Netbooks Will Not Be Replaced.

If you recall 2 to 3 years ago, netbooks were all the rage. These were underpowered laptops, usually with a 10-inch screen and ran from $250-$400, depending on the configuration.
Due to the low processing speed, netbooks are usually used for casual web browsing and word processing.

When Apple released the iPad in early 2010, Apple started a new trend: the tablets. If you pay
any attention to tech news, you will know that tablets are all the rage right now, in particular the upcoming iPad & Blackberry Playbook, as well as the Samsung
Galaxy Tab and Motorola Xoom. In fact, 2011 has been deemed The Year of the Tablet by many.

I am going to argue that the netbook will not die, at least not for a few years. While it is true that consumers have only so many resources and that the tablet is
undoubtedly eating up some of the netbook market share, there will still be demand for these little machines.

Three main reasons:

Price: Netbooks have the price advantage when compared to tablets. You can pick-up a decent netbook for $200-$350, and with the recent processor upgrade
(dual-core Intel Atom), you get fairly snappy performance. Tablets on the other hand are in the $500 - $800 range. While some are being sold by carriers for
cheaper, we are forced to sign pesky data-plan contracts that cost more money in the long-run.

Keyboard: Most netbooks today have a full-sized keyboard (or 95% full-size), which makes typing a breeze. It doesn't matter how good your tablet is, you simply
cannot type as fast compared to a physical keyboard. I shiver at the though of blogging on the iPad virtual keyboard.

Convenience: The tablet market is like the wild-west right now. Numerous platforms including iOS, Android, Blackberry, and webOS are fighting it out and
everyone has their own standard. This means even simple tasks such as printing from your tablet can be challenging, let alone word processing. Your trusty
netbook running Windows on the other hand will have no computability issues.

I will continue to rock-out on my DEGEE I6C11N4 for some time to come. 85PCS International Standard Keys, Windows 7, and three USB ports make this the perfect
companion for blogging on the go. The best part is, unlike a fragile iPad or Macbook Air, I don't have to constantly worry about losing or damaging my netbook. It
is cheap enough that I can easily replace it if needed.
'Netbooks never really properly established themselves,' said Bosenick. Statistics show that tablets are giving netbooks a run for their money, with the German technology industry association Bitkom calculating this year that netbook sales will slide by 15 per cent to 1.2 million this year.