Keeping It Light

“And they are far easier to carry. “Intel is trying to push this
as a totally new category, but real people see it as a way to
upgrade a notebook,” said Bob O’Donnell, an analyst with IDC, a
technology research company based in Framingham, Mass. “For these
times, these devices are cheap. People are saying, I just use my
notebook for e-mail; why don’t I just buy one of these little
guys?”

“Some companies have already leapt into the fray, including
Hewlett-Packard, Lenovo, Dell, Asus, MSI, Samsung, Sylvania and
Acer. Sony is expected to introduce a model at the annual Consumer
Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January.

“Virtually all netbooks are built around Intel’s Atom processor,
a 1.6 -gigahertz chip, and use one gigabyte of RAM, or memory. MSI
reportedly will introduce a netbook next year with a new processor,
the Intel Atom Z530, which the company says uses less power. Nearly
all have built-in U.S.B. ports, a Webcam and integrated speakers,
and some can connect to a Wi-Fi network. None of the models have CD
or DVD drives.”

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