Will CULV Notebooks Kill The Netbook Craze?

From I4U -

A recent NPD study showed that 60% of netbook owners were disappointed with their machines as they were expecting more functionality. While it is a misguided standard, it does spell trouble with CULV (consumer ultra-low voltage) notebooks on the horizon.

Due out this Fall, the first batch of CULVs will have extremely long-lasting batteries and much thinner profiles than traditional notebooks, putting them in direct competition with netbooks. Except that they will have 12 to 13" displays and much faster processors.

Netbooks, however, will still always have the price advantage, but that might not be enough. CULVs will cost around $600-1000, good enough to let them compete against with high-end netbooks. After all, very few customers, that is, if the NPD study is accurate, given the same price more or less, are going to choose a smaller machine that lacks an optical drive and has a slower processor over one that is faster and more powerful but weighs only a little more.

Of course, there are still those who of us who need to be able to compute while standing up in a train or walking around on campus. For us, real netbooks - the cheaper ones, that is - are our only choice.