retail price of R1,999.

It ran the Linux operating system, had a seven inch screen, 512 megabytes of RAM,  a four gigabyte flash memory drive for storage and no bells and whistles. “It was like a hybrid PDA/ laptop computer and the rationale was that users would store their data in a virtual folder on the internet,” says Wood.

He says a large portion of the initial buyers of netbooks were first time users. But then all the manufacturers started coming out with a variety of models that offered greater functionality, bigger hard drives, more RAM and larger screens.

“Today, there are netbook models that have as much as 2 gigabytes of RAM, a 200 gigabyte hard drive, up to 12 inch screens, embedded 3G, and run Windows Professional,” says Wood. Netbooks all come with two or three USB ports, some have optional external CD/DVD drives and they range in price from R1,999 to R7,000.

This is an exploding market that offers a lot of choices, but at the same time it can be confusing. Users therefore need to look carefully at their requirements before purchasing a netbook.

“We tell our salespeople to ask customers about their needs and help them choose the right one,” he says. About 10% to 15% of customers looking for a computing device are buying netbooks, but this is not eating into laptop sales because the whole sector is growing.

With the growing sophistication of these products, they are mainly being bought by professionals and business people as a secondary device for carrying around. Another prime target market is young people, mainly students, and there is a government drive to equip teachers with these devices.

Some 80% of netbooks are sold with Windows XP Home and the balance with Linux, with the latter being about R1000 cheaper, says Wood.