Photo: Ed Yourdon / Flickr

The netbook vs. tablet vs. notebook discussion will only get more heated once the many incoming Android tablets hit the market. However there are still certain circumstances when buying a netbook is the best purchase decision you can make when searching for a new computer. Below is our three-part questionnaire that will give you a clue on whether a netbook is for you.

Question 1: What do you need it for?

In a perfectly rational buying world, need should dictate all your purchase decisions. Sadly, as behavioural finance shows, it does not. But for your purposes, you need to ask yourself long and hard what you need a netbook for. If you genuinely just need a device to surf the net, as well as the occasional word pressing and very rudimentary computing tasks, a ‘net’ book – as its name suggests – was designed for you. Save yourself the headache and the money of buying a ‘device’ with more bells and whistles than you will ever need, want, or use.

Question 2: What is your budget?

When buying a netbook, or any device, for that matter, price will always be a sticking point. Always let your needs dictate what you should get, and then let your financial threshold determine how powerful a computer you can afford to get. Netbooks are, incidentally cheaper than notebooks and tablets both, so you can see why tablet owners have reason to try to pin them as underpowered hunks of junk. We wrote a popular post on the three best notebooks that are available at a reasonable price that may interest you.

Question 3: Is mobility important?

Netbooks are more mobile than notebooks, but about as mobile as tablets, with the added advantage of having a keyboard. Netbooks fit into oversized women’s bags, notebooks do not. Netbooks fit into nearly any backpack size, notebooks do not. If mobility is your game, buying a netbook is a no-brainer for you, too.

Need, price and mobility

That’s really it, then. Consider your needs, consider your price, and consider how much mobility you desire. Balance those needs and boom, a netbook may just be the best purchase decision for you.

Photo: Asus

While doomsayers the world over predict tablets will eclipse netbooks, and netbooks will disappear as fast as they’ve come to prominence, there still remain a few netbooks that are head and shoulders better than anything else in their price range. This list aims to serve as a quick reference guide to the best all-round netbooks available on the market today.

The Asus Eee PC 1005PE

The granddaddy of netbooks, having started the whole netbook movement, Asus still makes commendable computers. The company’s most recent release, the Asus Eee PC 1005PE, cements the fact that Asus understands its baby better than all the other adoptive manufacturers.

Design build is remarkable, with a solid chassis. The input devices – the well-spaced keyboard and trackpad – feel better than virtually everything else on the market. At 10.1-inches, with an Atom N450 processor, 1GB of RAM and a generous 250GB hard drive, it performs significantly better than 90 per cent of most netbooks, let alone those in its price range. The Asus Eee PC 1005PE is, without doubt, one of the best netbooks on the market.

The Samsung N220

Photo: Samsung

It surprises us how fast Samsung have managed to get a foothold in the highly competitive computer space, but alas, they did. The Samsung N220 has input devices that are decent enough for most purposes – though they don’t compare to Asus Eee PC 1005PE. It also sports a 10.1-inch monitor, with a resolution of 1024 x 600 with a twist though – it’s wonderfully bright due to LED backlighting.

With an intelligent dual-OS mode – including Windows 7 and a stripped down Linux build called Hyperspace for quickly viewing the net – there’s as much going on at software level as there is at hardware level. Processing is provided by an Intel Atom Pine Trail, it has 1GB of RAM and 250GB HDD. We like this laptop enough that it just sneaks on to this best netbooks list, even though it had to fend off stiff competition.

The Packard Bell Dot S2

Photo: Packard Bell

The Packard Bell Dot S2 is notable for being brave enough to break the all-white or all-black motif other netbooks manufacturers ascribe to, by having various colour options available, including a very sexy crimson red. It’s a 10.1-inch machine, with a sturdy gunmetal casing. It’s quick, too, with a 1.6GHz Intel Atom N450 processor doing the heavy lifting, 1GB DDR2 RAM and the requisite 250GB hard drive. It’s got great battery life, too, peaking at about eight hours, and is a light 1.2kgs. The Packard Bell Dot S2 is a worthy inclusion in this list of the best netbooks (at an agreeable price) available on the market right now.

