Netbook makers are including more features, bigger screens and keyboards, and faster parts. We walk you through the latest trends and tell you what features really matter in a netbook.
The first batch of netbook to hit the scene was greeted with awe and surprise. That tiny laptops, which were once sold at a premium, could be had for half the price of a typical system seemed incredible. Since then, the stakes have risen and the competition grown fiercer. Netbook makers are including more features, bigger screens and keyboards, and faster parts—all while slashing prices like a Walmart special. These devices, which are popping up in more and more households, are also becoming increasingly popular among small business professionals and college students who are about to head back to school.
The choices, meanwhile, are mind boggling, as netbooks are coming from all sorts of household names, like ASUS, Samsung, Sony, Toshiba, Dell, HP, and Lenovo. As a category, netbooks are such a diverse group that it's hard to come up with a single, all-encompassing definition. The best indicators that you're dealing with a netbook are a low price, light weight, and low-powered components. Likely the system will have a screen on the smaller side and a basic feature set. Still, netbooks vary in screen size, typing experience, and specialty features. And now the the war is heating up between Intel and AMD at the component level. Despite all the look-alikes, there are certainly differences that warrant further explanation. Luckily, this netbook buying guide does just that.
Larger Screens, Bigger Keyboards
It's generally easy enough to tell a netbook from other laptops, but to distinguish between systems, you'll need to do a little homework. In the past, screen sizes defaulted to 10-inches with 1,024-by-600 resolutions on almost every single netbook. These days, netbooks are breaking away from this trend. Oversized netbooks like the HP Mini 311 and Lenovo ThinkPad X100e are sold with 11.6-inch widescreens, while the Lenovo IdeaPad S12 (Ion) and the Asus EeePC 1215N [[link]] are shipping with 12-inch ones. And their resolutions, as a result, are upped to HD-capable ones (1,366-by-768).
It's generally easy enough to tell a netbook from other laptops, but to distinguish between systems, you'll need to do a little homework. In the past, screen sizes defaulted to 10-inches with 1,024-by-600 resolutions on almost every single netbook. These days, netbooks are breaking away from this trend. Oversized netbooks like the HP Mini 311 and Lenovo ThinkPad X100e are sold with 11.6-inch widescreens, while the Lenovo IdeaPad S12 (Ion) and the Asus EeePC 1215N [[link]] are shipping with 12-inch ones. And their resolutions, as a result, are upped to HD-capable ones (1,366-by-768).
Once upon a time, full-sized keyboards were few and far between, but now they exist in netbooks as small as 10-inches. Case in point: The Toshiba mini NB305-N410, Lenovo IdeaPad S10-3, and Acer Aspire One AO521-3782 squeezed one in to their 10-inch frames. The vast majority of netbooks still have cramped typing experiences (they usually range from 89 to 93 percent of a full-size keyboard), but expect that to change very quickly.
Usual Array of Features, Some Exceptions
You will find an abundance of USB ports, Webcams, card readers, and built-in Wi-Fi. Netbooks don't include optical drives—or at least not yet. Some, like the Lenovo S12 (Ion) and Dell Inspiron Mini 10s (HD), even have bonuses like ExpressCard slots and TV tuners. Bluetooth is a frequently seen feature in netbooks, while embedded 3G modems, which can use cellular signals to acquire broadband speeds, can be found in the HP Mini 5102, Toshiba NB305-N410, and Nokia Booklet 3G.
You will find an abundance of USB ports, Webcams, card readers, and built-in Wi-Fi. Netbooks don't include optical drives—or at least not yet. Some, like the Lenovo S12 (Ion) and Dell Inspiron Mini 10s (HD), even have bonuses like ExpressCard slots and TV tuners. Bluetooth is a frequently seen feature in netbooks, while embedded 3G modems, which can use cellular signals to acquire broadband speeds, can be found in the HP Mini 5102, Toshiba NB305-N410, and Nokia Booklet 3G.
Atom Platform, Mostly
You'll also find the Intel Atom platform, made up of the Atom processor, integrated graphics, and memory (usually 1GB) in almost every netbook. Although the Intel Atom processor is the most energy-efficient netbook processor out there, it's not the fastest. AMD processors are making a name for themselves in the netbook genre, and they can already be found in netbooks like the Acer AO521-3782, the Lenovo X100e, and Dell Inspiron M101z. While speedier, the Athlon Neo—the AMD netbook variant—isn't as battery efficient, so there are tradeoffs.
