Laptop buying advice forum: I like the portability of Netbooks, but is it for me?

I have 2 laptop computers and a "netbook". The laptops stay in their bags most of the time because it's much more convenient to take the netbook. Mine has an 80 GB hard drive and I save stuff on a 32 GB usb flash drive. Haven't figured out for my life why I'd need an optical drive. I have a usb dvd drive to load applications, but I don't need to take it with me for business purposes. The netbook is overkill on speed for the applications that I use, such as Office programs, internet use, and viewing photos taken with my 15 mb Canon EOS camera. The smaller size of the netbook is really nice and I can pack it in the saddle bag on my bike for road trips. I paid about $190 for mine about 1-1/2 years ago. I can pack the netbook, it's power supply, a mouse & pad, and a usb flash card reader in its small bag that weighs a lot less than my wife's purse (and smaller too).

Netbooks are good for using the internet, e mails, and writing word documents. Because of the limitations in RAM, hard drive speed, and CPU's that generally come installed in Netbooks, they are not the best for much else. People like them because they are so small, and are great for surfing the net. One more thing to keep in mind if you are thinking of getting a netbook, they do not come with a DVD drive to watch DVD movies.

At least at Radio Shack ("The Schack"), I've seen add-on chipsets for an extra GB of RAM on netbooks they sell. However, netbooks at some manufacturers' websites, such as Dell, do not indicate that they can be upgraded with more memory, so shop around.

Unless you work like a surgeon, any garage (or workshop) is plety of dust, when not liquids splitting or steams. It's the worst environment for a normal PC / notebook / netbook. What you need in that case is e special rugged model. There are some of them as notebooks. Not always the newest electronics inside, but robust and resistant enough in a tough environment.

Cheap USB keyboards and corded/cordless mice can be added to any netbook/computer used in a messy/dirty area. The price makes them almost disposable and a piece of plastic wrap will keep the keyboard clean enough. You'd only ever have to touch the power button on the netbook and you could do that when you hands were still clean.

Hi Fran,
I talk to dozens of people every week about what kind of platform best suits THEM for their computing needs. The industry as a whole has made giant leaps to downsize the size and weight of mobile devices and many have done it with a great deal of success. But you're going to need to ask yourself a few questions before you have an answer that fits YOU.

Personally, I'm not a big fan of Netbooks. You mentioned some of the obvious shortcomings like the limited Hard Drive space, minimal RAM. But you're mistaken about those components slowing down your computer. The speed on Netbooks is throttled at the CPU. Most all Netbooks run on an Intel Atom processor. The cheap ones are agonizingly slow. The second thing slowing you down is the Graphics chip. Although Netbooks usually have a sharp picture, it's only because of the limited size of the screen. The cheap ones have terrible graphics processors that use up your small amount of RAM. Finally, Netbooks have no DVD/CD drive. This means that if you want to load new applications on them you have to download them and install them from the desktop (if that option is available). You can always purchase an external DVD drive at a reasonable price, but again we come to the question of how you want to use your device.

You mentioned things like portability, e-reader capable, gaming, internet, video player and music player as items that interested you. If this is the case, you might consider an I-Pad. You can do all of these things on an I-pad and they're coming out with different apps every day. I don't own one, but for simple mobile functions like you're talking about it looks like a good bet.

There are also lots of smaller, lighter knee-tops (small form factor) coming out but once again, most of them don't have built-in DVD drives. But heck, everything will be wireless in 5 years, including all of your apps. Microsoft provides most of their Office apps right on line (in the cloud). Over the next year, I expect to see a lot of movement in this ultra-lightweight laptop market.

Finally, like most of us our budget is a factor too. You can fork out $1,500 for a Macbook Air, $880 for a top of the line I-Pad, or as little as $250.00 for a cheap Netbook. It seems like in this world, when you get more - you can expect to pay more. I've seen $500.00 Netbooks with all of the bells and whistles that run Windows 7 without a hitch.

Bottom line for this old timer is; I'm going to wait another year to see how this new market irons out. This goes for the new line of BIG SCREEN TVs too. It's beyond my imagination how you can shop for a 55" TV with 1080p, and the prices range from $500.00 to $3,500.00. Yikes!!!

I expect that between the Spring - Fall of next year, there are going to be a lot of nice deals in this ultra-portable market.

Good Luck

Mine's an HP Mini 311, it has 11" screen (1366x768 res), Nvidia ION GPU, 2 GB of RAM, and 250 GB of HD. The bottleneck (as told by Windows 7's WEI) is the Intel Atom CPU.

But I can't really complain. It has HDMI ouput, Altec-Lansing speakers, and an external DVD?RW with Dual-Layer and Lightscribe support.

All in all, for 160 USD, it's a good bargain.

