Because of their small size, powerful processing capabilities, and reasonable price, more and more people are turning to netbooks to satisfy their on-the-go computing needs. The compact size of netbooks means that basically from manufacturer to manufacturer the four basic netbook components are nearly interchangeable. The four basics are:
- Size–the physical dimensions of the netbook.
- Design—the look and feel of the netbook.
- Battery—the hours of battery-life per charge.
- Storage—the size of the hard drive.
Nearly all netbooks use the Atom N280 Intel processor with the GMA 950 GPU. Most netbooks ship with 3 USB ports, BlueTooth, Ethernet jack, a 1.3 mega pixel web cam and a 3-in-1 multimedia card slot.
One Major Difference
One major difference to consider before you buy is the amount of RAM (Random Access Memory) that comes installed in the netbook. Some manufacturers sell netbooks with 1 GB of RAM memory–this is never enough. To date the maximum amount of RAM memory for netbooks is 2 GB.
Two Things To Consider
The first is 3G functionality. If 3G functionality is important, you have three choices.
(1) Buy your netbook from a cellphone carrier.
(2) Buy an internet USB dongle and plug your existing 3G SIM card into that.
(3) If you have a smartphone, buy a tethering application that allows the netbook owner to access the internet through the cellphone’s internet access.
The second thing to consider is a touch screen. Touch screens for netbooks are just beginning to be popular, and with wide-spread acceptance of Windows 7, their functionality is greatly improved. While touch screens are fun and easy to use, consider just how you will be using the netbook before opting for this feature. If you do a lot of writing, the touch screen keyboard is not as accurate as a conventional keyboard.
Netbooks are the frequent choice of people on-the-go. Owners can easily slip their netbook into a purse or briefcase and have full computing capability anywhere anytime.