What’s the point of a disconnected netbook?

The netbook, whether it be an Asus Eee PC, MSI Wind, HP Mini Note, Acer Aspire One or Elonex One, has been an unrivalled success in a PC market that is otherwise under pressure.

But what value, if any, can be derived from one of these machines if it is not connected to an active network, or at the very least, to the internet?

In short, when outside of high-speed internet access range, they go from revolutionary to an oversized digital notepad.

The idea behind today's incarnation of the netbook is that consumers-on-the-go primarily use computers for email, to write documents, manage spreadsheets and surf the web. Not a problem if you are connected to a broadband connection, such as a home network, a university campus or an area with WiMax, the emerging high-speed wireless technology that can blanket entire cities.

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Unconnected, the machine's usefulness is limited.

"I am convinced this class of products will sing when WiMax comes out," said Rob Enderle, principal analyst at The Enderle Group. "It kind of depends on ... being always connected. As a disconnected device, outside of email and word processing, it's not quite as interesting."

"It's more focused on the future than on the present."

The latest in this genre is Dell's Inspiron Mini 9, a 900g machine with a 9in screen and integrated Wi-Fi. At 269-299 depending on whether you go for Linux or Windows, it is similar to the devices mentioned at the beginning of this article and others aiming at youngsters who prefer a full screen and keyboard to thumbing on smartphones.

"We think that price is ... affordable," said John Thode, a vice president at Dell. "We find that that is the right kind of price to encourage (the purchase of) second and third devices in a person's portfolio."

Dell's netbook is as light as Apple's MacBook Air, but smaller by about 10cm in screen size. The MacBook Air also boasts an 80GB 1.8in hard drive, and costs about 800 more.

"It (this category) could potentially be bigger than the existing laptop market," Enderle said. "If you believe in the cloud computing [services centrally stored remotely on networks rather than on your device] model of the future, this is the kind of product that leads up to that future."

And makers of these computers must not forget the ever-present threat that impulse buyers might find that the iPhone or iPod Touch soothes their craving for a low-cost, web-enabled computer, even thought its screen is only 3-inches, and it lacks a full keyboard.

(Additional reporting by Chris Green, IT PRO)