Ready to replace your netbook with a tablet?

Abe Olandres Editor-in-chief January 22, 2011 · 1 min read

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After CES 2011, we’ve seen a lot of tablet coming out this year in all shapes and sizes. Everybody’s coming out with their own iPad competitor and with Android 3.0 Honeycomb finally in the release stage, this should be more exciting.

There’s just so many manufacturers who are into tablets (specifically the Android flavor) — Asus, Acer, Lenovo, Toshiba, BlackBerry (RIM), Dell, MSI, HP and so many more (including local ones such as Cherry Mobile, RedFox and China-based Huawei).

With all the press tablets are getting, the netbooks seems to be left in the dust. Nothing really new to add to an already-mature device like netbooks.

Before, it was an easy choice when given the option to pick a netbook over a tablet. This year, I think it’s going to be different and people will be thinking a lot harder given the same circumstances (so much so if the netbook in question is a secondary device).

So let me hear your thoughts — would you pick a tablet over a netbook or the other way around?

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Abe Olandres

Editor-in-chief

Abe is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of YugaTech with over 20 years of experience in the technology industry. He is one of the pioneers of blogging in the country and is considered by many as the Father of Tech Blogging in the Philippines.

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180 Comments

tama eh! · 15 years ago

maybe a WINDOWS/MAC tablet with full-size USB port and a minimum of 64gb flash drive would do.

tama eh! · 15 years ago

paul wrote:

“…and they should not be considered as replacements but rather complements for your current laptops/netbooks and smartphones.”

malaking TAMA!

Ethan · 15 years ago

The thing with tablets is that the technology they pack today doesn’t allow for all that much productivity. That’s the main factor that sets netbooks & laptops apart from tablet computers. Tablets are all about media consumption; portable computers are for productivity.

But with the way technology is advancing, I foresee the introduction of a single all-in-one device that can handle EVERYTHING. Look at the Motorala Atrix and you’ll understand what I’m talking about.

Sabana · 15 years ago

Probably not.

1. I can’t connect my non-wifi devices to a tablet. 2. I can’t use an external optical drive
3. Nothing beats a keyboard for typing documents.
4. You can’t leave a tablet on overnight for downloading.. uh.. files ;)

Neil · 15 years ago

I will surely get the next generation Apple iPad.

ed · 15 years ago

Still, tablets have more limitations than netbooks. You can only store a few gig of data on tablets while you can store data on a netbook with 320GB of space. You can’t do many things in a tablet. I still prefer netbooks/notebooks when on a budget.

hyprmanic · 15 years ago

i’ve traded in my notebook for netbook a couple of years ago, and i haven’t really looked back since. i still have a nice desktop set-up at home, but my netbook is pretty handy when i need to be mobile. it can most of what i need. i don’t really need a dvd-rom anyway since i stream most of what i watch online, and my netbook has been up to the task so far.

i’m looking forward to the new asus tablets — i saw one set that yuga featured which pretty much ran win7. hopefully i can get to see how the thing runs once it gets here Q2/Q3 of this year.

if a tablet can do the things that i need to do on my netbook, then i’d gladly make the move. for now, i’m sticky with my joybook ^^

Bryan · 15 years ago

I’d go for a netbook now. I had the same view like yuga posted that netbooks are, more or less, at it’s pinnacle. Meaning, there’s nothing really to improve without compromising it’s size and energy efficiency.

On the other hand, I think there’re still a lot of room for improvement with tablets. Plus, just like most new technology, they come out really expensive at first but eventually new technology will replace those technology hence the price drop. For example, 2-3 years ago netbooks cost around 20k each. You can get one now around 13k.

AdRian · 15 years ago

i still prepare notebook.. because its an all in one device (keyboard/disk drive/programs/etc) and i can multitask easily in a notebook.. but i think tablet is good and needs more upgrade before changing to tablet..

but it depends on a persons need :D

rsa1 · 15 years ago

dear yuga, please write something worthwhile reading…

Siopao Master · 15 years ago

tablets being used by pro photographers to review their shots, netbooks used by students to easily chat..err create term papers. I guess it depends on the target market :D As for me, why not have both? Just kidding! I’ll go for a tablet because it’s easy to use anywhere compared to a netbook where you need a surface to type properly

BRyan · 15 years ago

Im really not a fan of tablets.. u have to hold it all the time if ur gonna use it and you have to buy additional stuffs like wireless keyboard and a stand just to have the comfort of not holding the entire device.. While a netbook or a laptop you just have to type all the way.. :) But of course it your preference..Cant wait of having a macbook air.. I can already feel it on my lap.. hahaha..

Micco Jay S. Bugtai · 15 years ago

if tablets would be able to support Photoshop and Illustrator..why not poknat?
hahahaha..

mr.bogus · 15 years ago

tablets still have limitations…

laptop pa rin… im a download addict!!!!

ipod touch is enough for me.. but i want to have samsung galaxy tab…

Manix · 15 years ago

the Tablet’s market is specially for those who already have a laptop and a smartphone, and looking for something in between mostly for media consumption.

i like the iPad and the Acer tablet.

