MeeGo Netbooks : The Lilliput Army takes over

If you still havent heard of netbooks, then you must have been living in a cave for quite some time now. Over the past three years or so, the little cousin of the laptop pc has become increasingly popular. Essentially a smaller version of the laptop, with a smaller screen, lower specifications, and features such as the optical drive omitted, the netbook provides a compact and economical computing solution. 


While Windows still remains the popular OS, there have been other OSes developed specifically for low powered devices such as MeeGo, Ubuntu netbook, Splashtop and Android. While you cannot expect these devices to be able to run cutting edge games or full HD video, they are more than sufficient for one's everyday internet browsing, social networking, media playing and general office work such as word processing, spreadsheets, etc.


Since the processors are generally very power-economical, the netbook tends to run for around 4-5 hours even on a 4 cell battery. Today, netbooks make a very cheap yet effective computing solution - and amongst them the ones that ship with free OSes become even more economical as compared to Windows based netbooks.


Here I shall list two Value-for-money netbooks from Asus and Samsung, running Meego. Both of them are based on the Intel Atom and cost around Rs 12000 in India. Meego provides a simple and fresh interface that is easy to use. 

Asus X101


Specifications 

Operating System	MeeGo
Display Graphics	10.1" LED Backlight WSVGA (1024x600) Screen Intel GMA 3150 Onboard Graphics
CPU | Chipset	Intel® Atom™ N455 Processor 1.66Ghz    |   Intel NM10 chipset
Memory	DDR3, 1 x SO-DIMM, 1GB ( Maximum 2GB )
Storage	250 GB 5400rpm SATA Hard Disk
Wireless Data Network	WLAN 802.11 b/g/n@2.4GHz*1 Bluetooth V3.0*1
Camera	0.3 M Pixel Camera
Audio Mic	High Quality Speaker Internal mic
Interface	2 x USB 2.0 1 x Audio Jack (Headphone/Headset) 1 x Card Reader : Micro SD VGA port RJ 45 LAN port
Battery	4hrs (3cells, 28W/h) battery life
Dimensions	262 x 180 x 17.6 mm (WxDxH)
Weight	0.92 Kgs (w/ 3cell battery)
Color	Texture : Black, Red, White, Brown

 Samsung N100

Operation System	Operation System	MeeGo™
Processor	Processor	Intel® ATOM™ Processor N435 (1.33GHz, 667MHz, 512KB)
Display	LCD	25.65cm (10.1) WSVGA LED Display (1024 x 600), Anti-Reflective
Physical	Dimension (W x D x H mm)	264.0 x 188.0 x 26.7 ~ 34.7 (10.30" x 7.40" x 1.05" ~ 1.36")
	Weight (kg)	1.03 (2.27lbs)
Graphic	Graphic Processor	Intel GMA3150 (Int. Graphic)
	Graphic Memory	Shared with System Memory
Memory	System Memory	1GB DDR3 System Memory at 1,066MHz (1GB x 1)
	Memory Slot	1 DIMM Slots
Storage	HDD	320GB S-ATA II Hard Drive (5,400RPM)
Main Chipset	Main Chipset	Intel NM10
Multimedia	Sound	HD Audio
	Sound Effect	No SoundAlive™
	Speaker	1.5 watts Mono Speaker (1.5 watts x 1)
	Integrated Camera	Web Camera
Communication	Wired Ethernet LAN	10/100 LAN
	Wireless LAN	Intel® Centrino® Wireless-N 100, 1 x 1 802.11bg/n (up to 150Mbps)
I/O Port	VGA	Yes
	Headphone-out	Headphone-out
	Mic-in	Yes
	USB	2 x USB 2.0
	Multi Card Slot	4-in-1 (SD, SDHC, SDXC, MMC)
	RJ45 (LAN)	Yes
	DC-In (Power Port)	Yes
Input	Keyboard Type	83 Key 84 Key
	Touch Pad, Touch Screen	Touch Pad (Scroll Scope)
Security	Security	BIOS Boot Up Password HDD Password
	Lock	Kensington Lock Slot
	Recovery	No Samsung Recovery Solution
Power	AC Adapter	60 watts
	Standard Battery	6 Cell (upto around 10hrs backup)

Comparison 

Feature	Asus X101	Samsung N100
Processor	N455 1.6 Ghz single core	N435 1.33 Ghz single core
Hard drive	250GB 5400rpm	320 GB 5400rpm
Bluetooth	V3	No bluetooth
Battery	3 cell, 4-5 hours	6 cell, 8-10 hours
Price  (flipkart, Dec 2011)	Rs 11962	Rs 12983

What to buy?

Depends on what you want, finally. While the Samsung seems to have almost double the battery backup of the Asus and an extra 70 GB hard disk space, the Asus has bluetooth and a slightly faster processor. Also, the Samsung costs around Rs 1000 more.

If you are travel a lot, the Samsung's battery life may be a great advantage, although it lacks bluetooth. If one needs to connect devices such as phones using bluetooth, it could be added using a usb dongle usually available for around Rs 200-300.

The Asus on the other hand is slightly cheaper and has a faster processor which may perform slightly better playing videos and the like.

Ambiguity

Samsung N100 - Older models have 250GB hard drive; No internal mic on older models




Some other cheap netbooks are listed here.


Buy

Flipkart

Asus X101

Samsung N100

Letsbuy
Samsung N100