Press releases

Netbooks: The Missing Manual--New from O'Reilly: An All-in-One Guide to Choosing and Using Your New Netbook

Press release: August 27, 2009

Sebastopol, CA—Netbooks are the hot new thing in PCs--small, inexpensive laptops designed for web browsing, email, and working with web-based programs. But chances are you don't know how to choose a netbook, let alone use one. Not to worry: Netbooks: The Missing Manual (O'Reilly Media, $24.99 USD) walks you through choosing and buying a netbook, setting one up, and all the common tasks you'll likely want to perform on your cool new device.

This all-in-one guide, by bestselling Missing Manual author and New York Times columnist J.D. Biersdorfer, covers all the basics of the popular new netbook PCs. There's info about everything from collaborating with others online and sharing photos to playing music and games. You'll also learn about connecting speakers, printers, keyboards and other hardware to your netbook. And as this book explains, you can save big bucks by using free software and Internet-based programs with your netbook.

Biersdorfer says, "This book isn't a guide to a specific model of netbook or a manual for just one operating system. It takes a look at what's currently available and offers instructions and advice that guide you through common tasks most netbook owners face. Readers learn things like setting up the netbook to work with a wireless network printer, organizing photos and posting them on the Web, using 'cloud' applications like Google Docs for word-processing, and more."

She continues, "Netbooks are one of the fastest-growing segments of the hardware market and show no sign of slowing down--especially in this economy, where people are looking for inexpensive tools that let them do what they need to do."

Netbooks: The Missing Manual provides easy-to-follow instructions and lots of advice to help you:

  • Learn the basics for using a Windows- or Linux-based netbook
  • Connect speakers, printers, keyboards, external hard drives, and other hardware
  • Get online using a wireless network, a public network, broadband cards, or dial-up
  • Write email, browse the Web, transfer bookmarks, and add tools to your web browser
  • Use business tools like Google Docs and Office for Netbooks
  • Collaborate with others online via instant messaging
  • Edit and share photos, play games, listen to music, and watch TV and movies online

You'll also learn about web-based backup and storage, staying secure online--especially when using wireless networks--as well as tips for troubleshooting. Netbooks point to the future of computing, and Netbooks: The Missing Manual will show you how to get there.

For a review copy or more information please email peyton@oreilly.com Please include your delivery address and contact information.

J.D. Biersdorfer is the author of iPod: The Missing Manual and The iPod Shuffle Fan Book, and is co-author of The Internet: The Missing Manual and the second edition of Google: The Missing Manual. She has been writing the weekly computer Q&A column for the Circuits section of The New York Times since 1998.

Additional Resources:
For more information about the book, including table of contents, index, author bios, and cover graphic, see: http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/9780596802233

Netbooks: The Missing Manual
J.D. Biersdorfer
ISBN: 9780596802233, 332 pages,
Book Price: $24.99 USD, £17.99 GBP
Ebook Price: $19.99 USD

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