Netbooks become more popular in down economy

As this year’s financial downturn drags on, wallets are tight and laptops are small.

With computer prices dropping across the board, extra-portable netbooks have become an increasingly attractive option for students.

Netbooks, a class of laptops with screens seven to 12 inches in diagonal, generally weigh less than four pounds and offer increased battery life for note-taking or Web browsing.

Where five years ago a 150-seat lecture hall might contain a mere half-dozen laptops, today forty or fifty are not an uncommon sight.

Netbooks in particular seem built to fit the college niche. Some sell for under $300 and can include built-in webcams for long-distance video chatting, last for 6 or more hours on a charge and perform nearly as fast as their larger laptop cousins.

Also, most can fit easily inside a backpack and access Penn’s wireless Internet.

“I love my netbook,” said Wharton sophomore Victor Salcedo. “After I started bringing it to class, I never looked back … it’s not something you really have to lug around either.”

According to a 2009 study conducted by Retrevo, a consumer electronics site, netbooks make up 34 percent of student laptop purchases, up from 9 percent in 2008. This year, 49 percent were full-sized laptops and 17 percent were Macbooks.

For some students including College sophomore Emily Miller, finances were a deciding factor in choosing a netbook over a larger laptop.

“I don’t need much from a laptop,” said Miller, “so it was easy to choose something cheap. [My computer] is kind of cute, too.”

The netbook concept began in 2005 with One Laptop Per Child, a nonprofit organization that worked to develop very small and inexpensive computers for children in third-world countries. The popularity of the ASUS Eee PC, introduced in 2007, ushered in a variety of new models from Dell, HP and others.

In college, portable computers are more popular with younger students. A 2009 study by Primary Research Group showed that only 64 percent of students over age 30 had a laptop, compared to more than 86 percent of students 19 years old or younger.

Apple, owner of 90% of the over-$1000 PC market, is looking to improve its 8.7% overall market share with cheaper portables.

The company is rumored to be looking to enter the lucrative netbook market in early 2010 with a 10-inch tablet PC in the $500-$1000 price range, according to Businessweek.

Students can purchase Dell and Lenovo netbooks starting at $379 from Penn Computer Connection on 36th and Sansom streets. Until January 3, students buying PCs are eligible for a Windows 7 upgrade at the greatly discounted price of $29.99.

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