Computers & Networking

[Mare85756]

I'm looking at getting a netbook & I'm totally lost as to what or what I can't do on them as compared to a laptop.  I mostly would be using it to get email, surf the web and play the games on Facebook.  Would a Netbook be able to do this or do I need a laptop?

[Nokia]

Go with a netbook. You're not going to be doing anything that requires the power of a laptop.

[Lukedmann]

Yes a netbook will be able to do those simple tasks with the new processor they run many simple tasks very well.  Now the cons, netbooks will not be able to run multiple programs well and may have problems streaming videos and as for the facebook games as long as it is not to complex of game it should be fine.  Many do not have optical drives so may not be able to watch movies and will not store as much but you will be fine getting a netbook.  Good luck and shop carefully.

Luke

[Mare85756]

Thank you for the info.  That's what I wanted to hear & just didn't want to make a mistake.  I have a Mac but only wanted something small to take with me for when I travel.  

[b12njoy2010]

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CrimsonRain wrote:

I think it's insulting to call a netbook a computer. Does that count? My phone can do more (and faster) than most netbooks.

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I agree 100% with CrimsonRain

[Matthew-GS Retired: Community Advocate]

See what Gina and Josh have to say on the subject:

[Entropy]

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Mare85756 wrote:

I'm looking at getting a netbook & I'm totally lost as to what or what I can't do on them as compared to a laptop.  I mostly would be using it to get email, surf the web and play the games on Facebook.  Would a Netbook be able to do this or do I need a laptop?

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For your purposes a netbook might be sufficient, except:

1)  You might not like the small screen size/keyboard - a lowend laptop may be more comfortable

2)  You might not like the lower screen resolution (1024x600 for most netbooks as opposed to 1366x768 or higher for most laptops)

(Note:  The Asus 1201N is larger and higher res than most netbooks)

3)  Netbooks will sometimes have issues with performance in Adobe Flash (such as Hulu playback).  Asus 1201N will again do much better here (dual core Atom + Nvidia ION.)

Other people were a bit too harsh on netbooks - I leveled fishing in WoW on an Asus 1000HE while watching TV.

[CrimsonRain]

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Entropy wrote:

 Other people were a bit too harsh on netbooks - I leveled fishing in WoW on an Asus 1000HE while watching TV.

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You are a stronger man than I...

I won't even do daily quests on my fiancee's C2D/4 GB/nVidia 220M laptop.

Just my opinion, but I think netbooks were just a fad. They are slowly being phased out by smartbooks and modern cell phones. My phone can pretty much do most things a netbook can do. The next phase in mini-mobile computing is smartbooks: ultra-compact laptops with built-in mobile broadband cards and WiMax. When I used to work at Best Buy, we had a lot of returns or complaints on netbooks because people misunderstood their purpose. The main thing was that it was just really slow even with an increase in memory. This is just my honest opinion. I'm sure some are going to disagree with me.

[RealGeorgeW Emerging Expert]

I bought a netbook about a year ago, really to try it out.

I couldn't stand it. The screen size, keyboard size, limited processor power.

Like Crimson said, my DROID can do pretty much anything a netbook can, and fits in my pocket. The only real application that I've seen them excel in, is where there's not a lot of room, but a computer is needed for whatever reason, diagnostics, consoling into a a router, etc.

I would say that they're a perfect size for younger kids.

[hockeycanuckjc Trusted Contributor]

I have owned my eMachines em250 Netbook for 6 months now and its been holding out like a champ. It does have a small screen yes, but you can turn your Netbook into a desktop by buying an LCD Monitor and a USB Keyboard and Mouse.