According to this video, it runs Quake 4 quite well: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VZ0L_3tzDM

THAT SAID... for a GAMING platform, go for a full-fledged notebook.

A netbook is cheap enough that you can have both it and a more powerful computer. No one computer is ideal for all uses. I compare the netbook vs. laptop/desktop question to camera choices. A Canon EOS DSLR takes great pictures, but it's too bulky to take with you on random trips. A netbook is a like a point-and-shoot camera: it's small enough and light enough to throw in a bag "just in case". Most camera buffs have both types.

As owners of both I can tell you that if you want any kind of speed while on the Internet or when trying to do any kind of applications, then you'll hate a netbook. If you're only looking for price and you're willing to live with a whole lot less than it might work but I have found that with my 3.2 pound Acer I have used it hardly at all when I'm constantly grabbing my 4 1/2 pound Sony Vaio with an Intel I-3. The Sony cost me three times as much but I use it 100 times more. It's all about trade offs and the sad fact is we can't have it all. The lighter the unit the less power to compute you'll have to live with. Go with a very lightweight full and real notebook and I think you'll be happy with your purchase in the end. Notebooks have gone nowhere as far as improving since they hit the market in January of 2009. Now I wonder why? Because you can get a whopping strong computer that really can handle anything for only around 1 1/2 pounds more plus of course quite a bit more cash. My netbook was the worst waste of money I've ever spent since it's just so darn limited in just about everything it can't do.

Netbooks allow for the most basic Internet functionality - and that, by design, is pretty much it. As a 'first computer' for a child (such as a 10-year old niece, who is getting one this Christmas), they provide a lower cost alternative to a Laptop.

An Adult, however, will invariably have the need arise to do more than just 'basic' functionality - and so would be well advised to skip Netbooks altogether, and proceed into Laptops. Even the very cheapest Laptops offer up at least DOUBLE the computing power of even the best Netbooks.

So my advice - as one who has been dealing with Computers for 30 years, and Laptops for over 15 years - is GO WITH A LAPTOP. You'll be a LOT happier in the long run.

I would also get one with at least a dual-core Processor - which is pretty much the 'standard' now. Avoid those with either Intel Celeron or AMD Sempron, which are single-core processors, and just aren't up to snuff.

The desktop is and always was king for power, reliability and affordablilty.
The laptop came in and portable became king but at a price. Slower, more expensive, less power, less reliable.
The netbook came in to bring down the price... but at a price. Pretty much made for browsing, email, etc. You won't run many (if any) apps or games. Not made for that (but they usually won't tell you that in the store) Down the road they may get a little more power but they'll never compare to a laptop or desktop.

I was headed for a real vacation but promised I would leave my laptop at home. I did need to keep up on e-mail, check in on the WEB, etc. So 15 months ago I bought an ASUS w/ XP, 10.1 screen, Intel Atom280, 1G 160G HD, 6 Cell battery (really 7-8 hours,)camera Skypes, etc. Best PC for its use I have ever had. The point is it is not a production machine, but beats the heck out of my laptop, desktop, smart phone for throwing into the carry and going on vacation! This is the only PC my wife , a total MAC'er, will use when traveling. W/BS DVD drive(I've used 0nly for music) it cost $410.

I'm going through the same decision-making process. I like the portability and low price of netbooks, but really want a little more power than netbooks generally provide. I've considered both the iPad and Android tablets, and may go that route after the market matures a bit. Right now I'm leaning toward netbooks with the new dual-core Atom processors; by Spring, we may start seeing "nearly-notebook" netbooks or tablets that can serve as single-solution portable devices for most of us.

If I absolutely had to buy today, I'd have to go with either a high-end netbook or a thin-and-light notebook with dimensions similar to the largest netbooks -- and perhaps a spare battery and car-socket charger that could go into the bag along with my cordless mouse (I hate touchpads), USB drives, pens, scratchpad and other items. Yes, I know carrying all that partially negates the appeal ofa netbook-sized device, but I'm spoiled and want a portable version of my computer-room experience available to me wherever I am. If I don't need it all, the bag can stay in the car while I surf the Web over a latte.

With 2 15.6" notebooks and a desktop at home I needed a small, ultra-portable device I could slip into my briefcase. I didn't need gaming, photo-editing or any other heavy-hitting apps, just the net, Office, video media players - simple stuff. The resolution and screen size of the 10.1" models weren't adequate, and slow (Atom 270/420).
So I went with HP's DM1 - 11.6", notebook resolution, dual core SU2300 processor, 2 mega of RAM (expandable to 5), Altec Lansing audio, etc. A fantastic machine - fits into a netbook carrying case and takes very little space in my bag. Not strictly a netbook, but well worth the price of 349 Euro.
If you want simple apps on the go, this is a great machine - much better than any 10.1" netbook, and no, I don't work for HP, just a happy customer!