How to Buy the Best Netbook

Netbooks are small in size, usually with a 10-inch screen, but some displays can be slightly smaller or larger. Most netbooks come with Intel Atom processor and at least 1 GB of RAM.

For anyone looking to buy a netbook, here are some important netbook features to consider:

Screen size and display resolution 

Netbooks generally come with a screen size which ranges from 7 to 12 inches.

Keyboard and touchpad 

A keyboard of netbooks is usually smaller than a standard keyboard of full size laptops and range from 88-93% of the full-size keyboards. The keyboard layout of netbook is quite similar to the full size keyboard but key buttons on netbooks are smaller and closer.

Operating system (OS) 

Netbooks are available for Linux and Windows operating systems and new netbooks have moved to Windows 7 Starter, which is a lighter version of Windows 7 to help with load time and overall performance. Netbooks with Linux run great for web surfing, email, and word processing via Open Office. Lastly, you can still find netbooks running on Windows XP or Vista.

Processor
Intel Atom is the most common processor available for the netbooks (most of them run on the Intel Atom N or Z Series). The latest Atom processor on netbooks for 2010 is Intel Atom N450 Processor (1.66 GHz). This means that a netbook will be slower when running heavier programs. After Intel has unveiled new Atom N450 processor, new netbooks can consume less power approximately 20% over previous netbook generation (e.g. Intel Atom N270, N280). New latest netbooks are coming with battery life of 10-14 hours such as models Asus Eee PC 1005PE-P, Asus Eee PC 100P, Acer A0532h and Toshiba Mini NB305-N410 (10-inch screen).

Memory (RAM) 

Most of netbooks come with 1GB and are up to 2GB. It depends on the kinds of operating system used in netbooks (1GB for Windows XP and 2GB for Windows 7 or Window Vista).

Storage capacity 

There are 2 types of hard drives; solid-state drives (SSDs) and spinning hard disk drives (HDDs). The early model Eee PCs have only 4GB or 8GB SSD, and the newer model Eee PC 1000 uses a 40GB SSD. Most netbooks are equipped with the HDDs which have the storage capacity from 60GB to 320GB.

 Optical Drive 

Netbooks do not come with built-in optical drives for playing movies. For example, the Asus Eee PC 1005PE-P with the latest Intel Atom N450 processor and 14 hours of battery life is currently the best selling netbook on Amazon.com for $368.59 and the Asus Eee PC 100P with 11 hours of battery life is cheaper and sell for $299.99-$339.99 (10" screen). 

Created By Ramadhan