Screen Size

Netbook Guide

Welcome to the GadgetVenue Netbook Guide. We have created this guide to help you find the best netbook for your needs. Lets first start by giving an overview of exactly what a netbook is and why they are becoming so popular over this last year.

Netbook – General Details

Netbooks are small, lightweight and generally inexpensive devices that work just like a laptop or desktop PC. Due to their small size they are easy to carry around and very convenient for leisure, work and travel. They generally have screens between 7 and 11 inches with the 10 inch screens being quite popular. Power wise they are not the most powerful of machines and usually run up to an Intel Atom 1.6GHz processor. While this is enough to run Windows XP or even Windows 7, it’s not going to allow you to run full detail on a game of Quake III. However, 1.6GHz is ample for most people’s needs and they work excellent for web browsing, email and some basic photo editing. Battery wise they vary and you see some that achieve around 3 hours of usage while others like the Asus Eee 1005HA can achieve an impressive 10+ hours on a single charge.

Due to the small size of netbooks, they tend to not weigh much and usually they vary from 2 – 3 lbs depending on screen and general size. Optical drives are not included on the majority of netbooks to cut down weight and size. If you need to transfer files on to a netbook then the easiest option is just inserting a cheaply available USB flash drive or transferring files over a network.

Netbook Connectivity

All netbooks have wireless networking built in usually at b/g speeds which again, is ample for home usage. Some of the newer models support 802.11n if you really want fast file transfers. Netbooks often have bluetooth connectivity too allowing you to connect a plethora of devices over the air to them. Likewise, a handful of them have built in 3G cards allowing users to sign up to a data-plan and surf the net anywhere you can pick up a mobile phone signal. For this reason, netbooks are very connected to the internet. Other features that sometimes are included are GPS allowing your netbook to work as a decent satellite navigation device.

Netbook Operating Systems and Storage

The majority of netbooks run Windows XP home edition with a few starting to appear with Windows 7 installed that was just released. They normally come with about 1GB of RAM that allows some room for several programs to be loaded. Other operating systems that can be found are Linux (Ubuntu or Suse distributions) and an upcoming netbook supports the Google Android OS with an even further upcoming netbook supporting Google Chrome OS. If you are unsure what Linux, Android or Chrome is then stick to the popular Windows XP or Windows 7 installations as they will be the same as what you have used previously on a desktop or laptop.

Storage wise netbooks either have solid state drives (SSD) that are more rugged due to no moving parts, or hard disk drives (HDD) that is like your home computer (but smaller). The SSD’s tend to be more expensive and have a lot less storage capacity. HDD’s tend to have capacities up to 160GB with a couple going above that.

Netbook Keyboard Size and Screen Size

When choosing a netbook, screen size and keyboard size are very important as they are what you look at and what you type on. If the screen is too small you struggle to see it, and like wise, a smaller screen generally means a smaller netbook and that leads on to a smaller keyboard. But, on the opposite side of the scale you also don’t want to go too big as you might as well choose a laptop. The sweet spot with netbooks tends to be a 10 inch screen and these generally have a keyboard that’s about 92-95% the size of a full size keyboard. A 10 inch screen is easy to see with a good set of eyes and the 92-95% keyboard size is easy to get to grips with.

Netbook Summary

When choosing a netbook it is important to first know what you will be using it for. If it’s going to get light usage and your not familiar with a Linux netbook then choose a Windows XP or Windows 7 netbook. If you want something with a little more kick for graphics then choose something with a dedicated graphics chip.