Buy Netbooks or Mini-Laptops
Netbooks – also called mini-laptops – are low-cost and highly portable systems. The systems are used for basic computing: send email, browse Internet, and edit or create simple document. You can used the netbooks comfortably at anytime and anywhere, because of its smaller size and longer battery life than most notebooks.
Students and mobile workers are typically using the netbooks. And they usually use the systems as companion or secondary PCs.
Buy Netbooks or Mini-laptops
If you plan to buy a netbook, here are the typical specs of netbooks mostly on the market.
Processor
A newer netbook come with an Intel's Atom N450 1.66MHz processor. The processor consumes less power. They will not only makes battery life lasts longer, but its performance is also better than the predecessor, Atom N270.
RAM
New netbooks come with 1GB of RAM and they are upgradable up to 2GB.
Hard Disk Drive
The capacity of hard disk drive now is 250GB. They are typically (for netbooks) spinning at 5400 rpm - higher is better (faster).
Wireless Connectivity
Wi-Fi is a standard feature of netbooks. Most netbooks offer 802.11g standard, and a few models come with the newer 802.11n standard. But the new standard doesn't speed up your Web surfing significanly. Many models also support Bluetooth. If you will use Bluetooth devices, make sure your netbooks support the Bluetooth.
Wireless Broadband
Some models have wireless broadband connectivity. As with cell phone, there will be a service contract with the carriers. If you need the mobile broadband connectivity, you may be better off buying a USB broadband modem, you can move it between your netbook and other laptop or PC.
Size
Netbook thickness are about 1-inch and weigh under 3 pounds for 10-inch netbooks. Larger netbooks (11-12-inch screens) have larger size and a little more weight but they have more comfortable (larger) keyboard.
Screen
Netbooks typically have 10,1-inch screen size and resolution of 1024x600 or 1024x576 pixels. A resolution of 1024x600 is better than 1024x576. On 11- and 12-inch netbooks usually have resolutions of 1280x800 or 1366x768.
Keyboard
Netbook keyboards are smaller than most notebooks. But you can find on certain models that have close or even full size keyboards – the same size as traditional notebooks. Also for the touchpad, larger is better.
Battery
The newer netbooks come with Intel's Atom N450 processors that consume less power. It means longer battery life for netbooks. The 6-cell battery on a certain netbook can last up to 10.5 hours. There are also available netbooks with 3-cell battery, the price difference is typically $50 or less.