If it has an 11.6" screen, is it still a netbook?
Maybe its just me, but the trend of netbooks growing and bloating up is a bit worrying. I know there are still 10.1" books and similar ones around, but the 8.9" seems to be all but extinct now.
Personally, I thought 8.9" was perfect, I'm still enjoying my little AOA-150 a year later. The typing is fine after you get used to it, and the small size more than made up for it. I can appreciate a better CPU & GPU, ability to handle more than 1.5GB memory, etc, but these things are getting big, most well over 3 lbs now with these 11.6" netbooks.
Example... the new Aspire AS1410 measures 11.22" w x 8.03" l x 0.87-1.18" h. Not bad mind you, though it fails my personal "smaller than a sheet of paper" (US Letter size) test. My AOA-150 measures 9.80″ w x 6.70″ l x 1.14″ h. That's perfect for carrying anywhere easily. And it may not seem like much, but the AS1410 is roughly 14.5% wider and nearly 20% longer than the AOA-150.
[8.9" Aspire One scaled comparison to the 11.6" Acer AS1410 netbook.]
I still think anything that can't fit within a standard sheet of paper isn't a netbook. Maybe there needs to be another category?
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cappydawg
Matt
At what point does the growth stop adding to the form factor and start taking away? 80% of what I do daily can be accomplished on a netbook, the smaller the better, as long as it has a good keyboard and screen.
I don't mind 10.1", I hope the manufacturers stick with that format for some time, and keep adding on to them. I'd love to see souped up 8.9"s (Nvidia ION, dual core Atom, etc), but I'm not holding my breath.