If you’ve been out shopping for a laptop at all in the past two years, you’ve probably seen them. Yes, that’s right: netbooks. Boasting light weight, portability, and battery longevity, these little monsters may seem small and insignificant, but there’s a reason they’re becoming so popular. Now, you may ask yourself how–in an age where laptops sporting 18-inch High-definition LCD screens and graphics processors that could melt the inside of a vault, are all the rage–how could this little 9-inch baby even compete?
There are several reasons:
1. Price. Where the average laptop could set you back anywhere from $600 to a couple thousand dollars, Netbooks stand as champions of affordability, usually sitting at between $200 to $350. That’s a lot of change you’re saving.
I got an ASUS Eee PC, one of the higher rated models on the market, just a little over a year ago when I first started college. (Here is a link to the one I have: http://www.laptopmag.com/review/laptops/asus-eee-pc-1005pe-p-seashell.aspx) $300 brand new (thanks to a nice online deal I got through Newegg.com), and it came with a suede carrying pouch and an 80 GB hard drive (more space than I will ever need for college work).
2. Battery life. Because netbooks work with much smaller processors (most of them running on the Intel Atom) than most new laptops, they use a lot less energy. Consequently, they get more than twice as much up time as the average laptop.
My Eee PC, though boasting a “10.5 hour battery life” (assuming you have it turned on and not running anything), still gets me anywhere from 7 to 8 hours of life on a full charge. This means I can charge it in the morning before my classes, and not have to charge it at all until I get home.
3. Light weight and portability. With the typical netbook sitting around 5 lbs. (minus the battery) and with anywhere between 8-10 inch screens, you’re looking at something you could carry all day without any stress.
As I lift up my Eee PC, I can say it’s no bigger than your average paper notebook, and lighter than most textbooks. Mine is about 3 lbs. without the battery, which is the heaviest part of the netbook at about 5 lbs.
4. The essentials. Netbooks are built to do everything a busy college student needs to do: access internet, e-mail, write papers, etc. They’re built with the basics in mind–no super powerful overheating CPUs or really awesome gaming graphics (though movies and TV shows still look really nice, if you can stand watching them on a 9 inch screen)–so they’ll do pretty much everything you could ever think of needing for any of your classes.
I use my Eee PC pretty much wherever I go on campus: outside, in class, in the student center, and even at the civic center. I can do my reports anywhere, access the internet anywhere it’s available, and I’ve even used it to call people on occasion (via Skype). Last spring, I used to sit on the lawn or on one of the benches outside the Melton building, and do my homework in the nice spring weather.
Now, before you run right out and buy one, there are some issues you may want to take into consideration: (these aren’t really deal-breakers, just things you should keep in mind when deciding whether a netbook is right for you)
1. The lack of a full keyboard. Most netbook models, because they are so small, have smaller keys than anything you may be used to using. Some of them simply have flat keys, which may make it hard for those of you used to typing on raised keys. You also won’t get access to the nice number pad most PC keyboards, and some laptops, have. Instead, you’ll have to use the top row of numbers or the function key and a simulated number pad.
The keys on my Eee PC are actually not that bad compared to some. Their dimensions are about the same as normal keyboard keys, but they are flat, and don’t give the same finger pressure satisfaction I would get typing on a real keyboard with raised keys (it is important to be gentle with them, too, as they can break far more easily). But, even as a guy with pretty big fingers, I still have very few issues typing on it. I admit, sometimes it may start to cause some discomfort if I type on it for too long, as my fingers will get very cramped.
2. The storage space. Unlike your average laptop or home PC, netbooks don’t get access to the fancy 1 Terrabyte hard drives. At most, a netbook may come with something like a 250 GB hard drive, which, if you’re like me, is WAYYYYYY more than you will ever ever need to use (since netbooks don’t really support gaming). Some models actually come with something called a Solid State Drive (SSD for short). While these may be only between 16 to 32 GB in size, they are basically just like a flash drive as far as how they function. This means your data writes and reads much faster than on a normal hard drive, and your computer literally boots up in seconds.
I would suggest getting a model with an SSD drive, and buying an external hard drive for whatever big files you may want to save. 32 GB is still a lot of space for just class documents. My Eee PC has only an 80 GB hard drive (I didn’t opt for the SSD, unfortunately), and it is half full only because I have about 30 GB of movies on it.
3. Smaller screen resolution. It is rather difficult to get a really nice screen resolution on a computer that only has a 9 inch screen. Consequently, things may look a lot smaller than what you’re used to on a computer screen. Those with vision problems, or difficulty seeing small objects, may not work well with the small netbook screen.
My Eee PC has a 10.1 inch screen (actually one of the largest screens for its price right now), and a 1024×600 normal resolution (a little squished version of the normal 1024×768), but it supports an 800×600 resolution. Both of these are actually quite visible for me, the 800×600 more so, but the icons are a lot closer together because of the smaller screen space.
4. Durability. Because of their small size, netbooks don’t take well to being dropped or bumped around. Even if the netbook case itself is sturdy, the impact of being dropped may mess up the small hard drive pretty easily.
I’ve dropped mine several times from a height of only a couple feet and it seemed to do okay. When I accidentally dropped it from about 4 feet, however, my hard drive couldn’t take the shock and just quit working on me. Ordering a replacement hard drive wasn’t so bad (it set me back about $30), but it is best to keep them safe in either a case or a shock-absorbent wrapping of some sort.
The best way to determine whether you should get a netbook over a standard laptop is to think about what you want out of it. If you want a small, portable machine that just does the essentials–that is, everything you will need for college–then you can’t go wrong with a netbook, especially for the price which, really, is what ultimately makes netbooks perfect for college students and people on a budget. Now, if you want a virtual powerhouse that you can also use for gaming, live streaming, and super High-definition capacity, spend your cash on a nice laptop.
If you’d like more information on specific netbooks, then here is a link to a list of the Top 5 Netbooks, with reviews, specs, and prices for each, as compiled by Laptop Magazine: http://www.laptopmag.com/review/laptops/the-five-best-netbooks.aspx