Netbook sales slow, and the return rate can be high—but how are they for e-books?
Netbook sales fell by 21 percent in Q1, and the return rate can be high, as much as 30 percent at some resellers. But if e-books are your main app on them, does it matter? I’d welcome feedback.
Caveat: Keep in mind that regular laptops are also experiencing a sales slump.
May 14th, 2009 at 7:26 pm
I’ve got an EEE PC 701, currently running eeebuntu on it. I spend a LOT, really a LOT, of time reading ebooks on it. The main things I’d change, screen size and keyboard. Reading html I’m fine because the font reflows as I change the font size. Reading pdf I sometimes run into problems with the text size. If the file was created with a smaller font and smaller margins, I just can’t make it big enough to read comfortably and end up squinting and straining my eyes. The keyboard is just kind of in the way. I usually end up curled up with the keyboard resting on my arm but that can get a little warm after a while. Clearly they’re not stopping me from reading all the time, but it would be nice to not have to work around them.
I *really* want a 9 inch screen tablet netbook. I think that would pretty much solve my problems, and I’ve got one on pre-order so I’ll see in a month or so.