Netbooks, what's the point?

[blur xc]

I'm just wondering, what's the purpose for the existence of the netbook?

At first, I just thought they were ultra low cost pc's made for the primary purpose of browsing the internet and reading your email.

But, after doing a bit of looking around, they are no cheaper than full fledged laptops- so is ultra portability with their 10" screens the draw to them? I'd be horribly annoyed trying to view a lot of pages on a 1024 x 600 display anyway...

I checked the specs on this one- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834152093 (selected by random) and compared a laptop recently on sale at Walmart for the same exact price- the Wallyworld laptop had a 15.6" display, 3gb ram, 2.x ghz (might have been dual core, but don't remember exactly), 250gig hdd, running vista...

Am I missing something?

BM

[Muffinabus]

Portability?

[AllRadioisDead]

Portability?

[Tristam Green]

I want to know where you're shopping to find $280 laptops :|

I got my netbook because the 15.4" behemoth I used to carry around in my laptop bag was killing my back and shoulders. My AspireOne 10" in my backpack is much easier to carry, is similar in specs (with a larger HDD) than the Dell I bought two years ago, and does exactly what I need it to do.

[Yannick Le Saint kyncani]

+1 Portability

[Regenweald]

i don't think you are missing anything, you just clearly don't need one :) laptops have evolved into desktop replacements for the most part. With their weight and ssd's, netbooks offer acceptable and in some cases powerful computing on the go.

[magmon]

I take my laptop places without any problems. Id say it weighs about 13-16 pounds, so it isn't light by any means. Id like to say I prefer it's power over the netbooks, but it is a few years old and is pretty obsolite...

[ghindo]

Portability/price.

[nothingspecial]

Portability.

+ the fact that my big messy wirery desktop now resides under the stairs. The all singing, all dancing laptop is now the family pc. No wires, just a laptop on the table. And I control both these and my wifes netbook from where ever I like with my little light Samsung NC10. It`s kind of like a remote control for the more powerful boxes so they can get on crunching and I can browse etc to my hearts content.

[gn2]

~ Am I missing something? ~

Yes.
Before the advent of the netbook, a small ultra-portable, e.g. Dialogue Flybook or Toshiba Libretto cost over £1000.
Now you can get a netbook for £150.

That's the difference.

[infoseeker]

I have a Dell Latitude ATG and my son's gf has a Acer Aspire one and I cannot use the netbook for more than a few minutes before my eyes (and neck ;) ) start hurting.

[0per4t0r]

I'd like a little netbook to experiment with. That way I won't break my normal PC :) Also, I could carry it around a lot easier.