• Tweet

• Tweet

As an industry develops, products branch out to cover many niches.  Look at vehicles. After a century of development, we have cars, wagons, SUVs, crossovers, sports cars, hybrids, trucks, etc.  With product differentiation, manufacturers can sell to a greater number of people.
.
The same thing has happened with computers in the past 10 years. This post will cover the different categories that computers are filed into and the general features that each category contains.

Desktop

Desktops are the big daddy of the personal computing world.  They were the first on the scene back in the 80s, and they haven’t changed much since then.  Desktops allow for the most powerful possibilities of (normal) home computing while remaining relatively affordable.  Also, desktops are the only machine you can build from scratch and are the easiest type of computer to upgrade.  Why are they so cheap and easy to upgrade?  Well, have you ever looked inside your tower computer (if you have one)?  There’s a bunch of empty space.  This means that they’re great boxes for your nice motherboards, graphics cards, and everything else.  Also, with all that room, cooling is not nearly as much of an issue when compared to other computers that have the circuitry stacked on top of each other.

• Able to upgrade
• Relatively cheap
• Easy temperature management
• Modular repairs and upgrades (If the monitor is old/breaks, buy a new one – If you want a better CPU, put one in)
• The largest computer option

Nettop

A nettop is a step down from a desktop in the hierarchy of computers, but some would argue that it’s a better solution.

First off, allow me to explain what appending anything with “net” means (see nettop, netbook).  This means that the device is meant to be a great internet browser.  A nettop is like a desktop for people who know that the primary use will be for the internet.

Imagine taking the elements from inside a laptop and squeezing them behind a flat screen monitor: that’s what a nettop is.  Why do we call it that?  Nettops are best suited for less intensive computing tasks.  Any Office program, simple games, and internet browsing are what this computer is for.  Think of it this way: a nettop can handle anything except for intense media editing (graphics, audio, video) and the newest video games.

When a computer is an “all-in-one”, it’s forced to have a more selective level of components due to the limited space that the manufacturers are allowed to play with.  This means that some components will be not as powerful as their desktop counterparts, or that some components might be more expensive.

Side note: I personally own a computer that’s about halfway between a desktop and a nettop.  My iMac was built to have very impressive specifications and can handle many kinds of programs, including Photoshop, movie editing, and intense gaming. The only major difference between it and a desktop is that my iMac is basically un-upgradable (save a RAM upgrade).  If anything breaks (such as the monitor), I need to have the whole computer unit serviced.

• More expensive, due to the all-in-one nature of the computer
• Cannot conduct major upgrades
• Generally less powerful than (cheaper) desktops
• Sleek and good looking

Laptop

Though we all know what a laptop is, we might not completely understand where it fits on this list.  Laptops are inherently more expensive than the two computers above; however it’s the tool of choice for the business world because it is the most powerful device in the portable domain.

Laptops are priced like they are because, in addition to the costs of stacking and miniaturizing all the components of the computer (as mentioned in the section above), the machine has to actually move mechanically.  Think about it: laptops have to open and shut many times a day. Laptops are placed on laps, tables, floors, or any other surface that presents itself.  In addition to this new mechanical component of design, laptops have to withstand moderate abuse from being in a bag or being moved around all day long.  Also, laptops have to be somewhat portable.

Take all the above into consideration, and you’ve just added a bunch of design parameters that weren’t present before.  Laptops at their core are not too upgradable, but there are some key components that can be changed out: the RAM, battery, and hard drive to name a few.

• Portable but powerful
• Expensive
• Limited upgrades

Netbook

Netbooks were popularized around late 2008 and have come into their own niche since then.  You can expect to find a 1.6 GHz processor, a 160 GB hard drive or a smaller solid state drive, and 1 GB of RAM, normally around 533 MHz.  Netbooks are generally either 7″, 8.9″, 10.1″, or 12″, though I think the 12″ ones aren’t true netbooks because of their size.  [Note that the sizes quoted here are screen sizes in diagonal inches.]  I can find refurbished netbooks for as cheap as $220.

These computers are the new portable workhorse.  On a netbook, you can do things that a smart phone can’t – you’re running a full OS.  That being said, don’t expect this computer to replace a daily computer.  There are many things that a netbook can’t do well: game, handle heavy programs, and be comfortable to use.  As with the nettop mentioned before, these computers are made to browse the internet.  Some of these netbooks will also have a wireless card built into them (3G being the prevalent type at the time of this writing), but these netbooks require a contract with a cell company.

The act of actually using a netbook presents challenges to some.  Netbooks have small keyboards and small trackpads.  Personally, I am fine with the keyboard, but don’t like the mouse experience.

• Amazingly small
• Affordable
• Will not replace your normal computer – more of a supplement
• Not powerful
• Cannot conduct upgrades

iPad / Tablets

I haven’t been able to touch an iPad yet, but we can still discuss what niche it fills.  The iPad is a step beneath a netbook.  It has comprable specifications – 1 GHz processor, ~64 GB HD space – but it is not an open source computer.  What I mean by that is you can only run one operating system on it, and you can only install things that work with that one operating system.

On a normal computer, if I want to upgrade my OS I just buy the newer one.  I can also install free operating systems, such as Linux or Ubuntu, and from that point do anything under the sun to my computer.  An iPad is a closed piece of hardware, and it can only run programs (or “Apps”, as Apple is calling them) that people design for the iPad/iPhone OS and that Apple approves.  This is a huge thing here – Apple has to approve a program that goes on the iPad.

All that being said, it is going to be a wonderful internet and media device.  I can browse the internet with a very small device, and I can do tasks such as word processing, spreadsheets, and even make PowerPoints! [Keynote presentations, as Apple calls them.]  The iPad also has a 3G option, so you can get internet over Wi-Fi and cell towers. Learn more about the iPad on Apple’s site.

There are other tablets coming mainstream, most notably the HP Slate.  It looks amazing, just like Apple’s tablet, and it has a larger processor and a bunch of ports on it.  It’s also running a version of Windows 7, so the closed operating system is not an issue as it is with the above.  Looking at the amount of media buzz, it looks like the Slate is going to be the iPad’s main contender, just as Android phones are the main contenders for the iPhone.  I am personally very excited for this HP’s release.

• Great for browsing the internet, even on a long car ride
• Relatively affordable
• Stylish
• Will not replace a computer
• “Luxury” ticket item
• Closed source hardware (iPad only)

Side note: devices like the iPad are replacing (and revitalizing) the segment of the market that used to be dominated by UMPCs, or Ultra-Mobile PCs.

Phone

Google Android.  iPhone.  Blackberry.  Anyone who’s used these devices (or anything similar) knows how amazing it is to have the ability to get on the real internet wherever you are.  I say “real” because when you go to a webpage on these phones, you’re most likely seeing what you’d see if you were on your computer at home going to that same site.

These phones have revolutionized how we get work done, and have ushered in a new age for mobile computing.  Perhaps soon our computers will not be needed for any basic work.

What other niches might there be out there?  Do you own or know of any other devices that inhabit them?  Shout ‘em out in the comments below.