Study: Consumers still prefer regular notebooks over netbooks

well if your going to buy a PC, why buy a very weak netbook which is basically just for the internet when you can shell out alil more for a far better laptop, which can serf the internet and do a million other things...(unless its a mac) than your shelling out an arm and a leg. Everyone in my college iv noticed so far that uses a laptop doesnt have a netbook and iv been there 3 years.

I declare my self as a gamer. So netbook is not a option for my taste. They might be ok for surfing, email, and some not to much space demanding tasks. But for gaming, movies, profesional tools i don`t think so.

I don't see netbooks lasting very long as smartphones do pretty much the same things (surf the internet on the go, casual gaming), except a phone sits in your pocket whereas you'll be carrying around another bag for your netbook. And anybody who has tried typing on a netbook keyboard while squinting at the tiny screen will not buy one for home use either.

I own the EeePC and I still prefer a notebook.
its mainly because of the hardware (cpu, ram, hdd)
but also because of the 7" screen.. sometimes too small for me..

I guess a well equipped 10-12" would be perfect for me (more student oriented)

Netbooks started out as cheap, ultraportable devices.... Now most are expensive, underpowered devices. Because they became "fashionable", their price rose accordingly.

Give me a low end Laptop anyday, cost the same, more grunt, more storage, Optical Drive and if you can't heft an extra 1Kg, then you ought to be in hospital!

Netbook so slow, can't play games =(

I think netbooks are great for carrying around when travelling, where you don't need much performance (word processing, Internet-related tasks, etc). Notebooks, on the other hand, are better for home usage, when you want to move around a little bit and don't mind carrying a slightly bigger computer. For the price difference, I'd go with a notebook.

there is a reason that netbooks have become more and more popular, and there is also a reason that netbooks will never take place of notebooks

I still don't get it why there was such a rush for these netbooks? Yes they're very small, and not very energy consuming, and they're made only for net surfing! Nothing more! My new laptop hardly handles the latest games and 3d software, but spend a ~400$~ just to get on the net? No, thank you.

As lfg18 said, in Mexico there has been a boom over netbooks ever since the launch of the Aspire One. Since the country is currently on an economical recession, price is a very sensible factor when buying a computer, so the relative low price of the netbooks (and the novelty too, it was the "in" thing to have next to ipods) made a soft spot on the consumers. Then after a while people who bought them realize that it is tiring to write for long periods of time on the cramped keyboards and looking at the small screens unless you have a spare monitor to hook it up, and can't do some tasks they used to do on their desktops due to low performance. Also as incredible as it sounds, many people not acquainted with computers don't even know these things don't have an optical drive to listen some of their CD, watch some movie on a trip or simply burn some data, so they have to buy some external drive to do the job (they are expensive here).

A trend i have noticed is that people that had a notebook before don't find the netbooks appealing at all.

Well to be honest, this is a dumb survey/conclusion. Naturally laptops will outsell netbooks. Laptops can be anything from ultraportables-netbook-wannabes to desktop replacements. On the other hand netbooks will always be, well, netbooks. Best case scenario we're eventually looking at powerful enough netbooks to stream hidef content so you could have an ultraportable and HTPC hybrid that'd be good enough for both but excel at either. At least that were I see the netbook market going over the next years. Obviously they will never become someone's main computer simply because of the inherited limitations by definition.

I prefer the usability of a notebook but appreciate the portability of a netbook. Being a photographer I would prefer something portible with enough horsepower to drive Photoshop...but even a Netbook would allow me the ability to upload my pics to show my clients.

I'm one of those people that see absolutely no use for netbooks. I love portable computers..but these aren't computers at all. They're the modern day etch-a-sketch.

I also would buy a cheap notebook over a netbook considering some models sell at very high prices (*cough* HP) even when they are the same horrible N270+i945 crap. Netbooks should stay on the $300 mark or even lower unless they are ION.

Also, most models come with 3 cell batteries so battery life is not much longer than on a regular notebook.

My mother-in-law also bought an EEE pc, and the usb ports got defective and stopped working a few months after purchase.

It's now in the repair shop :/

The whole study is invalid because of the following line:

"60% indicated that they would still purchase a regular notebook as their next PC".

For one thing we have clear is that netbooks are not PCs (In the whole idea of a Personal Computer, they are but...) replacement, at all. They do serve as portable always on the side for e-mail checking, web-browsing, even as a multimedia station, in other cases some people (As do I) use it for college or school doing some more than web-based activities, but they DO NOT replace a notebook and a longer gap between a netbook and a desktop computer.

i think that's pretty predictable. the cost between notebooks and netbooks are not by much and the notebook is so much more versatile than the netbook. outside of being small, netbook cant offer much else compared to a notebook.

Most of my friends who are IT professionals are buying netbooks to essentially replace coffee table books. In other words, something handy to look up something on the Internet while watching TV or hosting guests. Or are using them to keep the kids entertained on a long drive. Basically a slightly larger version than an iPhone or Blackberry.

Anyone who buys one of these who believe they're going to engage in serious computing are going to be quite disappointed.

Netbooks are still slow and have very small low resolution screens , 2 big problems in 1 machine! I believe though that we'll see better offers in the upcoming years as cpu's+gpu's consume less and less power...

I've had a 17" Dell laptop since 2006. I've carried that thing around to classes regularly in college and has never really bothered me. Full size keyboard, battery used to last 2.5 hours, and it is very comfortable to hold on your lap for long periods of time. I couldn't imagine typing on a netbook for any extended period of time. Think I'll stay with my full sized notebooks for now.