Interest in netbooks has exploded over the past few months, a trend that has simultaneously managed to dent Microsoft's profits, increase consumer adoption of Linux as a mobile device OS, and incur the admiration (and disdain) of the IT community.
Regardless of what your attitude towards netbooks may be -- and you can give your opinion in our netbook poll -- it's clear that netbooks are helping bolster the profits of companies like Acer, ASUS, MSI, and Samsung.
As popular as netbooks are, it was inevitable that such a popular product would A) spawn a horde of imitators, and B) create a new ecosystem for netbook accessories and upgrades.
Such is the case with the popular Acer Aspire One netbook, which has benefited from a recent flood of netbook carrying cases, covers, USB storage, USB hard drives, and other gadgets and accoutrements.
AppDev President Craig Jensen stopped by the Windows IT Pro editorial offices recently to discuss the latest training and certification products his company offers (including their AppDev OnDemand training product), and extolled the virtues of his Acer Aspire One netbook with an aftermarket battery. "With this new battery I get about 8 hours of battery life," Jensen said. "It makes the netbook even more useful, as I can use it continuously on the plane, without having to swap out batteries." (Crummy, low-res phone photos of said battery below.)
Jensen swapped out the default two cell battery that shipped with the Aspire One with a 7200mAh 9 cell battery from Buy.com for about $80.
Have you found any must-have accessories for your netbook? Drop me an email at jjames@windowsitpro.com with your thoughts.
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