Spine =.76” Computers/Hardware/General ™ Want to streamline your Making Everything Easier! life with a netbook? Here’s what you need to know! Open the book and find: Netbooks What’s smaller than a laptop, bigger than a cell phone, and • What to compare when choosing keeps you connected? It’s the netbook, and this “real” book a netbook tells you how to pick the right one; use it for work, school, • The different operating systems and play; and add bells, whistles, and anything else you that run on netbooks might need. The book also covers all the operating systems • The differences between netbooks that run on netbooks, including Linux®, Google™ Chrome, Netbooks and traditional laptops Windows® XP, Windows Vista®, and even Windows® 7. • Tips for making batteries last • Out of the box — set up your netbook, charge the battery, and longer sync it with your primary computer • The best accessories for your • Get connected — via Wi-Fi, 3G networks, Bluetooth®, or Ethernet netbook • Do some work — explore Microsoft® Works, OpenOffice.org®, • How to keep your netbook Google Apps™, and Zoho® productivity suites running smoothly — and quickly • Play time — discover free Internet radio, streaming video, and • GPS units that work well with games you can play on your netbook your netbook • Keep up with your peeps — tweet and IM, keep up with Facebook friends, and make Skype phone calls • Even netbooks like accessories — check out ways to expand storage, protect your netbook with a case, and add a mouse • Safety first — find quality antivirus programs, firewalls, and Learn to: encryption options • Compare features of these small, Go to Dummies.com® ultraportable computers to pick the one • The maintenance mantra — learn about backing up and restoring for videos, step-by-step examples, that works best for you your netbook, troubleshooting, and managing battery life how-to articles, or to shop! • Set up a netbook and explore free online and downloadable applications • Play games, watch videos, and listen to music on the go with your netbook $24.99 US / $29.99 CN / £17.99 UK • Surf the Web and work online from Joel McNamara has been a computer aficionado since the dawn of the ISBN 978-0-470-52123-6 almost anywhere PC. He has served as a developer, technical writer, and manager in various high-tech companies. The author of GPS For Dummies and Secrets of Computer Espionage: Tactics & Countermeasures, he might be considered a Renaissance geek. McNamara Joel McNamara Spine =.76” Get More and Do More at Dummies.com® Start with FREE Cheat Sheets Cheat Sheets include • Checklists • Charts • Common Instructions • And Other Good Stuff! To access the Cheat Sheet created specifically for this book, go to www.dummies.com/cheatsheet/netbooks Get Smart at Dummies.com Dummies.com makes your life easier with 1,000s of answers on everything from removing wallpaper to using the latest version of Windows. Check out our • Videos • Illustrated Articles • Step-by-Step Instructions Plus, each month you can win valuable prizes by entering our Dummies.com sweepstakes. * Want a weekly dose of Dummies? Sign up for Newsletters on • Digital Photography • Microsoft Windows & Office • Personal Finance & Investing • Health & Wellness • Computing, iPods & Cell Phones • eBay • Internet • Food, Home & Garden Find out “HOW” at Dummies.com *Sweepstakes not currently available in all countries; visit Dummies.com for official rules. Netbooks FOR DUMmIES‰ 01 521236-ffirs.indd i 9/18/09 10:38:25 PM 01 521236-ffirs.indd ii 9/18/09 10:38:25 PM Netbooks FOR DUMmIES‰ by Joel McNamara 01 521236-ffirs.indd iii 9/18/09 10:38:25 PM Netbooks For Dummies® Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc. 111 River Street Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774 www.wiley.com Copyright © 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana Published simultaneously in Canada No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permit- ted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 646-8600. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) 748-6011, fax (201) 748-6008, or online at http:// www.wiley.com/go/permissions. Trademarks: Wiley, the Wiley Publishing logo, For Dummies, the Dummies Man logo, A Reference for the Rest of Us!, The Dummies Way, Dummies Daily, The Fun and Easy Way, Dummies.com, Making Everything Easier, and related trade dress are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and/ or its affi liates in the United States and other countries, and may not be used without written permission. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Wiley Publishing, Inc., is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book. 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Library of Congress Control Number: 2009935829 ISBN: 978-0-470-52123-6 Manufactured in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 01 521236-ffirs.indd iv 9/18/09 10:38:25 PM About the Author Joel McNamara started using computers in the early Cenozoic era of personal computing (1980 to be exact). If NorthStar Horizon, ARPANET, PDP-11, Kaypro, and Apple Lisa ring a bell (when dinosaurs roamed the earth), like in the movie Zelig, he was there. Over the years, Joel has worked as a programmer, techni- cal writer, and manager for a number of companies in the high-tech sector. Joel currently consults and writes on things he fi nds interesting. Living in an undisclosed location somewhere in the Pacifi c Northwest, he likes boats of all kinds and is fond of old-school technologies such as celestial navigation and Morse Code. Joel is also the author of ASUS Eee PC For Dummies, GPS For Dummies (1st and 2nd Editions), Geocaching For Dummies, and Secrets of Computer Espionage: Tactics & Countermeasures — all brought to you by Wiley Publishing, Inc. 01 521236-ffirs.indd v 9/18/09 10:38:26 PM Spine =.76” Get More and Do More at Dummies.com® Start with FREE Cheat Sheets Cheat Sheets include • Checklists • Charts • Common Instructions • And Other Good Stuff! To access the Cheat Sheet created specifically for this book, go to www.dummies.com/cheatsheet/netbooks Get Smart at Dummies.com Dummies.com makes your life easier with 1,000s of answers on everything from removing wallpaper to using the latest version of Windows. Check out our • Videos • Illustrated Articles • Step-by-Step Instructions Plus, each month you can win valuable prizes by entering our Dummies.com sweepstakes. * Want a weekly dose of Dummies? Sign up for Newsletters on • Digital Photography • Microsoft Windows & Office • Personal Finance & Investing • Health & Wellness • Computing, iPods & Cell Phones • eBay • Internet • Food, Home & Garden Find out “HOW” at Dummies.com *Sweepstakes not currently available in all countries; visit Dummies.com for official rules. 01 521236-ffirs.indd vi 9/18/09 10:38:26 PM Author’s Acknowledgments Thanks to ASUS and Dell for loaning me a few of their latest netbook models. And much gratitude to the talented folks at Wiley for transforming a collec- tion of ideas and words into a real, live book — specifi cally acquisitions edi- tors Katie Mohr and Tiffany Ma, project editor Chris Morris, technical editor Jim Kelly, copy editor Virginia Sanders, and anyone else who was involved with this title that I didn’t have a chance to virtually meet. It’s always a plea- sure working with pros. 01 521236-ffirs.indd vii 9/18/09 10:38:26 PM Publisher’s Acknowledgments We’re proud of this book; please send us your comments at http://dummies.custhelp.com. For other comments, please contact our Customer Care Department within the U.S.