Cool things to do with netbooks: If you have gotten yourself a netbook, you are basking in the glory of the ultra slim form factor, great battery life and sleek design. Not to mention, the portable device has already given you lots of admirers.
However, your netbook can extend beyond simple mobile computing and give you a whole range of features that you had no idea about. If the offer sounds tempting, here are three cool things you did not probably know was possible with your notebook:
It can be used as an overseas mobile solution: If you make lots of overseas business calls, your netbook could end up being your golden money saving platform. You can cut down on those high bills drastically with a little piece of free software available for your netbook. The first thing you should do is to install a calling software called Skype and make sure that the person you want to talk to also has Skype installed on his or her computer. Then all you need to do is to connect your netbook to the internet, create a Skype account for free and start a voice chat to any person in the world. The quality is crystal clear and it allows you to video chat over 3G networks. Mobile calling has never been easier.
It can act as a server for your home or office site: When we think servers, we think of a huge room full of complex connected computers being cooled using a special system. While hi tech servers do work that way, your simple little netbook can end up being your own personal server for web hosting purposes. All you need to do is to install a distribution called XAMPP that is available for Windows, Linux and OSX. Once you configure it and get it up and running, you can run a virtual Apache web server right from your netbook. It supports lots of different platforms and server netbooks with their long battery life can keep your site accessible for hours in a single charge.
It can become a source of wireless gaming: Most modern netbooks come with discrete graphics cards for good gaming performances. A major issue faced by gamers is the small keyboard that can cause the wrong keys to be pressed in gaming. Thankfully, your netbook can become the hub of wireless gaming if you plan ahead. All you need is a Bluetooth dongle, software like Blue Soleil and glovepie and a wireless controller. You can easily configure your XBOX 360 or Playstation controller via bluetooth and use it to play the latest games. If you have the proper script, even the Nintendo Wii Remote can be used for more advanced gaming. With Microsoft’s Kinect and Sony’s Playstation Move, wireless gaming in the future could take a whole new direction, but for now your netbook is still the king.
A netbook has a lot of hidden tweaks and features for performance but these three cool mods are sure to please every user. The next time someone calls your netbook a low powered computing device, you can have a few tricks up your sleeve to show them.