PRINCETON, N.J. – Mobile devices, such as tablets, laptops, netbooks and cell phones, make big sales, but at Best Buy in Princeton, “netbooks are phasing out,” and tablets are replacing them.
At Best Buy store in Princeton, tablets are currently replacing netbooks as laptops remain good buys.
According to a Best Buy Sales Associate, Wolff Traversiere, “The netbooks pretty much phased out since the tablets came in.”
A Best Buy Mobile Sales Consultant, who wishes to remain anonymous, added that, “The netbooks phased out because the tablets have touchscreen, more battery life and are more portable.”
Even though mobile devices are very popular, Traversiere also said there are now all-in-one desktop computers and people are buying them because they save space and have more power.
The Best Buy Mobile Sales Consultant said the new all-in-one desktop computers are somewhat preferred to the older desktops because owners can also use them as flat screen televisions if they have the right adaptors.
But he also said that, “generally older people are still buying the older, traditional desktop computers because they don’t like change. They stick with what they know.” He added, “And, they think everything is too fast.”
Although people are not buying netbooks as much, college students and parents are still buying the laptops for themselves and their school children, said Traversiere.
In her study from 2010, Audrey Watters writes that, 98 per cent of students own computers. However, “desktop ownership has declined by more than 25 per cent…”
She writes that laptop usage has increased accordingly, with 89 per cent of students saying they own a laptop or netbook.
Infographic by Michelle Dryden
But some still prefer desktops for some of their tasks, like video editing, said the Best Buy Mobile Sales Consultant. He said desktops tend to have more power than laptops.
Lisa Brand concludes that laptops are chosen more when one has to move about from place to place. She writes that the features are almost the same nowadays, so it is up to the user to make the choice. However, she said for longer performance and long hours of multitasking use, most people still choose a desktop.
Netbooks came on the market in smaller sizes than laptops to offer more convenience and portability. However, according to Mark Kyrnin, they also come with more sacrifices in processor, keyboard size, screen size, hard-drive, disc drive and operating system. They are lacking in these areas. Therefore, people are buying laptops and tablets instead of buying netbooks
Tablets compare in price and performance to netbooks. The tablets do the same as netbooks, except word processing, but they are more popular, writes Adroit Alien in his report.
Best Buy still has the Samsung and the ASUS netbooks for sale. The Samsung screen size is 13.3 inches while the ASUS screen size is 11.6 inches. Most tablets are smaller with screen sizes of seven to 10 inches.
According to Traversiere people buy the tablets for gaming, luxury, business, checking e-mails, surfing the web and for pleasure.