Netbooks are breaking all the rules—longer battery life, lightweight, and easy to use. And best of all is the low price. Whether you already own a netbook or are considering purchasing one, the good news doesn’t end there, however. Throw in some free open source and “cloud computing” software and you’ve got yourself a powerful little computer at a fraction of the cost of the bigger laptops and desktops. This book is all about finding the best netbook for your needs and then keeping the cost of netbook ownership down. You can choose to spend some of your savings on a few “must have” extras such as a CD/DVD burner and a nice carrying case or save even more money by installing some (or all) of the 100% free software covered in the chapters of this book.

Windows Netbooks: The Path to Low Cost Computing is your guide to pushing a netbook to its maximum potential and keeping spending to an absolute minimum. Learn how to protect your netbook with 100% free antivirus applications and then get to work with 100% free word processing, spreadsheet, email, calendar, and presentation applications. You’ll find these and many more applications, along with helpful discussions on netbook hardware and maintenance, that will super-charge your netbook, your productivity, and your Internet time.

In this book you’ll learn how to

• Optimize your netbook's performance
• Make the most of a small screen
• Secure your netbook
• Dual-boot Linux and Windows
• Upgrade your netbook's hardware
• Install new applications on your netbook

Who is this book for?

All netbook users who want to know the nifty features and experience the power hidden in netbooks.

Stop paying for software. A world full of high–quality software is out there that you don’t have to spend a dime for. If you’ve just spent your entire computing budget on a PC only to find that you need software to do anything interesting, this is the book that will show you how to get what you need without wreaking havoc on your finances. Install the right software to make a great work computer for no extra cost.

Packed with the practical, hands–on guidance and technical know–how that you’ve come to expect from Apress, Don’t Spend A Dime: The Path to Low–Cost Computing takes you on a tour of the very best zero–cost software in each of the many categories that matter to the typical PC user. Learn to edit photos on the Internet without having to install any software at all. Find out where to get a free office suite for word processing and spreadsheet work. Whatever your need, James Kelly, best–selling technology author, guides you through the exciting and often confusing world of zero–cost computing. This book

• Tells you what you need to install to have a fantastic work computer without spending a dime
• Saves you money by showing you how to meet your computing needs
• Saves you time by pointing you directly to the best free software
• Saves you work by illustrating the most commonly performed tasks with each zero–cost software
• Gives you choices and the ability to make your own decisions for your own needs and requirements

Before you go buy that $400.00 office suite—or worse, before you “borrow” it from work—stop! Let this book show you how to save hundreds of dollars in expensive software. Learn all about the free tools that the digerati use to make their lives better, and stop paying out the nose for software. Don’t spend a dime!

What you’ll learn

• Find and install the best zero–cost software available.
• Learn about software as a service and take advantage of photo editing, calendaring, e–mail, and other functionality delivered at no cost via the Web.
• Manage your money using the “Quicken killer”—a rock–solid, full–featured, zero–cost finance application that puts your finances in order with just a few clicks.
• Harness the power of OpenOffice and Google Apps for your word processing and spreadsheet (and presentation too!) needs.
• Communicate with your friends through zero–cost voice calls, e–mail, and instant messaging.
• Establish a presence on the Web through blogs and social networking sites such as Facebook.

Who is this book for?

Don’t Spend a Dime: Never Pay for Software Again! is aimed at students, small–business owners, retirees, educators, and just plain regular folk who aren’t blessed with large budgets and who must squeeze a dime’s worth of value from every penny they earn. You might also be a computer genius who just wants a convenient list of all the best software and easy links to downloading all you need quickly.

Buy this book if

• You’re tired of spending hundreds of dollars on commercial software only to end up paying all over again as you get caught in the “upgrade treadmill.”
• You’re a computer whiz who has to set up other people’s machines.
• You are a student or retiree on a budget.
• You are a small–business owner needing the power of technology without the expense.
• You want to save money and have fun at the same time.

You know that Ubuntu software costs nothing. Now you want the PC system that costs as little as possible and runs Ubuntu and OS applications without complaints and calls to tech support.

So you spend your hard–earned dollars on the hardware only and have your own optimized Ubuntu PC. This is the book that will show you how to get what you need without wreaking havoc on your finances. Put together the parts to make a great work computer for little cost.

Packed with the practical, hands–on guidance and technical know–how that you’ve come to expect from Apress, Ubuntu on a Dime takes you on a tour of the very best, but low–cost hardware, while only using zero–cost software in each of the many categories that matter to the typical PC user.

You’ll learn how to find the best and cheapest hardware, and how to put it together to make a working PC. Learn to edit photos on the Internet without having to install any software at all. Find out where to get a free office suite for word processing and spreadsheet work. Whatever your need, James Kelly, best–selling technology author, guides you through the exciting and often confusing world of zero–cost computing.

This book

• Takes you step–by–step through a PC build
• Tells you what you need to install to have a fantastic work computer without spending a dime
• Saves you money by showing you how to meet your computing needs
• Saves you time by pointing you directly to the best free software
• Saves you work by illustrating the most commonly performed tasks with each zero–cost software
• Gives you choices and the ability to make your own decisions for your own needs and requirements

Before you go buy that $900 dollar computer and that $400 office suite—or worse, before you “borrow” it from work—stop! Let this inexpensive book show you how to save hundreds of dollars in expensive software, and never depend on the big PC providers and their tech support again. Learn all about cheap, but fast hardware, find out about the free tools that the digerati use to make their lives better, and stop paying out the nose. Don't spend a dime!

What you’ll learn

• Source, buy, and put together the best hardware to make a cheap PC optimized for Ubuntu Linux.
• Find and install the best zero–cost software available.
• Learn about software as a service and take advantage of photo editing, calendaring, e-mail, and other functionality delivered at no cost via the Web.
• Harness the power of OpenOffice and Google Apps for your word processing, spreadsheet, presentation needs.
• Communicate with your friends through zero–cost voice calls, e-mail, and instant–messaging.
• Establish a presence on the Web through blogs and social networking sites such as Facebook.

Who is this book for?

Ubuntu on a Dime: Building a Ubuntu PC on Less Than $300 is aimed at students, small–business owners, retirees, educators, and just plain regular folk who aren’t blessed with large budgets, who must squeeze a dime’s worth of value from every penny they earn.

Buy this book if:

• You’re tired of spending hundreds of dollars with commercial PC suppliers only to end up paying all over again in time and lost resources as you get caught in “tech support hell.”
• You’re a computer whiz who has to set up other people’s machines.
• You are a student or retiree on a budget.
• You are a small–business owner needing the power of technology, but without the expense.
• You want to save money and have fun at the same time.