Netbooks added to Tablet Decision Maker

The Mobile Device Decision Maker, which I wrote about in a previous blog post, has been updated now to include netbooks. The new spreadsheet can be found at the link above.

Originally I didn't include netbooks because--in my mind--netbooks aren't really a separate category. They're just a low end laptop. However, after consideration, I decided that a) in many people's minds, they ARE a separate category, b) there is a noticeable difference in ability between netbooks and the kind of laptop that I was scoring in the "laptop" category, and c) the spreadsheet WAS distinguishing between high end and low end Android devices, so it was only fair that I also distinguish between these upper end laptops and a netbook.

In addition to adding netbooks, I also added a 41st descriptor to the spreadsheet: "Boot Up / Wake Up Time." I added that as a result of considering the question of "Exactly what is it about netbooks that makes them less desirable than--say--an iPad?". One answer is the overall processing time of the netbooks is slower (a web page that a powerful desktop might pull up in a second and an iPad in a second and a half might take a netbook 8 or 10 seconds to open), but another problem with netbooks is the overall time it takes to boot them or wake them up. They're definitely not "instant on."

In any event, as I said when I first created this spreadsheet, I'm just one guy, so if you feel my scoring of the netbook--or any other device, for that matter--isn't quite right, let me know and together you and I can figure out what it ought to be.