Moorhead talks netbook weaknesses
Intel can't keep up with demand for its low-power Atom processors, and various manufacturers are rolling out Atom-powered netbooks at an increasingly rapid pace.
Over in Sunnyvale, California, AMD looks set to combat the successful Atom chip with a series of Athlon-based Ultra-Value Client processors, but AMD's Pat Moorhead, vice president of advanced marketing, thinks netbooks aren't all they're made out to be.
The netbook itself is defined as a low-cost ultraportable system aimed at putting computers into the hands of, well, just about everyone. Moorhead, however, put a selection of netbooks to the test and his conclusion is simply that he "wouldn't, couldn't recommend these cheap mini-notebooks in their current state and configuration."
We all know that netbooks are small, portable and supposedly cheap, but what about their disadvantages? Moorhead states that "it is VERY important that consumers are educated to their weaknesses as well as their strengths, and all I see talked about are the strengths, a disservice to consumers in my opinion."
Earlier this month, Moorhead documented a trip to Florida in which he needed to capture videos and pictures for sharing on websites such as YouTube and Flickr. Armed with MSI's Wind U100 netbook and a handful of camcorder equipment, he ran into three major problems; extremely short battery life, choppy 720p video playback, and choppy Internet video.
