The 4 Essential Netbook Accessories Everyone Should Own
It wasn’t so long ago that the Eee Pc seemed itself like an accessory with it’s tiny 7” screen; some didn’t know whether to take it seriously or not, but we’ve come light-years ahead with these small stylish notebooks. In just two years, an entire industry has materialized so fast we can barely keep up with which manufacturer has the latest technology, a task made infinitely more difficult when brands like Acer seem to issue a new model every month!
Now this ex-accessory essential has fostered a slew of it’s own accessories, and given the stylish market atmosphere of netbooks themselves, it can only follow that their respective accessories are going to be flashy and indispensable. As you can imagine, with such a variety of netbooks available, we can expect a horde of netbook accessories to follow, and in the ensuing onslaught, have the money drained right out of our pockets. So, given the inevitability of this scenario, a list of the most useful and efficient (and of course stylish) accessories should give you an idea of what to expect in your Christmas stocking this year.
1) USB, Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth Mouse
Just as with standard laptops, a regular mouse is almost an absolute requirement, especially if you intend to do any gaming whatsoever. Touch pads are a great technology, but there’s no getting around their limitations. The only question with this accessory is which one, out of the sheer choices available, is best suited for the highly portable netbook. The Kensington Slimblade Mouse
2) HP OfficeJet H470 Mobile Printer
It doesn’t get any niftier than these mini printers that fit in your hand and can print beautiful graphics and photos on the go, either by direct USB connection , Bluetooth, or Wi-Fi. Both models are so small that people are bound to look at you with wonderment when you pull this gadget out, and all of a sudden, a colorful business proposal starts shooting out. Almost everyone has shared the experience of playing the “desperate scavenger printer hunt“ game, whether for your term paper or your presentation expected in 10 minutes. It’s usually played in the midst of road-rage inducing traffic in a mad dash to get somewhere important when, all of a sudden, you become painfully aware that you seem to have mistaken a stack of scratch paper for the report you’re due to give. Just imagine the freedom and peace of mind that having a portable cordless printer in the back seat of your car can provide. Instead of calling information to find the closest copy shop, you can pull over and press the print button, and without even attaching any cords, your replacement copy is ready! Expect to see many developments in these fantastic mini printers, because chances are, the next printer you buy will be one.
So, you’ve got your USB mouse, USB keyboard, several flash drives or external hard drives, a printer, and a digital camera loaded with pictures your kids from your last vacation that you plan on annoying your co-workers with. But, now that you’ve been talked into so many accessories, your left kind of puzzled as to just how you’re going to get all this stuff to work together. Since the standard netbook comes with 3 USB ports, a Swivel Hub (which Belkin currently markets for $29) is a fantastic accessory that will double the USB capacity of your netbook by occupying one port and splitting into 4 more. If you’re still at a loss for enough USB ports, then you’re probably overloading the functional capacity of your poor netbook. At just $29, this little gadget should become as common place as the electrical plug power strip.
Though the need for this highly extendable mount might not seem immediately evident, it might just save your netbook from total meltdown. Overheating is one of the top killers of Laptops (second only to being thrown out of a high-rise office window), and with the increasing processing power of netbooks, the same unfortunate fate is sure to follow. There is absolutely nothing more frustrating (except Windows Vista) than realizing that the foul odor emanating from your PC is the smell of your business plans and records lost forever. Get in the habit of keeping your netbook on an extendable desk mount such as the very sensibly priced LapWorks $29 model. It’s designed to allow maximum airflow to keep your PC comfortably cool, and could possibly end up saving you a massive headache and expense of hard drive failure.