Don't need the power of a laptop? Try a netbook

Computer makers are betting consumers want a product that's more than a smart phone but less than a full-featured laptop.Lenovo is the latest to enter the burgeoning market for netbooks -- also known as Internet PCs. Last month, Lenovo announced plans for a 1-inch-thick IdeaPad netbook with a 10-inch screen. Starting price: $399.Craig Merrigan, vice president of worldwide consumer marketing, said analysts' sales projections for the new category were too compelling to ignore.Lenovo's entry is part of its broader push beyond the business market into consumer sales. In January, the company jumped into the consumer arena in the United States, its boldest move in this market since it bought IBM's PC business in 2005.But Lenovo will have plenty of competition in the netbook category, which was jump-started last year when Taiwanese computer maker Asus introduced the $300 Eee PC. By contrast, high-end laptops go for more than $2,000.In addition to a host of smaller companies that have entered the fray, industry mainstays such as Hewlett-Packard and Acer have launched netbooks. Dell is expected to do so shortly."It just exploded," said Paul Goldenberg, general manager of Digital Gadgets, a New York company that earlier this year launched a line of netbooks under the Sylvania brand. "When Asus entered the market, everyone followed."A netbook is smaller, lighter and cheaper than your typical laptop.The trade-off is that they're made for basic functions, such as surfing the Web and using e-mail and other Web-based applications available from sites such as Google Docs. They're not designed for running shrink-wrapped software."Are you a person who needs a DVD drive? If so, you should buy the mainstream product," Merrigan said. "Do you intend to keep your photos on your hard drive? If so, mainstream product. Is this mostly for going to YouTube and Facebook and looking at the Web site to find out what your homework is, etc.? OK, in that case, netbook."The rush to netbooks has raised concerns in some quarters that they'll cannibalize laptop sales -- which would be counterproductive for PC makers. Netbooks' lower prices would mean thinner profit margins. At the same time, some analysts anticipate that netbooks' limited functions will limit their appeal."There are a lot of question marks as to what kind of customer this appeals to," said Richard Shim, an analyst at market research and consulting firm IDC.Still, Shim projects the worldwide market for netbooks will expand from 430,000 units worldwide to 9.2 million by 2012.That's an impressive growth trajectory, but it would put netbooks at just 3 percent of the mobile PC market in 2012, according to Shim's projections. In baseball terms, he projects netbooks will produce a single or double -- not a home run."The price point is still pretty attractive for what you get," Shim said. "It looks like it is a much heftier computing opportunity for consumers."WHAT'S A NETBOOK?A netbook is more than a smart phone but less than a full-featured laptop PC. Think smaller, lighter and cheaper than your typical laptop. And they offer wireless connections to the Internet for mobility's sake. They are designed for basic functions: surfing the Web, listening to music, using Web-based applications available from sites such as Google Docs. WHAT IT ISN'T They are not made for running off-the-shelf software programs -- if they can run them at all. Some netbooks opt for a Linux operating system rather than Microsoft Windows, which dominates the PC industry. That limits their ability to run many mainstream software programs. Even netbooks that run Windows use low-cost processors that can be slow running shrink-wrapped software. And if you want to install that software using an optical drive, take note that optical drives aren't built into netbooks. You'll need to buy an external drive. (Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.scrippsnews.com)