So Samsung has finally come out and said it will shortly launch a netbook, as I first mused after my visit to Samsung's HQ in May. The new netbook will have a 10.2in screen, will run Intel's Atom N270 processor and ship with 1024MB of memory and with Windows XP. But it is significantly later to market than many of its rivals.

I've no doubt that Samsung can make an impression here. The focus on the Asus Eee PC is fading and people are always inclined to buy from established names such as Samsung.

The price point of the new model will also be interesting as it'll show where Samsung thinks the model should sit – and we'll see how competitive the company wants to be, too. Dinesh Chand, UK notebook product marketing manager, told What Laptop the model will appeal to two sets of people.

"Firstly, netbooks will attract first-time buyers. They will exist as a means for people to connect to the internet and communicate. The low price and practical functionality will bring millions of new people into the global web."

"[Secondly] they will become supplementary PCs and access points for internet services, media and information. Samsung envisages a netbook for travelling, an extra PC for school work for the children and a PC set up in the house for consuming content on the web."

Do buyers understand?

Pitching a netbook as a supplementary PC is the right way to go, but will it work? It's true that netbooks are excellent for travelling and for light use and are ideal when used alongside other PCs. But there's a problem – and it lies with the consumer. Still I'm hearing stories of people returning netbooks because people just don't know what they're buying.

In the words of one system builder I spoke to yesterday. "people say they want to do photo and video editing on them!" In other words, they're going to PC World, seeing a mini Windows XP laptop for £349 and snapping it up.

The problem is that many of the 'first time buyers' Chand is talking about are these people. Netbook vendors need to do more to help them out.