by Kris Krizzle

Created on: November 29, 2009

The debate over netbooks and laptops have continued for a lengthy period of time and with continued netbook growth, it seems as if there's no end in sight. It's not so much 'which is better' as apposed to "which is better for me". The decision is ultimately a verdict of what you, the customer, believes is more important. Power or portability? If you're buying a notebook, you likely need a good combination of both, but with consumers more frequently commuting, while using the web more (and therefore requiring fewer system resources), the netbook is a breakthrough in general computing and a fantastic option. Meanwhile, there are several power hungry users that need 13" or larger displays, a full sized keyboard, and all the power they can afford, but these people wouldn't necessarily be the ones even in the market for netbooks. If one is in the market for an extremely portable, quick, internet ready device, a netbook would most certainly suffice.

The key feature of a netbook is price. Though you can buy high end netbooks for up to $2000, the sweet spot for netbooks are in the $200-$400 range. Within these ranges, you get about 1GB of RAM, a 160-250GB of hard drive space (or 16GB of the super-fast solid state drive), a 8"-11" display, a webcam, and a subpar graphics chip that are optimal solely for day-to-day tasks. But most importantly, you get an exceptionally long battery life, with netbooks lasting for nearly, or even more than 10 hours (as apposed to the 3-5 you'd get for laptops). For most people, especially those whose tasks involve browing the web, instant messaging, creating documents, watching video online, etc. their day-to-day tasks don't require very daunting specs, but they do need a really strong battery life, and the netbook is a fantastic option for these.

So, what do people complain about when they look at a netbook? First, you have the smaller display and smaller keyboard. Most laptops are equipped with at least a 13" display while netbooks generally go from 8"-10". What's the problem here? Well, there isn't one. Netbooks are now coming equipped with displays up to 12" and the point of a netbook is the drastic portability. Netbooks offer the versatility to choose between a display as low as 7" to one up to 12". Anything larger and it's basically a laptop you're buying. The keyboard may be an issue for some, but netbook manufacturers are already shipping most netbooks with a keyboard that retains 80% of a full-sized keyboard, and many manufacturers

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