Meet AT&T’s HP 1150 Netbook

We have been hearing about subsidized netbooks for a while now. If you have bought a smart phone in the past, you probably know about the discounts that you get by signing up for a 2 year wireless contract. The same concept now applies to netbooks. Wireless carriers such as AT&T are offering $150 or more discount on top netbooks to lock up customers in 2 year wireless contracts. With HP 1150 NR netbook, you get $250 discount, dropping the price to $199, in exchange for you signing up for a $60 a month contract.

But getting into a netbook wireless contract is not a decision that you should take lightly. There are all kinds of fees that you will have to pay and getting out of your contract can be a hassle too.

Overall, HP 1150 Netbook is a decent machine to start your netbook journey. It’s not the best on the market, and there are a dozen of netbooks that you’d be better off with. But the $250 discount by AT&T is going to tempt a lot of folks. If you have to have a netbook with wireless connection on the go and can’t wait for other models to come out, HP 1150 Netbook is not a bad option to consider.

3 Cool N280 Netbooks

For too long netbook manufacturers have used Atom N270 CPU to power up their netbooks. N270 is a capable CPU, but you would expect after a while to get a better CPU on new netbooks. While many manufacturers are still sticking with N270 on their new netbook models, there are a few that have already introduced new models with the better, faster N280. If you are hoping to upgrade your N270 netbook, here are 3 cool N280 netbooks you should consider:

ASUS Eee PC 1008HA Netbook: a wonderful netbook that comes with all the latest bells and whistles you expect to see in a top netbook. Comes with 6 hrs of battery life and weighs 2.4 lbs.

MSI Wind U123-002US Netbook: MSI is known for making energy efficient netbooks. This one is no exception. It weighs only 2.6 lbs, and the battery does last you for about 6 hours per charge.

ASUS Eee PC 1000HE 10-Inch Netbook: another cool netbook from ASUS. Comes with a 10 inch screen which is big enough for most folks. It uses Atom N280 to provide you with the best performance. Supports wireless N networking as well.

There you have it. These 10+ Inch netbooks are not only fast but are energy efficient too. Having N280 on a netbook may not sound like a big deal, but if you are parting ways with $300-450 of your money, wouldn’t you want to get the latest technology?

AMD To Pursue The Netbook Market?

With netbook, the primary purchase driver we believe is price, followed by mobility. With ultra-thin, we see the primary purchase driver being mobility followed by entertainment/visual experience.

4 Cool Netbooks Below $250

The good thing about netbooks is that you can get them for cheap but you don’t have sacrifice too much as far as performance goes to get them. Netbooks are ultra portable and very capable machines. Currently, you can get netbooks from anywhere between $200 to $500. While high-end netbooks come with a lot of eye candy features, most of us can do with cheaper netbooks.

You don’t have to spend $400 or more for a netbook to get decent features on your netbook. There are plenty of netbooks under $250 that you give you a good bang for your buck while allowing you to get your work done without suffering any loss in performance:

HP Mini 1010NR Netbook: tough to find these days. It’s a netbook that is compatible with at&t’s wireless service. The official price is $199, but good luck finding a place that has it in stock.

ASUS Eee PC 900HA 8.9-Inch Netbook: a cool netbook that comes with the standard features you see in top of the line netbooks. Fast CPU and very light. It’s energy efficient too.

Sylvania GNET13001 7″ Netbook PC: comes with 1.2 GHz Via C7-M Processor, 1 GB RAM, 30 GB Hard Drive, which is decent enough for casual netbook users. It’s very light too.

Asus Eee PC 4G Surf: a tiny netbook that is designed for folks who are not heavy netbook users. It does support Linux.

What’s your favorite netbook?

Will Apple Stay Away From Netbooks?

WWDC was supposed to be the event in which Apple disclosed its plans for its tablet or netbook. But we didn’t get either. What we did get was new cool Macbooks and somewhat aggressive pricing on the new models. Top level folks at Apple have never shied away from dismissing the netbook market as a whole. But a lot of experts believed that Apple was secretly planning a super netbook to be released later this year. So far we haven’t heard too much from Apple at WWDC about its plans for a future netbook, but it seems the company is still not too hot on the whole netbook market.

I have to say I somewhat agree with Steve Jobs’ assessment. Can you imagine Apple selling a $500 netbook? Apple is a premium brand which means it can’t afford to release a product that does not offer premium features to its customers. An Apple netbook that does fit Apple’s DNA will cost close to $1000. That’s not what you can call an affordable netbook.

Apple may not see a need for producing a netbook, but it certainly does need a gadget that appeals to mobile users but is more capable than the iPhone. The answer could be the MediaPad (a large screen iPod Touch). It could be a hybrid device. Whichever the case, you can bet Apple will have an easier time charging a premium for it by staying away from the “netbook” tag.

When Will We See Free Netbooks?

A lot of us have been waiting for netbook prices to drop in the past few months. Netbooks are in general as expensive as a blu-ray player. Some models may cost you more than $400 but most netbooks are in that $200-$350 range. With companies such as AT&T working on their subsidized netbooks, many consumers have been dreaming of $0 netbooks. AT&T is already offering super cheap netbooks with their 2 year contracts, but no major company is offering free netbooks with their wireless plans. That could change very soon.

