Netbook Review – Acer, Asus Netbook Review

If you’re thinking of getting a netbook, and the only thing stopping you is the fear that Adobe’s reader is going to crash on you, or windows media player is going to hang for a minute before getting into playing a particular video file…have no fear. Check out our list of best free netbook softwares which are fast, easy, functional and aren’t a strain on processors.

1. Google Chrome

The days of Internet Explorer are over. There’s a whole slew of newer, faster browsers out there and our pick is Google’s Chrome. It opens almost instanteously and almost never hangs of its own accord. Another big plus point is that it recognizes each website as a separate process. So if one hangs, you don’t need to restart the entire browser.

2. Open Office

Many netbooks are pre-installed with this office suite, and a part of the reason is that it’s free. Another reason is that it’s much easier on the CPU than Microsoft’s Office. Open Office lets you do the whole gamut – creating and editing spreadsheets, documents, presentations,  and drawings. It even reads MS Office 2007 files. While the 142 MB install may take some time, you’ll be rewarded with such netbook-friendly features as a single interface to switch between all applications and a zoom scroll to enlarge text.

3. AVG Anti-Virus, Free

So this is a anti-virus program. What sets it apart? Well, firstly it’s quite good protection against spyware, adware, viruses and all the baddies of the net. It also does this without hogging up netbook resources, which means you won’t even know its on. AVG doesn’t have the prettiest interface out there, but we think it’s way more effective than some of the other paid programs out there. There are a few features that are missing in the free version like safe downloads and instant messaging protection, but overall it’s a great package.

4. Foxit PDF Reader

This pdf reader puts Adobe to absolute shame. This software install is not just a netbook recommendation – it should be rewritten over every Adobe reader out there on any console. What Foxit have basically done is taken an existing product and ironed out all the kinks. They’ve based their interface on Adobe, so there’s not much ambiguity once you start using it. Previous versions hogged memory, but Foxit have fixed all that with their latest offering.

5. VLC Media Player

Didn’t you just hate when a media player didn’t play a particular file, causing a huge search for these weird contraptions called “codecs” that would help enable you to play files. Well with the VLC Media Player, those days are well and truly over. This compact little media player looks a bit ancient (kinda like windows media player classic) but it plays almost all files without a hiccup. The installer is just 116 kb. Talk about efficiency.

Stay tuned for Part II.

Filed under: Netbook