Netbooks and Mini Laptops Explained

Here is a quick guide to the term “Netbook” which is becoming increasingly popular when it comes to portable computing. The term ‘Netbook’ is also used in conjunction with the term ‘Mini-Laptops’ which is new phenomena everyone seems to love.

You can find ‘Netbooks from all different manufacturers and if you wonder what a ‘Netbook’ really mean then you may read the rest of the post.

What are Netbooks?

Netbooks or Mini Laptops are just like any other usual laptops or notebooks but being designed for maximum portability in mind. These ultra-portable laptops run on the exact same components as the normal computers do but with the exception of a few earlier models that featured a huge flash memory rather than a hard disk and Linux operating system instead of Windows.

How well do they perform?

When the ‘Netbooks’ or ‘Mini Laptops’ first came out they were quite basic and had very limited functionality. Most famous netbooks such as the Aus’s Eee PC and MSI’s Wind Series featured petite little hard drives of up to 2 GBs and RAM as little as 256 MBs. Now the netbooks and mini-laptops have evolved to become a perfect replacement for your standard laptop by giving you great processing speeds of up to 1.6 GHz – Thanks to Intel’s Atom Processors.

Intel has specially designed the ‘Atom’ family of processors specifically for these smaller machines. The Intel Atom processor promises to deliver mid range processing speeds yet consuming very little power as battery life is directly associated with ‘how much power a processor consumes’.

Besides the processing netbooks and mini laptops these days come with generous hard disk capacities up to 160 GBs and RAM memory up to 2 GBs.

What are the limitations then?

In order to keep these machines ultra-portable and to the smallest size possible several concessions have been made. The biggest downside is the absence of CD/DVD drives in netbooks which is not such a big disadvantage when you come of think of other mens of carrying data by utilising flash USB sticks.

When it comes to watching multimedia and movies these small machines have smaller display screens not very ideal to play games or to watch movies.

Another drawback is the low processing power which limits the users from using complex softwares and 3D rendering capacity for gamers. This is something which is predicted to be overcome by the end of this year.

Who uses Netbooks?

With all the above good and bad points considered about ‘Netbooks’ and ‘Mini Laptops’ the tagline or the USP for these machines remain maximum portability and style. The laptops are the most convenient means of staying connected while on the go with so many ‘wireless broadband deals’ easily available these days and making use of WIFI spots you can be more connected with you computing needs on the go. Whether you are a student, or a professional these little machines provide great means of connectivity so you no longer have to invest in buying expensive PDAs and fiddly mobile phones.

Another great thing about ‘Netbooks’ and ‘Mini Laptops’ is the great affordability factor with prices starting from as little as £200.