by Jeremy Matthews

Created on: April 25, 2010

Netbooks are the latest business-to-light computer use devices to hit the market.  Just about every major computer manufacturer has their own line of netbook computers.  So, obviously since these computers have become so popular they have their own advantages and disadvantages just like everything else, right?  They sure do.

The only real downsides of a Netbook (any manufacturers line of netbooks) are: they often have low memory specs (usually around 2GB's) and they do not have optical drives (CD/DVD/Bluray).  Other than that, the only nitpicking one can do is complain about processor speeds or lack of high end video card options.  The netbooks are intended to be business or light use type computers.  If you are looking for that high end mobile gaming platform, look elsewhere.   The term 'netbook' was orignally coined for a small, easy to carry computer that is primarily used for accessing the internet.  That's it.  And for the most part, netbooks are great at what they do.

Netbooks usually come pretty streamlined in terms of features and software.  Most netbook computers come with a built in webcam for using software like Skype.  Since Netbooks typically do not feature an optical drive, software has to be downloaded or installed via a flash drive or external hard drive.  The lack of optical drive means two things: battery savings and a slimmer device.  When using an optical drive on a standard notebook or laptop computer usually the battery life will decrease a little faster, this was alleviated in netbooks by cutting the optical drive out altogether.  The hard drives can be one of two different solutions in the netbooks case: small laptop style hard drive or a SSD (Solid State Disk) drive.  The SSD models usually cost significantly more due to the SSD technology being a newer hard drive technology.

Netbooks usually come with one of three different operating systems: Windows XP, Windows 7, or a flavor of Linux (usually a derivative of Ubuntu).  Due to the lower end specs of netbooks these Operating Systems run very well on these devices.  The common screen size for netbooks these days are about 10.1 inches.  The can be found with screens as small as 7 inches.  Most netbooks are running Intel Atom processors and onboard-intergrated video chipsets.

The slim profile and smaller footprint of netbooks makes them the perfect travel companion.  I know several people who use the primarily for travel.  They use their netbook for connecting to their hotels wifi network and they even go as far as to use it for communication via Skype (or the Magicjack).  And they are extremely happy with their netbooks.  Uses range for everything from watching streaming video, managing iPod playlists/downloads, to accessing the web on the go.  Netbooks are a great companion for anyone who doesn't require a beastly computer or who travels a lot with their computer hardware.

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