So that leaves us with the Packard Bell Dot S2, The Asus Eee PC 1005PE and the Samsung N220. Have we missed any standout netbooks, or do you believe some don’t belong on this list? And do you believe doomsayers who say tablets will crush netbooks in a short timeframe? Sound off in the comments section.

Netbooks are meant for basic computing and accessing web-based applications. With this streamlined mobile device, you can stay connected anywhere and access your email and social networking sites. These compact notebooks are light weight and inexpensive and features smaller screens and keyboards. In an attempt to make the netbooks available to all sections of people, some of the leading brands have come up with cheap netbooks. A list of best cheap netbooks would include names like Samsung NC10 (NP-NC10-KA01UK), Hewlett-Packard HP Compaq Mini 702EA (NF280EA#ABU) and the Sony Vaio VGN-P11Z/R.

The Samsung NC10 (NP-NC10-KA01UK) has an overall weight of just 1.33 kg. It comes with an Intel Atom N270 processor that runs the Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition operating system with a satisfactory speed. The netbook comes with a 3in1 card reader and 10.2 inch display screen which has a WSVGA resolution. It has an incredibly long battery life of 8 hours and a built-in webcam to allow video-chatting. The Hewlett-Packard HP Compaq Mini 702EA (NF280EA#ABU) is one of the best cheap netbooks available in the market these days. It comes with a hard drive of 60 GB, a RAM of 1024 MB and 10.2 inch display screen. All the applications on the Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition operating system run successfully with the Intel Atom N270 processor.

The Sony Vaio VGN-P11Z/R has an 8-inch glare-type TFT display that has UWXGA (1600 x 768) resolution. The storage capacity of the Sony netbook is provided by a 60 GB hard drive and a RAM of 2048 MB. Although, the netbook comes with an Intel GMA 500 graphics card, an optical disk drive is lacking in the netbook.

Many big companies are engaged in manufacturing a wide range of portable laptops. Some of the big companies include Samsung Electronics, Acer Aspire, Sony Vaio, Toshiba and Dell. These laptops are fitted with latest features and cutting edge technology that ensures optimum performance. Additionally these are available in stylish colours that make it look trendy and attractive. These are very compact and can be easily carried. These are no doubt compact in size but are loaded with some of the best features.

Some of the best portable laptops include the Samsung NC10 (NP-NC10-KA01UK), Acer Aspire One A110-AW (LU.S020A.089), Samsung NC10 (NP-NC10-KA03UK), Sony Vaio VGN-P11Z/Q, Acer Aspire One A150L (LU.S050A.074) and Acer Aspire One A150-AW (LU.S040A.074). The Acer Aspire One A110-AB (LU.S030A.203) is installed with an Intel Atom N270 processor. It provides a clock speed of 1,600 Mhz and the hard disk memory of the laptop is around 16 GB. It is fitted with an 8.9 inch screen that provides amazing quality images. Its lightweight and compact chassis places the Aspire One A100-AB among the most portable netbook laptops. Meanwhile, the Samsung N310 (NP-N310-KA04UK) is another portable laptop that is fitted with an Intel Atom N270 processor. It provides a clock speed of 1600 Mhz. It has a hard disk memory of 160 GB and a 1024 MB RAM. It has a 10.1 inch display that provides superior quality images.

The above mentioned are one of the best laptops that are available in the market. All these laptops are portable but these are fitted with best processors which provide amazing functioning speeds to it.

The importance that electronic goods have taken in this era is really enormous. Our day-to-day activities require that we use these digital appliances on a daily basis. As technology is improving day by day, the size of these devices is shrinking on a massive scale.

Today we have several laptops that are just a few kilograms in weight. In fact, some of them even weigh about 400 to 500 grams only. The reason for such lightweight laptops is newer and smaller components, including CPUs that require less power to cool, solid state disks and more compact batteries.  There are some world famous companies that are manufacturing these lightweight laptops. We shall here look into some of the best lightweight notebooks available.

Samsung’s NC10 (NP-NC10-KA02UK) is one such subnotebook or netbook that is too light and weighs just over 500 to 600 grams. It comes with an Intel Atom N270 and has a clock speed of about 1,600 MHz. It also has an internal RAM capacity of 1,024 MB. The hard disk memory is of 160 GB.