Simon+Lana · 15 years ago

Tablets are the wave of the future in our opinion. Unless your work ties you down to a desk and you need a large screen or to do a lot of typing or precision work using the mouse, the near-instant, convenient and untethered access to your company’s information, real-time work-place data, ever-changing quotes (the equities market for example), personal data via the web and the like made possible by the tablet with its touch screen will bring it to central prominence more and more. It’s already more useful to my hubby and I than the clunky netbook or laptop, in the same way that our cell phone superseded the landline, pocket pager, snail mail. The functionality of the tablet’s simple form factor can only get better at what it’s good at we think.

JM · 15 years ago

Thanks to the Ipad I can now read my eComics and Magazines with ease. Can’t imagine reading magazines and comis on a NetBook or a laptop for 2 hours straight.

kimkae · 15 years ago

netbook pa rin, for productivity and entertainment too…

Jesse Pizarro Boga · 15 years ago

I find that tablets are only fun when surfing the net and watching videos. But for, say, writing and creating documents, I’d still prefer using the real keyboard on my notebook.

JP Custodio · 15 years ago

uhhmm for me it would be tablet, you can also put a keyboard for that if you want it to be a netbook, am I right?

Tristan · 15 years ago

I’ll go for tablet. I already have a PC & a laptop, which can do almost what I wanted to work on with. But with a tablet, I can be “on-the-go”, rather than having a netbook. Development of ultra-powered tablets are now on progress…

rob · 15 years ago

i’d still go for netbooks, simply because i can still have the features the tablets are giving me that tablets can’t to netbooks.

scoobydoo · 15 years ago

It would not be long before tablets get netbook or notebook hardware specs. When that happens netbooks would be history and tablets become standard. Asus is coming up with a sliding keyboard for their tablet, that is very innovative. As the time comes that you can slide the keyboard to access or hide it, then the possibility of tilting the screen to a comfortable angle when you need to type, coupled with a powerful processor, lots of ram, lots of disk space, powerful graphics processor, slim design. Wow!

Rose · 15 years ago

I’ll still go for a netbook, hands-down. But if someone gives me an iPad or a Galaxy Tab then I would still be grateful. :P

Raypin · 15 years ago

Tablets will probably catch up with the kind of numbers that netbooks have been sold in the last couple of years but I doubt whether netbooks will go away. It is still far cheaper than a tablet. Same with Smartphones….it’s the one phone that people have been raving about (in tech blogs, forums etc.) for years, but it will not replace “dumb” phones. Locally, Myphone recently announced that they sold 400,000 units in the last quarter of 2010. How many smartphones were sold in the same period? Probably less than 10,000.
Cheap, “dumb” phones(Php6,000 and below) but it still serves to remind us that for the vast majority of phone users, a smartphone is something that they don’t really care about.

One exception: India has a USD35.00 Android tablet in the works. If this is released to market, it may alter the equation and may bury the netbook category.

Edwin C · 15 years ago

Yuga, can a tablet do everything a netbook can? For example, torrent downloads, applications download- applications that are not for that particular tablet, photoshop? If I want another video player say, VLC, can I install that to a tablet? Can I install my celfon PC Suite to a tablet? If the answer to these is a resounding yes then, I might just get one.

Neojohan · 15 years ago

Yes I’m ready but my budget is not. Haha.

Kulam · 15 years ago

Hey, have the best of both worlds. wave of the future: tablet/netbook hybrids.

tfcnow01 · 15 years ago

right, its a personal preference depending on your computer needs, ah wait, what does my computer need? power, space, right temperature, so this is how someone decides to choose a tablet, notebook or netbook…

simplynice93 · 15 years ago

I would say that netbooks can be replaced by tablets because both are made for the sole purpose of browsing the Net. Laptop is still needed for office work, programming, gaming, blogging and other works that need a physical keyboard. But no one can deny that tablets is the future of computers.

Edwin d. Arceo · 15 years ago

I think the tablet like Apple’s has great potential to spplant the net book. It can do almost everything a net book can do in a much portable and coolnes factor.

gumz · 15 years ago

Well, netbook stills has the function I needed and handy.

Agree with futurology:

“But still it is a personal preference depending on your computer needs.”

kyle · 15 years ago

I think tablets are better suited for not-so techy people. Those who loves browsing the net, updating social networking status and posts for their personal blog. netbooks on the other hand are for people who does way beyond the normal use in which they do programming, hobby projects and light to mid gaming. As for me I’m still not comfortable using the touchscreen as a keyboard as if there’s missing when you’re touch typing.

rcsaint · 15 years ago

Me thinks netbooks will eventually be replaced by tablet pc. Netbooks were conceived out of the desire to make laptops to be more portable and convenient for travelers or businessmen to use(between home and workplace). Laptops are just too heavy and inconvenient to use without a table. Netbooks simply reduced the size and weight of laptops but did not provide a better user experience, a window of opportunity which Steve Job exploited when he designed the iPad. Nowadays, if you look around, majority of netbook users are simply browsing the internet – at the airport lounge, restaurants, and other places that people temporarily stay – in which tablet pc can provide a better user experience. No wonder, Chinese knockoffs of Ipad are selling like hotcakes. When the prices of Ipad and other branded tablets will become more affordable, I think netbooks will become a thing of the past.

