New Blog 1: Netbook Accessories

Netbook Accessories

The typical features you'll find on these netbooks include Windows XP, 1.3-megapixel webcams, three USB ports, and internal card readers. The MSI Wind is the only netbook with a 10-inch screen (the rest sport 8.9-inch screens). Across the board, each netbook is an impressive offering for a system that's smaller than your average laptop, but manufacturers are still working out the kinks. For instance, the ASUS EeePC 900 and MSI Wind both have cramped keyboards; the only netbook with a decent keyboard is the HP Mini-Note PC. And compared to the Dell Inspiron Mini 9 , which is blessed with very responsive mouse buttons, we found the touchpad and mouse buttons on the Acer Aspire One awkwardly laid out.Such shortcomings are only the tip of the iceberg. There's no room for an optical drive on a system that only measures 6.6 by 8.7 by 0.8 inches. Then there's the issue with the small hard drive capacity: the Aspire One's and Inspiron Mini 9's hard drives store a mere 8GB of your data—that's nothing compared to the 80GB you can get with the MSI Wind. To top it off, we found that the Mini-Note PC runs uncomfortably warm with its 7,200-rpm hard drive.But before you start cursing yourself for buying a netbook in the first place, remember that there is a plethora of remedies at your disposal to cure your netbook's ailments. For starters, you can get an external optical drive for watching movies and burning data; a notebook stand with an integrated keyboard to avoid typing on a cramped keyboard; and a notebook cooler to cool down your feverish friend. So check out our 10 favorite picks for netbook accessories, and your system will be good to go in no time.