What is it with these “net” gadgets? It seems by adding the word “net” to any gadget, you can literally double your sales. Let’s not get overboard here. Netbooks are great gadgets. They are portable, capable, and very affordable. But can nettops follow in the foot steps of netbooks? Can nettops help computer manufacturers sell more PCs?

The reasons netbooks have been very successful is due to the fact that they are portable and cheap! All-in-one desktops have been around for years, and the jury is still out on them. iMacs are highly popular, but I am not sure other companies have had too much success with their all-in-one products. The problem with all-in-one desktop is that they are often too expensive for most folks. And they can’t be easily upgraded. You are still going to have some of those issues with nettops, but if computer manufacturers come up with nettops in the range of $250-400, there is no reason why people won’t buy them. The key here is performance and price. Nettops will probably be Internet PCs. So you can’t expect to create 3D animations with Maya on them. But if you are a business person and want to track your business via the Internet, nettops make a great investment. Let’s face it. The Internet will be a bigger part of our lives in the near future, so nettops could provide PC manufacturers with the break they have been waiting for.

Will nettops catch fire like netbooks? It’s hard to tell. Desktops are getting cheaper, and a lot of folks expect better performance from Desktop PCs than laptops. So I am not sure how many folks are willing to settle for Internet PCs. But as long as they are cheap enough you never know.

Your take: would you consider buying a nettop instead of a regular PC? Why?