Raymond · 15 years ago

When the Ipad came out, I, for the first time, was not too excited about it. The durability is something I still not comfortable with. And lastly, if one is used to the “carry-all, full packed capacity” of netbooks, its hard to switch, unless you have that “keeping up with the Jones'” hang-up. It may take a while for these tablets offer a unique, Xfactor, to make one swiftly switch to these oversized screen gadgets.

Jam. · 15 years ago

Tablets for me. Will wait for iPad 2 or Honeycomb

Paul · 15 years ago

@futurology

What Ethan said. I don’t think netbooks and laptops are that far apart in performance anymore. AMD Fusion and Intel ultraportables offer laptop performance at netbook sizes; it just so happens that some of today’s notebooks also offer desktop performance at laptop sizes. :D

I just choose to distinguish them to differentiate between their sizes, since when most people say laptop they usually mean 13-inches and larger, and netbook as 12-inches and smaller. But for the most part their form factor and function are the same.

Ethan · 15 years ago

The line that separates notebooks and netbooks will eventually disappear, due to the introduction of high-power ultraportables. That’s just the way it goes.

taksan · 15 years ago

it all depends on your needs.
I was actually wondering what to get on my next purchase, netbook or tablet.
it really depends on what you need.
I just wanted to check the net for news, updates and be to upload pictures right away which the ipad can do and netbook too. but for entertainment features i think the ipad can do more.

NemOry · 15 years ago

mas maganda cguro tablet pg hilig mu browsing and games, .

But pag programmer ka xempre netbook nlg installable kasi ng mga SDK, sa pag ka alam q d pa ako nakakita ng tablet na may SDK png gawa ng games at apps, dont kn0w yet,

jun · 15 years ago

I think as I already have notebook and ipod touch.. i think my target this year is a tablet… will wait for the version 3.0..

tfcnow01 · 15 years ago

netbook pala papalitan ng tablet, kala ko notebook, maari lamang ito base kung paano mo ginagamit yung netbook mo, kung pa browse browse ka lang eh, puede ka nang mag tablet.

tfcnow01 · 15 years ago

dati na naman me tablet ang ginawa lang ng Apple eh pinanipis, pinaganda, at ginawan ng capacitive touch display, the rest is katulad na nang anumang nagagawa ng dati. kakatuwa ngang isipin na sa karamihan eh parang bago ang tablet kasi di pa nakakakita o nakaka experience na gumamit. ganun pa man, ang notebook eh notebook, ang tablet eh tablet, kung ang tablet ang papalit sa notebook o netbook, sana huminto na nang paggawa ang Apple ng notebook. virtual keyboard, maari ngang mawala yung physical keyborad pero for now, pati OS development at application eh gawa pa rin using keyboard, hehehe,

ricardo isip · 15 years ago

@ futurology
i disagree with the virtual keyboard as the future technology. Voice to text and Voice command pho…..

ricardo isip · 15 years ago

i think tablets are the future technology in evolution. we just need lot more powerful processor with virtually no thermal radiation, most efficient OS and voice to text application 10 hour battery life minimum.

wala ako netbook, kaya pag available na ang 2 core tablet, bibili na me.

tantra2gadget · 15 years ago

Notebooks for me,but im planning to buy ipad tablet this summer..

Matt0-kun · 15 years ago

I still prefer notebooks :|

futurology · 15 years ago

i agree with Paul that tablets are complementary or should i say supplementary to a notebook but not a netbook which i think is underpowered. But still it is a personal preference depending on your computer needs. But given the advancement of technology, i predict that sooner or later all physical keyboards will be replaced by virtual keyboard but with advanced features. Look at the evolution of handwriting to typewriting to a computer keyboard to a virtual keyboard, anything imaginable can be done in due time of course. How i wish i can ride on a time machine and see the technology 100 years from now hehe or at least 30 years from now

Paul · 15 years ago

I think tablets have a closer nature to the mp3 player than with laptops/netbooks and smartphones.

That is, laptops and smartphones are essential for many people, it’s needed for their work or education.

mp3 players and now tablets aren’t, their functions can be easily substituted by your smartphone or laptop/netbook respectively. Since they are not essential, mp3 players and tablets are more like luxury items, and they should not be considered as replacements but rather complements for your current laptops/netbooks and smartphones.

Which makes me wonder why all those computer manufacturers treat tablet computers like the new form of computing which everyone will switch to sooner or later. Are they expecting the general consumer to buy into the hype?