The quarterly publication of the International Legal Technology Association
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/4983
www.iltanet.org 44 Peer to Peer than laptops. They are sometimes called subnotebooks or mini notebooks. That's not to say that they are always smaller. For instance, some of the newer netbooks are 12 inches, which is the same size as an ultra portable laptop such as the Dell XPS M1330 that I use as my primary computer. The Lenovo IdeaPad S12 is huge when compared to some of the smaller netbooks, and the keyboard is almost a pleasure to type on. At the other end of the spectrum, the smallest netbook I've run across is 4.8 inches (UMID's mbook). This netbook has a display of 1024 x 600 and makes no attempts to come close in size to a standard laptop. But on average, you can plan on netbook screens ranging in size between 8.9 to 11 inches and offering adequate brightness and screen resolution. Netbooks do not have built-in optical drives (CD/DVD), but you can work around that by connecting them to an external drive or to your network. Most people use a USB port to add a wired or wireless mouse because the touch pads on the netbooks leave a lot to be desired. Some netbooks are Tablet PCs. The ASUS Eee PC T101H, which is a 10-inch convertible tablet style netbook, should arrive in early 2010 and might make reappearance at the Consumer Electronic Show after its debut there last year. While netbooks typically stack up well against their laptop counterparts in terms of weight and size, they don't when it comes to keyboards. No one that I've talked to likes typing on their netbooks. Keyboards are reduced 70 to 80 percent of a standard keyboard and the position of the keys is rearranged to accommodate the device. My hands are of average size, and the netbook that I ultimately decided upon, the ASUS Eee PC 1000HEs from ASUSTeK Computer Inc., boasted one of the larger keyboard sizes. After using it for 30 days, I still struggled with accidentally pressing the caps lock key. The Lenovo IdeaPad S12 netbook has a large keyboard, but one thing that I keep getting thwarted by is that the function and control keys have switched places in the lower left corner. A well fitting keyboard is akin to finding that perfect pair of gloves — you have to try them on for size. I recommend finding someone with a netbook that you can try out or a store with a liberal return policy before investing your money. Otherwise, you would purchase something that you won't be able to use comfortably. Netbooks have an incredibly robust battery life. You can choose a six- or nine-cell battery with five to 10 hours of charge. Optimizing power settings from their defaults is required, just like any standard laptop. Some batteries are flush to the casing of the computer, while others are bulky and extend well out of the back of the computer and make the netbook sit at a slant. This is another reason why you should always "try before you buy" whenever possible. Netbooks are designed to quickly gain access to the Internet, too. On a recent trip to London, my trusty laptop had difficulty connecting to a conference site while a coworker connected her netbook without any difficulties whatsoever. The final distinction between a netbook and a standard laptop is a big one — and that's price. In this economy, we're looking to shave off every dollar possible to save money, and while netbooks might help you accomplish this, the question is at what cost. Netbooks cost substantially less, with prices ranging from US$349 to around US$500. That's more affordable than regular notebook computers which can cost four times this amount, but the trade-off could prove to be more costly. Fully unloaded One of the reasons that the price point is low on netbooks is that they don't come preloaded with software. For instance, you wouldn't expect to pay US$349 and get the computer, an operating system and Microsoft Office. At most, you can expect to get the netbook device, a pared down operating system and a trial version of Microsoft Works or something similar. You might be surprised at the variety of operating systems on which netbooks operate. You can choose from Windows XP and higher, GNU/Linux, Google's Android, Apple Mac OS X, FreeBSD (Berkeley Software Distribution), OpenBSD, Darwin (Apple open sourced) and Moblin (Mobile Linux). "While netbooks typically stack up well against their laptop counterparts in terms of weight and size, they don't when it comes to keyboards."