Ultra-Quiet Netbooks in the Pipeline

While netbook sales have slowed in Western markets and their headline-grabbing potential has subsided, manufacturers and Intel are still taking netbook product ranges forward. 

The arrival of Intel Atom Cedar Trail processors and falling SSD prices should allow upcoming netbooks to run silently—or at least very quietly. These new-generation CPUs give off very little heat—so little, in fact, that devices loaded with them won't need a fan, the noisiest component in any computer. Plus, using a 32 GB or 64 GB SSD instead of a standard HDD will cut noise output even further. However, storage capacity will be reduced in turn, as most current netbooks ship with 320 GB of hard drive space.

But while the netbook market is considerably calmer in Europe these days, there's growing demand for this kind of device in emerging markets. Although netbooks are somewhat restricted by their less-powerful components, these mini-laptops still some of the most financially accessible computers around.

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