macbook vs. HP Mini 311
There are a bewildering array of choices in the computer market. You know you want something portable, some kind of notebook or laptop, but that still leaves plenty of options. You’ve heard about netbooks but you’re not really sure if they’re right for you. Here at Netbook Notebooks we want to help you find what’s right for you, and this article will help you decide your priorities and make a choice between a netbook and a notebook, and at the end I’ll point you towards some of the best in each category.
Why buy a netbook?
In simple terms, a netbook is like a notebook but smaller, cheaper, and less versatile. Examples include: Asus Eee PC, MSI Wind, Acer Aspire One, Dell Inspiron Mini 10, Samsung NC10, Toshiba Mini, Lenovo IdeaPad S12,. These typically cost from $300 to $500.
The main advantages of a netbook are portability, convenience, quick boot up time, and affordable price. You can carry them around with you, use them in any room in the house (yes, even the smallest room if that’s what you want!), and get working on them straight away without waiting. So they’re ideal for spontaneous internet surfing.
In fact, most of the time that’s what you’ll use them for – browsing the internet. Lower memory and processing power compared to notebooks means that you won’t use them for intensive tasks – wordprocessing is fine, but ripping dvds or mixing music is not what they’re designed for.
But this lack of power creates another netbook advantage: simplicity. They are built to focus on doing the more common tasks well (word processing, email, browsing, watching a dvd) rather than more complex tasks (gaming, creating videos, number crunching tasks like editing big databases and spreadsheets etc). This focus on simplicity has the additional benefit of faster boot up times, especially if you feel comfortable having a Linux operating system like Ubuntu installed rather than Windows.
So netbooks are really intended to be a second/backup or travelling computer, and would not normally be your first purchase. However as their processor’s become more powerful they are becoming a more viable main computer.
As time goes on the power of the typical netbook processor is getting bigger and better, so that they are becoming more and more practical as a main computer for some people.
Of course, the main reason they’re so popular is that they are so affordable, and if you break one accidentally it’s not such a big deal. This coupled with their portability makes them ideal for backpacking, student use etc.
The case for Notebooks
Notebooks are your standard laptop. Examples include: Lenovo Thinkpads, HP Pavilions, Dell XPS Serices, Toshiba Portégés, Sony VAIOs, Samsungs Q and R ranges. These cost from $400+.
However, Notebooks have a lot of advantages over their smaller kin. Thanks partly to competition from netbooks, prices of low end notebooks have come down significantly and there is not such a big difference in price between the most expensive netbooks and the cheapest notebooks – especially when you consider the high price of superior netbooks such as Sony’s offering.
In addition, notebooks have a better user experience – bigger and better quality screens, keyboards and touchpads means the user doesn’t feel so cramped and restricted. Superior sound is also an advantage. And of course notebooks are much less restrictive when it comes to applications – decent notebooks can do virtually anything a desktop computer can do, which cannot be said about even the best netbooks.
Your decision
So it comes down to compromise – if your priority is portability and price rather than power, a netbook could be just what you need. But if you can pay more then you can get a pretty lightweight notebook that will have a lot more power, or you can have a cheaper notebook at a similar price to a netbook but it will be heavier and bulkier. Balance these up and you should make the right choice!
Here at netbook notebooks we help you make the right trade off between price, portability and power so you buy the perfect computer. So click on the option below to go to the section of the website targetted to your needs:
- Price
- Portability
- Power
So how do you make this decision? Well essentially your decision is a trade off between the 3 Ps of PC purchasing:
Portability, Price and Power.
- A netbook is portable, with a low price but also less power.
- A notebook is more powerful, and it can be low priced, or portable, but is rarely both.
The reason you always face this trade off is that powerful, small and high quality computer components always cost more than less powerful, larger or lower quality components. So a limited budget means compromising on one of these qualities. Netbooks go for small and cheap and therefore can’t do high power as well.
So you’ve decided which type of computer, now what?
Here at Netbook Notebooks we can help you by:
- Highlighting the best laptop brand for you.
- Listing the best laptop computer deals: the latest discount notebooksa, netbook laptops and refurbished laptop computers.
- Providing notebook, netbook, laptop, computer reviews with laptop ratings so you know which is the best notebook computer.