Gadget Blog

Mini laptops, otherwise known as Netbooks, are getting more and more popular these days. Every major computer company has at east one, if not more models out, and it seems that more and more people are deciding to buy these incredible mini computers.

Pros for the Netbook

1. Especially in the current economy, they are an excellent way to get the computing power that a person needs in a small package that is easily portable and affordable. With the increasing cost of electronics overall and especially computers, have been buying refurbished laptops, or Netbooks, which allow for a more affordable mobile computing option.

2. They are good for travel and commuters, sometimes are the best laptops for students who can’t afford anything better, and a person who has very few needs in a computer. This is how they got their name: the platform was originally created as something that could only go on the Internet and word process.

3. They are cheaper than any other mobile computer and come in models under $200. And, if you do not need a lot of performance or a high-powered laptop the price makes the Netbook a great alternative.

Disadvantages

There are several cons to Netbooks versus laptops.

1. The most obvious disadvantage is their small size, especially with the screen, screen, which is the biggest turn off for many. This makes it much harder to see especially if you plan to use the Netbook as a primary computing machine.

2. They also sometimes do not have a full size keyboard or, in some cases, a decent sized mouse. For example, the most recent model of HP mini has a keyboard that is only 80 percent of standard size, with a smaller mouse with buttons to either side, rather than at the bottom. This is far from user friendly.

3. The other main negative to buying a Netbook is the smaller amount of computing power. Most Netbooks today only come with 1 GB of ram and a 1.6 GHz processor. Most do not even have a graphics card. This is more than sufficient for simple tasks such as word processing, email, Internet and more.

You probably won’t be playing any recent games with a Netbook since gaming laptop features require super performance that just does not come with a Netbook, or even using any other software with large resource requirements. This lack of resources is the reason why most net books come with Windows XP, rather than Vista. They are overall a great way to get some cheap mobile computing power.