Introduction:
It is clear computers are taking more and more space in our lives,
but the way we use them has changed drastically. They used to be
exclusively used by the wealthiest industries and took up hundreds of
square feet as well as weighed more than you could ever imagine. Now,
most of us have at least a desktop computer, but even though it is much
smaller than its predecessors, it is still way too big to carry. With
everyone wanting access to their email, stock or favorite website on
the go, laptops are increasing in market share while continuously
decreasing in size. That has led to ultra portables like the Lenovo
X300 and Macbook Air, but those are quite expensive and definitely not
targeted at a mainstream audience.
Fortunately for the consumer, almost a year ago now, Asus came up
with something that would revolutionize the notebook market - the Eee
PC. The 700 was the company's first attempt in that newly born market.
It featured a tiny 7 inch screen which was, for many people, way too
small and often considered as a kid notebook since the keyboard was
ridiculously small. The form factor created much interest, a full
featured computer in a form factor comparable to a tablet. In the
meantime, Asus was preparing something else for us. Shortly after, the
Eee 900 and 1000 appeared. Those ones were equipped with 8.9 and 10
inch screens, repectively, and a bigger chassis that enabled them to
squeeze a larger keyboard much better suited for everyone. Then came
the plethora of models, four of the original 7 inch, five 900s and
three 1000s. All are more or less similar, some using the Celeron
processor while others opted for Atom, others swapping the traditional
hard disk drive for a solid state drive.
With other manufacturers seeing how much success Asus was having
with its new line of sub-notebooks, or netbooks as Intel decided they
should be called, many, or most now, jumped on the bandwagon and
started designing their own. There's so much choice now, it is
confusing to attempt to choose the right one. Although HP's Mini Note
2133 came out first, it is more aimed toward business users, so MSI's
Wind was the first one to offer some real opposition against the Asus
EeePC. Unfortunately, the Wind's availability was, and still is,
limited so it never caught up. Other big names include Acer, Lenovo,
Dell, Samsung, Toshiba and many others. All of them use very similar
configurations, but one thing that is identical across all the
manufacturers is the platform and its processor – Atom.
Let's now see what this platform has to offer.
Continues : http://www.overclockersclub.com/
