Gigaom has an article about a speech Michael Dell gave yesterday.
He had very positive things to say about Windows 7 – which officially debuts next Thursday the 22nd. I concur with that. I've been the test case for Windows 7 at Harrison Pensa, and have found it faster and more stable. It also has features that can make you more productive. Enough so that I often find it frustrating when using my home computer with Vista.
He doesn't like netbooks, even though Dell makes popular models – citing their small screens and slow performance. Anecdotally I've heard comments from people who have them who say the same thing. Even an IT manager I know who had positive things to say about his netbook half jokingly offered to sell me his recently, saying he wanted a bigger and better one. I've been tempted to buy one a few times, but could never get over their limitations.
This reinforces my thoughts that November / December this year may be a good time to buy a notebook computer. On top of Windows 7 and probable aggressive pricing resulting from the economy and Christmas, notebooks with the new CULV chips are arriving. CULV chips promise long battery life, and notebooks that are a step above netbooks for not a lot more money.
Mr. Dell has another reason to not like netbooks, and that is the lower profit margin that they come with.
I have an original eeePC and I love it. No it is not my main computer, I only use it on the road, or when I want to boot into a computer quiclky. A tiny screen is a bit of a pain, but so is lugging around a large notebook or laptop.
Best advice is to buy one that comes with Linux.
A friend of mine purchased a netbook with Windows XP on it, and was much happier after he installed Ubuntu Linux on it.
David, Thanks for this post. I've been looking at getting a notebook for many months…and now I'm going to procrastinate a wee bit longer.
Churyl