Asus is running a survey that solicits feedback about the company’es Eee PC netbooks. The first half of the survey asks general background questions such as whether you’re male or female, how much money you make, and which Eee PC models you own. But things start to get interesting in the Usage sections of the survey.

Basically, the questions ask what kind of peripherals you plug into your netbook, which built-in features you use (Bluetooth, Webcam, card reader, multitouch trackpad, etc), and how you feel about the computer’s hardware. Some of my favorite questions ask what you think of the glossy, fingerprint-prone lid and the metric ton of Asus Eee-branded software that Asus loads on its netbooks. I don’t know anybody that actually uses the Eee Dock, for example. So whether you love it, or hate it, this survey gives you a chance to let Asus know.

Asus also wants to know which of its two latest keyboard designs you prefer. If you’re having trouble telling them apart, the one on the left features a smaller shift key on the lower right side, but larger arrow and PgUp and PgDn buttons. The keyboard on the left also features an island or chiclet-style design, with space between the keys.

via Blogeee

Back to school season is already upon us, and Retrevo conducted a survey to see what kind of laptops students are planning to buy. 34 percent said netbooks, with 49 percent opting for “full-sized” PC laptops. Apple, which has historically done pretty well for itself with students isn’t as popular a choice this year, with 58% of student shopers saying they plan to spend $750 or less on a laptop. The only way you’ll be able to pick up a Macbook for that price is if you find a used or maybe a refurbished model.

Of course, the study could be skewed. The questions were asked to a sample of visitors to Retrevo’s consumer electronics marketplace, but maybe Mac users are less likely to visit. It’s not exactly a random sample of all students interested in purchasing laptops.

via Biz Journals

PC Pitstop offers online diagnostic tools for finding problems with your PC and tuning it up. In other words, they come in contact with a lot of PC users. This week the company published the results of a survey asking netbook user about their satisfaction with their little laptops. The results? Overall, it looks like a lot people are pretty happy with their netbooks. The top 9 machines had user ratings of 3 or more stars out of 4.

The MSI Wind U100, Asus Eee PC 1000HE, Samsung NC10, Asus Eee PC 1000H, and Acer Aspire One snagged the top 5 spots. And fewer than 17% of the people owning each of those netbooks complain that their systems are slow. Less than 6% complained about their computers freezing.

Of course, an Intel Atom based computer is going to be slower than a lot of laptops out there. But the point is that these netbooks are fast enough for most of the tasks users expect them to run, and customer satisfaction seems to be pretty high.

via Technologizer

A few weeks ago ThinkFree released a suite of office applications specifically designed for netbooks with low resolution displays. The software runs on your computer, but you can also synchronize documents with ThinkFree’s online service. The full version of the software costs $50, but if you filled out a survey when the product was first launched, the company should have sent you a free license key by today.

ThinkFree has also released some of the findings from the survey, which received over 4000 responses. Now keep in mind, this isn’t exactly a representative sample of all netbook users. Rather, it’s people who were made aware of the promotion and felt motivated enough to fill out a survey in exchange for software they may or may not use. That said, here’s some of what ThinkFree found.

People are using netbooks for business, entertainment, and communication. Popular uses inclue contact, calendar, and task management, posting to blogs, browsing the web, listening to music, and sending email, IMs, or making VoIP calls using Skype or similar software.

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