As more companies get into the business of using netbooks to sell additional services to their customers, you can expect netbook prices to drop even more in the future. There is no reason for customers to keep paying for those netbooks and their wireless plans as well. Top of the line netbooks may still cost you a bit of money but I wouldn’t be surprised if the standard ones were offered for free soon. Now these netbooks are not really given to you for free, but at the same time you wouldn’t complain about getting a discount for your wireless/netbook company, would you?

Will We See an Apple Netbook At WWDC

One of the most exciting Mac events is upon us, and we are finally going to learn about the nature of iPhone 3.0 and the pricing plans for it. We are also going to hear about Macbook 3G and the new innovations used on the device. But more importantly, we are goint to understand what Apple may be planning with its future devices. Apple is known for giving its fans a bit of tips here and there about its future innovations. We have already heard a lot about Apple Media-pad, Apple Netbook, and a Netbook-Tablet hybrid. WWDC may give us the best idea yet about what Apple may really be planning (we certainly are not going to get all 3 devices).

Steve Jobs has talked about how Apple will not be releasing a netbook, but this market is too rich for Apple to ignore. Apple may not release a netbook per se, but there will a device that does a similar job. We can go on and on about why Apple should indeed introduce a netbook. But in reality, a $500 Apple netbook does not seem likely. Apple is not known for playing a conservative game with its pricing, which means an Apple MediaPad will be more likely. Whatever the plan, Apple will certainly surprise us at WWDC. It always does.

Netbooks Getting Sony Ericsson Modules

If you have been following the world of netbooks, you are probably familiar with the latest move by companies such as at&t and Verizon to bring subsidized netbooks to the market to sell more wireless contracts. You end up saving $100 to $200 on a netbook but end up paying a lot more for the wireless contract. While I am not a big fan of this move, there is no question this is where the industry is headed. Without Internet access, netbooks are not much more than a laptop lite. That’s why more manufacturers are partnering up with wireless carriers to bundle up netbooks and cellular Internet services.

Thanks to companies such as Sony Ericsson, netbooks get exclusive wireless modules that can help netbook owners connect to the Internet fast. Ericsson F3307, the latest module by SE, that is designed to work with the at&t network. The key with these modules is speed and performance. The latest module by SE is not only energy efficient, but it lets you download with the speed of 2Mbps which is not bad for a netbook.

Let’s hope wireless companies will offer more affordable wireless plans and larger rebates for netbooks. But that seems to be a bit far at this point.

Acer To Introduce Google Android Netbooks

Microsoft may be too busy focusing on coming up angles for its “I am a PC” commercials, but that hasn’t stopped Google from trying to gain marketshare in Microsoft’s own backyard. In a move that could build momentum for Android in the netbook market, Acer has announced that it will finally release netbooks that will ship with Google Android. Microsoft has been trying to get into Google’s territory for years now, and it’s about time Google returned the favor. But unlike Microsoft, Google offers its OS for free. As much as Microsoft would love to compete with Google, it can’t compete with free.

Let’s not forget that Microsoft Windows is one powerful operating system. It’s certainly more capable than Google Android at this point. But the limits that MS is putting on the starter OS software that you get on new netbooks makes Android a good, free alternative to consider. Since Android’s for free, you can expect Androidbooks to be cheaper than their Windows counterparts.

Perhaps more manufacturers will now consider adopting open source software on their machines. Linux is a very good alternative to Windows on netbooks, but not many companies have adopted it so far. The latest move by Acer may encourage netbook makers to offer Linux-flavored netbooks to the market as well. So Microsoft will not get an easy pass in this market anytime soon.

One has to wonder how Android netbooks affect Apple’s plans to introduce its own netbooks to the market. You can expect Apple netbooks to be super expensive, and while you get a premium netbook from Apple, it could be hard to justify for every day folks to pay a whole lot of money for a mini laptop. At least Apple has a way to differentiate its potential netbook from Android netbooks. But Microsoft will have to take Android’s blows head on!

June 2009 Netbook Ratings – Top 5 Netbooks

June is finally here, and it’s time for another rating list for netbooks available on the market. Samsung and a few other manufacturers intend to release netbooks this month, so it will be interesting to see how these rankings change next months. With that out of the way, here are the top 5 netbooks ranked by our readers in conjunction with our algorithm for the month of 2009:

ASUS Eee PC 1008HA Netbook: Eee PC is one of the best netbooks on the market. This model comes with the latest CPU (N280) plus wireless N capability. The screen is big enough and the battery lasts you 6 hours!

Samsung N120-12GBK Netbook: one of the best netbooks ever introduced to the market. It improves upon the last generation Samsung netbook. It’s well-designed and very powerful.

Sony VAIO VGN-P530H/Q Lifestyle PC: Sony P is one cool laptop to own. We have been hesitant to call it a netbook as it comes with features not seen on other netbooks. It only weighs 1.5 lbs!

Acer Aspire One AOD250-1185 Netbook: one heck of a netbook from Acer. It’s 10.1 screen is big enough to let you view your document and even read  books without hurting your eyes. The battery will last you about 6 hours which should be good enough for most flights.

HP Mini 1137NR Netbook: HP Mini 1137NR Netbook makes the list again as it did last month. If you have been looking for a wireless data plan in at&t stores, you have probably seen these being offered with as a bundle. It’s a lightweight netbook with standard features you see on most top netbooks.

Check out the full list of rankings here (check last months netbook ratings here).

Your take: what is your favorite netbook?