I've recently had the pleasure of fiddling around with an Acer Netbook. You may have seen them advertised on TV recently, and there is a good reason that AT&T and Acer are doing this. With the economy in the state that its in, people are looking to save money anyway that they can and, let's face it, how much cheaper can you get than $299.99 for a portable computing experience. The Acer Aspire One Netbook Series is fantastic. It, unlike so many other products on the market, comes exactly as advertised. These netbooks come with a battery life of 3 hours, allowing for amazing portability. Obviously, they are not the most powerful computers, but they do what they should. For the average computer user Aspire One's serve their purpose. Internet is easy and convenient, whether you are on wifi or a cellular network. Now that I've hopefully convinced you to buy one of these products, I will list some great applications to get you started.
Office:
OpenOffice.org - OpenOffice.org is a free office suite. That's right. Free! It has all of the standard office apps and can access all the usual formats. Be sure to check this one out.
Communication:
Skype - With a netbook's pre-installed microphone and webcam, skype is the perfect way to stay in touch with friends and family.
AIM - As far as instant messangers go, aim for AIM. It is the most widely used instant messaging software out there and is extremely simple to use.
Gmail Offline - Need to access your gmail account on the go. No cellular network? No problem. For Gmail users, Gmail offline allows you to download your emails to your computers cache where you can later access them online or off.
Media:
Windows Media Player - WMP is standard on all Windows machines, but it is still fantastic for viewing AVI's and DVD's. Be sure to keep this around.
iTunes - iTunes, because of its growing popularity, is pretty self explanatory. You can purchase music, videos, podcasts, and applications. Along with this, also comes playback.
Quicktime - This comes in the iTunes package, do not uncheck this one. It comes in handy when watching, downloading, and converting (only pro users).
Internet Browser:
Google Chrome - I highly suggest the use of Google Chrome as your web browser of choice. It runs quickly and smoothly on netbooks and looks fantastic.
Also Try: Safari and Firefox Lite
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