Hiton HT-960 9 inch Atom-powered tablet
The Apple iPad is the first blockbuster tablet computer. While companies have been pumping out Windows tablets for the last 10 years or so, none has gotten as much attention as the iPad, and while I don’t have the sales numbers, I’m not aware of any other model that sold 300,000 units on the first day either. And Apple’s success in building hype for the iPad has led dozens of other companies to prepare similar machines with touchscreen displays and no physical keyboards. The problem is that many of them are missing the thing that makes the iPad work: A truly touch-friendly user interface.
Latest case in point? The Hiton HT-960. This 8.9 inch tablet has a 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 processor, an 8.9 inch, 1024 x 600 pixel touchscreen display, 802.11b/g WiFi and a SIM car dslot for an optional 3G modem.
Unfortunately, the tablet also runs Windows XP, which is an operating system that wasn’t really designed with touch in mind. In fact, you could make the case that even Windows 7 which has touch-friendly features like simulated right-click feels like touch was thrown in as an afterthought. Some software takes advantage of Windows 7 touch features, but most apps simply don’t.
Anyway, the long and short of it is, I can’t see why users would be happy with a tablet like the Hiton HT-960 which is basically just a Windows XP netbook without a keyboard and touchpad.
On the bright side, at $418, the tablet is a little cheaper than an iPad plus it can run Windows apps, has 16GB or more of storage, an SD card slot, and 3 USB ports for peripherals. It also has a 0.3MP webcam. On the less bright side, shipping is $69, which kind of eats into that price advantage.
Netbooks may or may not be dying… but that doesn’t excuse misleading stats
The idea that netbooks represented a brand new category of computing device was always a bit shaky. And I’m not entirely certain that anyone aside from marketers ever believed it. The truth is that a netbook is just a small, cheap, and light weight laptop. That’s it. If you look at all the so-called netbooks released over the last 2-3 years, that’s about all they have in common.
As a side effect, most netbooks have had low power processors, small touchpads, and a slew of other characteristics. And generally in order for people to slap the netbook name on a cheap ultraportable, it has to have a 10 inch or smaller display, although some folks insist that 11 and 12 inch notebooks can also be netbooks if they have a netbook-like processor.
Where am I going with this? Here: As we start to see a growing number of computers that weigh 4 pounds or less and cost $600 or less, it’s hardly surprising that consumers might start picking these devices up as alternatives to 10 inch netbooks with low power Intel Atom processors. Another device might better suit your needs, whether it’s an iPad or a thin and light computer like Asus UL20A. A few years ago you couldn’t find a $500 computer that weighed less than 3.5 pounds. Now you can get a tablet, thin and light, or a netbook.
So I get a bit annoyed when I see stories like the one Business Week is running that claim “Netbook sales sag as the iPad arrives.” There are two problems with that headline. First, although it’s likely that some folks might pick up an iPad instead of a netbook, it’s not really clear that there’s a causal relationship at play — that the launch of the iPad made enough people decide not to buy netbooks to make a dent.
But there’s a much bigger problem here: Netbook sales haven’t sagged. In fact, the article sites statistics from IDC tht show netbook sales in the first quarter of 2010 were up 33.6% from a year earlier.
So what’s with the claim that sales are slumping? Well, it’s because netbook sales aren’t growing as quickly as they had been. In the first quarter of 2009, netbook sales were up 872% from the same period in 2008.
Wow. That makes it sound like things are slowing down considerably, right? Ummm… not really. Not when you consider the fact that there was only one PC maker selling a netbook in the first quarter of 2008. Asus introduced the Eee PC 701 in late 2007 and until the middle of 2008 it was the only netbook model you could buy aside from the OLPC XO Laptop which wasn’t generally available to consumers.
The HP 2133 Mini-Note hit the streets in April, 2008 and other PC makers piled on after that. By early 2009 almost every major computer manufacturer had a netbook on the market. So basically IDC and Business Week are pointing out that netbook sales were dramatically higher at a point when you actually had a choice of models than when you didn’t. Shocking. And a year later, when the market hasn’t changed all that much, sales are still rising by more than 33%. Seems a bit early to declare that sales are off, doesn’t it?
As I said at the outset – I’m not saying netbooks as we know them are necessarily here to stay. It could be that low cost and light weight tablets and larger computers will largely take their place over the next few years. Or maybe smartbooks like the Lenovo Skylight and Compaq Airlife 100, which combine the elements of a smartphone and a netbook will wipe them out. I’m just saying that as of today, the rumors of netbook’s death have been greatly exaggerated.
Samsung R780 Good Looks and Gaming Chops for $799
Samsung’s foray into the desktop replacement category is shaping up to be as successful as their entry into the world of netbooks. We were pretty sure we’d like the $799, 17.3-inch R780 when we had our first hands-on, and it didn’t disappoint. It’s a powerful Core i5 machine with discrete NVIDIA graphics that doesn’t just deliver performance “good enough” for a sub-$800 system, it makes more expensive laptops sweat. Add to that an eye-catching design, excellent keyboard, and superb audio and you have one sweet notebook. What could be better? How about some decent gaming action, too? This big-screen bargain has it all.VGP-BPS8 VGP-BPS8A VGP-BPS8B VGP-BPS9 VGP-BPS9/B VGP-BPS9/S
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