Big screens, piles of memory and extra processing power used to be what people lusted after in their laptop. Today, it is the power to put your laptop in your handbag or briefcase that most people want.
To meet this demand, laptop makers have come up with a cheap and cheerful miniature laptop known as a netbook.
A netbook boasts modest power and ability, but is cheap and easy to carry around. Its screen and keyboard are no bigger than 9 or 10 inches in size (compared to most laptops, which have 15 inch screens). They are built for web-browsing, word-processing and a few other light activities. And they are proving wildly popular, both with students, travellers and others who want a second machine for (mainly) internet related stuff.
So what are the pros and cons of buying a netbook instead of a full sized laptop?
First, the pros
Portability
Netbooks come in 7-inch, 8-inch, 9-inch and, sometimes, 10-inch versions. They are also much lighter than ordinary laptops: under 1kg compared to a full sized machine’s 2.5kg. This means they can be transported with ease, and will not wrench your shoulder out of its socket.
They’re cheap
Most netbooks vary from €300 to €400. That places them below virtually every full-sized laptop in pricing terms.
They come with XP and not Vista
Microsoft Vista has generally proven to be an unpopular operating system: it demands a lot of power and can be very slow. Because netbooks have limited power (and single-core processors), they come with Windows XP, which is a quicker and less fussy operating system.
Now,let’s look at the cons to consider when purchasing a netbook
They have no CD or DVD drive
Many people like the option of watching a TV show or a movie on their laptop if they are travelling. Netbooks do not have CD or DVD drives. So if you want to watch a movie, you must purchase an external DVD drive or load a film onto a USB memory stick (which is often illegal).
Keyboards and tracking pads are small
Large netbooks, such as Samsung’s NC10, have decently sized keyboards. But some models, such as Asus’s 7-inch EEE PC or Toshiba’s NB100, have tiny keyboards that are very difficult to use fluently, particularly for an adult male. Some models’ tracking pads are also very small.
Battery life
While battery life is a reliable two hours, it is rarely any longer. This means that access to a recharging spot is frequently needed.
Low memory levels
Some netbooks come with a fine 120GB hard drive, big enough to suit any purpose. But some come with a lowly 8GB flash drive. To put this into context, the standard iPod now comes with a 120GB hard drive. So you won’t fit too much data, songs or photos on one of the lower-memory models.
Those are the pros and cons. So among the dozen or so models on the market, which ones are worth looking at?
Here are three to consider
1. Samsung NC10
This may be the best overall netbook on the market. Its screen is crisp and bright, its keyboard is big enough to use fluently and it comes with a fine hard drive (up to 160GB). This is arguably the pick of the bunch.
Price: €400 from Peats
2. Dell Mini 9
Dell’s netbook is an impressive machine, slickly packaged. It comes with either Windows XP or Linux Ubuntu (the latter operating system cuts the price by about €70). It has a lowly 8GB of flash memory, but this does improve battery life, giving up to 2.5 hours.
Price: from €280 at www.dell.ie
3. Elonex Webbook
This device is cheap, cheerful and reliable. It has plenty of USB ports (for connecting to external devices) and gives the quintessential netbook experience at the lower end of the budgetary range.
Price: €340 from The Carphone Warehouse
* Adrian Weckler is the Technology Editor The Sunday Business Post
Tags: Adrian Weckler, computers, netbook advice
(1 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5)
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I was looking at some netbooks last week and they said their battery power lasts up to 9 hours.
Hi Adrian, youre way off on the battery life, even the crap netbooks have battery life of 3-4 hours while the good ones get 6-8 hours. Cheers
does it take memory cards? does it come with windows 7? does it come with linux? will it work on the mobile “broadband”. Is it wifi, yeah? why is the samsung the pick of the bunch? is it a hard drive or a solid state device that it comes with? Ahem.