What should you consider when buying a netbook?

As with all computers there are a myriad of aspects to consider. But get the basics right and you won’t go far wrong. Here’s our starter guide to the things you need to consider.

Solid State or Hard Disk?

Conventional hard disk drives (HDD) are relatively cheap and have high storage capacity which makes them the default choice. However, there is a new technology called solid state drive (SSD). Sure they are more expensive but with no moving parts they will stand up to a battering if you are a constant traveller so may be worth considering. In this case check out the legendary Asus EEE901. One more thing to remember though – with SSD disks being more expensive the capacity is considerably lower at the moment. The Asus EEE901 for example has just 20gb storage capacity compared to 120 gb on some of the netbooks featuring HDD drives such as the Acer Aspire One.


Which size screen do I go for?

Ordinary laptops have a screen of 11in or more in size and 15.4 inch is indeed the most common. Netbooks by contrast have a screen size of anything from 7 inch or more. The standard seems to be 8.9 inch or 10.2 inch. The idea is that a netbook should be around the size of a standard notepad you might carry around with you.
Clearly the smaller the screen the cheaper, generally speaking, the price and, of course the more portable the whole thing is. But consider carefully what you want to use it for. A 10 inch screen may be ok for most applications but take a 7 inch screen such as the EEE701 and you may struggle with a big spreadsheet or say an editing programme with lots of toolbars.

And there’s more! A bigger screen means a bigger keyboard. Buy a 10 inch netbook and you’ll have a full–size pad. Get a 7 inch model and it will be far more portable but it will be harder to type on. Of course, you can always compromise with the Asus Eee PC 904HD which whilst having a 9 inch screen has an over-sized keyboard.

Processor

Actually there is not much choice here. Most laptops these days are equipped with a dual core Intel or AMD processor. These processors ar man enough to cope with the most demanding tasks. By comparison the processor in netbooks is vastly inferior. The mainstay is Intel’s Atom processor. It measures just 2.2cm across and is Intel’s smallest processor, specifically designed with compact computing in mind. There are several versions of the Atom. The most comon at the moment is the N270 which runs at 1.6GHz. Ok that’s not great compared to a laptop but if you use your netbook for what God intended (surfing the net, basic applications) you will be fine. And of course, technology never stands still. Intel and others are already working on next generation processors. But don’t hold your breath – they will all be a long way off the spec of a laptop processor for some time yet.

Battery Life

With less moving parts battery life in netbooks is generally much better than in conventional laptops. Battery life depends on 2 things – the type of battery installed and the drain on battery life from the processor itself. The reason we mention this is that some manufacturers in fact offer you a choice of batteries so it’s worth understanding the criteria.
There are 2 measurements used by the manufacturers
a) number of cells in the battery – basically 3 cells = 3 hours and 6 cells = 6 hours
b) the capacity measured in mAh. This ranges from 3,000mAh (for a 3 cell battery) to 6,000mAh (for a 6 cell battery)
The choice comes down to your budget. Go for the highest cell count or mAh value that you can afford.

Windows or Linux

The operating system is the main sofwtare that controls how any computer works. The market for desktops and laptops is dominated by Windows XP and Vista. However, some netbook manufacturers offer a choice between Windows Xp and Linux. So what is Linux? It is a free operating system which has generally been the preserve of computer ‘geeks’ but generally considered ‘complicated’ for most general users. So why is it found on netbooks? The answer is simple. One of the reasons to buy a netbook is its low price. Add around £50 for a copy of Windows and your retail price for the finishsed netbook goes up by as much as 25 percent.
So can you live with Linux? Well it won’t look or feel as familiar as Windows but the netbook manufacturers have made a big effort to make their versions of Linux as simple to use as possible. On top of that most throw in a copy of the freeware openoffice suite of basic programmes (a bit like Microsoft office). Both Linux and Openoffice are actually quite intuitive. If you are on a tight budget give it a try.