Great Accessories for Cheap $99 Mini Netbooks

Did you get a Mini Netbook for Christmas? In 2010, CVS and Kmart both sold mini netbooks for about $99. For Black Friday, the Sylvania 7-inch Netbook sold for a mere $95 at CVS. Kmart had the Augen GenBook74 for $99. But on Christmas morning, both machines left users with questions: What can this machine do? How can improve my experience as a mini netbook user? Both machines posed software challenges due to limited selection of applications. Fortunately, there is no lack of accessories for mini netbooks. Here are several accessories that make life easier for mini netbook users.

A Mini Netbook Bag: No matter how small your computer is, you need a way to carry it and protect it from abuse. One of the nicest bags for a mini netbook is the Belkin Top-Loader Messenger Bag that sells for about $20 at Target and other retailers. Designed for "laptops up to 10.2 inches," the Belkin Top-Loader Messenger Bag is solidly constructed black canvas bag with a single compartment that is divided into a padded section for your precious new toy and a second section for power cables and other accessories. It comes with a shoulder strap that can be easily removed. Of course, as soon as I got it home, my wife reminded me that it looks a bit like a man purse.

A Mini Netbook Sleeve: Since men don't carry purses, the next best option is a netbook sleeve. Made of neoprene, a netbook sleeve is a simple zippered pouch that will fit your netbook like a glove and offer a degree of protection against scratches and dings. While CVS had a netbook sleeve that was specifically branded for my CVS Sylvania 7-inch Netbook,when I visited my local CVS the SKU had not been entered into their computer system. Again Target had plenty of appropriately sized sleeves. I found one for about $14 that fit my Augen GenBook 74 perfectly and even had a seperate zippered compartment for accessories. Unfortunately, when you add a bunch of accessories, a netbook sleeve will look like a sack of potatoes.

A USB Mouse : The latest crop of cheap mini netbooks from CVS, Kmart, and eBay may be limited in many ways, but they are blessed with a number of USB ports. If you've given grandma a mini netbook just so she can check her g-mail account, you'd be pretty cruel not to give her a mouse. Tiny keyboards require dexterity and a mouse will make the user experience much smoother. If you are struggling with Android apps that re-orient your screen on an Augen GenBook74, you can sometimes just re-orient your mini-net ook and your mouse and keep on working where it would be hard to figure out how to move your fingers on a re-oriented touchpad. If you keep your eyes open you can find a no frills USB mouse for about $6.00.

Speakers: Netbook speakers are not great. The Sylvania CVS Netbook has built in speakers, but they are quiet and underpowered. Fortunately, there are lots of inexpensive portable speaker systems on the market. Stores like T.J. Maxx, Ross, and Marshalls usually have lots of small battery-powered speakers for less than $10 a pair. I paired my Augen GenBook 74 with an internet radio app and a $7.00 pairof iWave Infinity 2.0 speakers to make a nifty little sound system. While the speakers were originally intended as an iPod accessory, they worked just fine on my mini netbooks.

If you are too young to remember the Timex-Sinclair, TRS-80, or Coleco ADAM, you may never have experienced a computer with limitations. However, unique minimalist computers can be fun to maximize. You can be productive with a Mini Netbook. I just wrote this article on a Sylvania 7-inch netbook from CVS. The cheap little Mini Netbooks can take a little patience, but a few inexpensive accessories can make using them much more enjoyable.