You'll also find the Intel Atom platform, made up of the Atom processor, integrated graphics, and memory (usually 1GB) in almost every netbook. Although the Intel Atom processor is the most energy-efficient netbook processor out there, it's not the fastest. AMD processors are making a name for themselves in the netbook genre, and they can already be found in netbooks like the Acer AO521-3782, the Lenovo X100e, and Dell Inspiron M101z. While speedier, the Athlon Neo—the AMD netbook variant—isn't as battery efficient, so there are tradeoffs.
Intel is already into its fourth generation of Atom processors, the most recent of which are the Atom N455 (1.66GHz) and the N475 (1.83GHz). These are single-core processors that have been updated with DDR3 memory support. The dual-core version—the Atom N550 (1.5GHz)—is anticipated to hit netbooks later this year, improving performance by up to 20% without impacting battery life. Along with the Athlon Neos, these new netbook processors are arriving just in time for the back to school and holiday season.
What to Consider
Standard netbook batteries start with 3-cell (less than 30 Wh) units, but many netbooks are now standardizing on 6-cell batteries. Our battery tests have shown that the smaller batteries will get you anywhere from 2 to 3 hours of battery life on a single charge, while the bigger ones range between 8 to 11 hours. If your activities include trips abroad and all-day classes, consider looking for netbooks that ship with 6-cell options.
Standard netbook batteries start with 3-cell (less than 30 Wh) units, but many netbooks are now standardizing on 6-cell batteries. Our battery tests have shown that the smaller batteries will get you anywhere from 2 to 3 hours of battery life on a single charge, while the bigger ones range between 8 to 11 hours. If your activities include trips abroad and all-day classes, consider looking for netbooks that ship with 6-cell options.
You'll also find two hard drive choices, solid-state drives (SSDs) and spinning hard drives. The consensus is that spinning drives offer the best gigabyte-per-dollar ratio, and most of them start with at least 250GB of storage space. While SSDs have faster transfer speeds, are durable, and have longer life spans, they command much higher premiums than their spinning counterparts. In an extreme case, upgrading to a 128GB SSD in the HP 5102 will cost you an additional $450, more than the entire price of our review system.
Many of these netbooks will run fine on 1GB of memory. Some are even shipping with 2GB (AMD models) or at least can be upgraded to 2GB, provided you can make this simple upgrade yourself. (Microsoft has limited manufacturers to 1GB of memory on systems with Windows XP Home Edition and Windows 7 Starter Edition, and a lot of today's netbooks are running these operating systems.) Several of these netbooks are built around Nvidia's ION platform or use ATI's Mobility Radeon graphics cards, which benefits light 3D gaming and full 1080p high definition video playback.
What You Can Do With Them
Don't underestimate the capabilities of these machines. Netbooks are not just limited to Web surfing, compiling spreadsheets, or word processing. You can offload your photos from a digital camera and edit them using a program like Adobe Photoshop Elements 7. With lots of patience, you can transcode video to another format using Windows Media Encoder 9 or edit video footage using Adobe Premiere Elements 7, or run your entire music library off of a program like Apple iTunes. A netbook can play video from sites like YouTube or a movie from an external USB drive, unmarred by distortions and lag. Businesses, too, are considering these pint-size laptops because you can run various e-mail clients, put them on a network, install a VPN client, and secure them with antivirus and antispyware suites.
Don't underestimate the capabilities of these machines. Netbooks are not just limited to Web surfing, compiling spreadsheets, or word processing. You can offload your photos from a digital camera and edit them using a program like Adobe Photoshop Elements 7. With lots of patience, you can transcode video to another format using Windows Media Encoder 9 or edit video footage using Adobe Premiere Elements 7, or run your entire music library off of a program like Apple iTunes. A netbook can play video from sites like YouTube or a movie from an external USB drive, unmarred by distortions and lag. Businesses, too, are considering these pint-size laptops because you can run various e-mail clients, put them on a network, install a VPN client, and secure them with antivirus and antispyware suites.
At the price points we're seeing in the netbook market—namely $300 to $500—sex appeal isn't off limits either on a netbook. The HP 5102 has a sleek-looking aluminum frame, while the Toshiba NB305-N410 uses colors and textures in its favor. As for the future of netbooks: As long as manufacturers can keep the price down, the sky is the limit.
Check out our reviews of the latest netbooks on the market in our Netbook product guide.
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