They're cheaper, greener, and capable enough for everyday business work - if you can get XP Pro on them
Netbooks are the hardware trend of the day. In other words, they're cheap and they're selling like hotcakes. But I hear through back channels that vendors are having trouble "positioning" netbooks: How do they relate to full-size, full-power laptops? Are they second machines for the frequent or occasional traveller? And so on.
Well, I have a suggestion: Businesses should consider buying netbooks and rolling them out as desktop replacements. I'm not talking about the Linux variety. I'm talking about netbooks running Windows XP.
For obvious ergonomic reasons, you need to shell out for an external screen and keyboard to make a netbook a viable primary machine (plus a docking station, if available). But think about it: The Intel Atom CPU is plenty fast for running Office, they're so small and light that employees will like taking them home, you can actually use one in an airplane seat, and they cost half as much as an ordinary notebook (and less than many desktops). If you're really pinching pennies, you might also think of a netbook as a BlackBerry smartphone replacement.
I realize there are a couple of problems with this idea. For one thing, although netbooks represent a loophole through which Microsoft will allow XP to be sold until mid-2010, that extension is restricted to XP Home - which is not a managed OS and thus inappropriate for business use.
Clearing Microsoft's netbook barriers
Yet you can still get XP Pro preinstalled from the vendor. The catch is you have to buy a Vista Business licence (or Vista Ultimate licence, but that costs more) and ask your vendor to "downgrade" your netbook to XP Pro. All the major vendors offer the downgrade option for ordinary desktops and notebooks (Microsoft says they can do so until August 2009), but this option is just beginning to be available for netbooks, such as HP's Mini-Notes.
The downside is that downgrading is somewhat pricey. Usually you pay an additional $50 for XP Pro (as opposed to XP Home). But Vista Business retails for $300, so you're paying a premium for a downgrade. Kinda knocks a little luster off the ultra-low netbook price.
Now, the cheapest route of all would be to buy a netbook with Ubuntu pre-installed, blow away the Linux partition, and provision the netbook using an existing Windows XP Pro (or Vista Business or Ultimate licence, which will allow you to downgrade, although you need to supply your own XP Pro install image).
If you have an XP Pro site licence, there is a caveat to consider: Microsoft isn't selling additional seats for it, so you'll have to retire an old machine to free up the seat for the new netbook. And whether you install XP Pro directly or as a downgrade from Vista, the standard install won't have any special drivers the netbook needs, so you need to ensure the netbook vendor has them available for download.
I'm certain some people stopped reading this post several paragraphs ago and are already flaming me in the comments section. We're still harping on keeping XP running? Don't we know this is a dead issue? Well, it's true that most new hardware renders the performance delta between XP and Vista moot. But it makes a difference on an Atom-powered netbook.
Plus, times are tough, people. Businesses that can pull off the XP Pro site licence trick can get an ultra-cheap upgrade that really adds some mobile value. A lot more value, IMHO, than upgrading from XP to Vista.
The netbook value proposition
Naturally, you don't want to run much more than productivity applications and a Web browser with a netbook. In terms of performance, these babies are retro. And if your company relies on a lot of high-overhead security and manageability junk to wrangle its client machines, you could be creating an unpardonably sluggish situation for users. Test one before you buy more.
And I haven't forgotten you, Ubuntu fans. Ubuntu plus OpenOffice is certainly another feasible route, although manageability and software compatibility could be problematic. A more interesting scenario might emerge when Microsoft delivers final releases of its browser-based Live versions of Office. These software-as-a-service apps will not require IE to run.
My final argument for netbooks is that they're "greener." The Acer Aspire One netbook in our office consumes 11.1 volts at 2200 milliamps as opposed to my ThinkPad, which consumes 20 volts at 3.25 amps. Multiply that across a few hundred notebooks or desktops, and you're talking a significantly smaller carbon footprint (and, yes, a reduced electric bill). Plus, netbooks have smaller lithium-ion batteries.
So go ahead, call my suggestion retrograde, since I'm basically suggesting that businesses stick with existing desktop software and baseline horsepower. Or maybe I'm just proposing a practical solution for lean times.
With expert reviews, news and opinion, as well as helpful tutorials, PC Advisor's Laptop Advisor website offers everything you need, whether you're buying a new laptop, or simply looking to get the best from your current model.
Comments
redstringuitar said: Its all about marketing people want small and portable so they give us just that but in order to justify price differences they fit a slower chip less RAM and storage the last two of which are reletavely inexpensive With XPs days numbered and Vista needing at least 2Gb RAM to run properly you have to wonder where netbooks are going in terms of supply and demand With flash drives being held back by over-pricing in order to avoid a huge stock-pile of obsolete disk drives manufacturers will hav to find some other way of grading and pricing products
Andy (London) said: Eric I agree Ive been keeping a close eye on the netbook form-factor laptop developments for a while specifically in conjunction with the W7 build releases My Lenovo S10e flies under W7 build v6956 and v7000 its truly a pleasure to work with and real contender for enterprises performance issues - There isnt any The only sticking point is a slick docking solution The ergonomics associated with netbook keyboards will see health amp safety dictate the number of hours youre allowed to work on these tiny wonders Im sick of port replicators and docking bays theyve always been an after thought It cant be that difficult
Paul said: youre talking a significantly smaller carbon footprint Thats all very 2008 As was chicken flu in 2007 Now its all about economic survival not silly little toys like the Acer Aspire One and its ilkAs to most companies having spare XP Licenses considering the scale of staffing cutbacks most companies will have licenses to spare swop sell and paper the urinals with
Harry said: For years I have guessed that all that the average surfing plonker needs is 1GHz Pentium 3Sadly many have ended up reading the glossy PC mags and listening to computer reviews from hollow and pleading headed reviewers And in doing so they find themselves buying a Vista Ready my quad core from PCWadsSorry Eric no flamings yet