Toshiba NB200-10Z (PLL20E-00200JEN) is a netbook manufactured by Toshiba. This is another lightweight laptop. It comes with Intel Atom N280 processor and has a clock speed of about 1,660 MHz. It also comes with a RAM capacity of 1,024 MB and a hard disk memory of 160 GB. The display screen is 10.2 inches in size.

Sony Vaio VGN-UX1XN is a netbook manufactured by Sony and comes with an Intel Core Solo processor and has a clock speed of 1,333 MHz. It has a small display screen that is just 4.5 inches in size.

An ultra-portable netbook from Taiwanese manufacturer MSI, MSI Wind U100-291UK weighs a paltry 1kg. Only 19mm thick, it has been designed after much research and innovation. A perfect mobile PC for the executives on the move, the laptop offers the performance of the full-fledged laptop. Powered by an Intel Atom processor, it is high on performance. Featuring a 160GB hard drive, it has ample storage space for all your files, music, photos and other media too. With 1 GB DDR2 SDRAM that runs at a clock speed of 667 MHz, this solid machine has a vibrant 10 inch TFT WSVGA display screen with a resolution of 1024X600. The screen offers good viewing angles and offers crystal clear images in bright daylight. It also has an excellent keyboard, which is easy to type on. A comfortable keyboard increases efficiency and productivity of the user.

The “underclock” feature in this notebook can be activated to give extended battery life. On top of all these features, this lightweight machine also offers amazing sound quality through its HD stereo speakers. It also has an integrated webcam that makes keeping in touch with friends easy no matter where you are. The robust machine has Intel GMA 950 for its graphical applications while it also has Bluetooth which enhances its connectivity. An efficient and ergonomic machine, the laptop has been designed keeping in mind the needs of an active executive who works on the move. A comfortable and user-friendly machine, the MSI Wind U100-291UK has the best ergonomics in its class of mini laptops. Available at a reasonable price, it is an attractive gadget and a wise buy.

A notebook weighing 2.49kg, HP Compaq 6735s has a AMD Turion X2 Ultra mobile technology ZM-86 Dual-Core processor which runs at 2.4 GHz. Its fast and efficient processor is capable of handling multiple programmes at once and smoothly too. It has a 15.4 inch TFT display screen with a resolution of 1680×1050 which offers sharp and crisp images. ATI Radeon HD 3200 is the graphics chipset while the graphics memory is shared video memory. A hard drive of 250GB offers ample storage space for all you media, photos, files, music and other stuff. A highly functional laptop from HP, it combines the best of both worlds. It is flexible, lightweight and high on performance. With a webcam as its input device, it has a lithium-ion battery.

Lightweight and ultra portable, this Hewlett Packard laptop is easy to carry to from one office to another. It has 4 USB 2.0 ports, a modem with 56kbps speed. With an internal installed memory of 3GB, it has DVD±RW (+R double layer) optical drive and DVD-RAM with internal with LightScribe Technology. A card reader, sound card for audio, stereo speakers and wireless are some of the other features included in this Hewlett-Packard HP Compaq 6735s (FU416ET#ABU) notebook. Microsoft Windows Vista Business with an option of XP Professional downgrade is its operating system while the laptop comes with a 1 year warranty. Graphic Controller ATI Radeon HD 3200 takes care of graphics while high definition audio and integrated speakers are other features. As for expansion ports, there is one Video VGA port, audio stereo microphone in and stereo headphone/line out port, one RJ11 1 and one RJ45 1 port besides 4 USB ports. A full-sized keyboard and a responsive touchpad with scroll zone are its input devices.

Samsung P460 (NP-P460-FA01UK) is creating waves in the market for bringing great mobility to the users who use laptops for business purpose. The great performance of this laptop is owing to the great innovation and research done by Korean manufacturer Samsung before making this laptop. Its stylish design is another aspect that lures the customers towards this masterpiece. Samsung P460 (NP-P460-FA01UK) provides extremely powerful performance owing to Intel Pentium Dual core T3200 / 2GHz processor installed in it. The Samsung laptop comes with 2 GB DDR3 SDRAM which provides great storage facility to the users. It has got astonishing 160 GB hard drive and comes with Microsoft Windows Vista Business or XP professional downgrade. Samsung P460 (NP-P460-FA01UK) comes with 14.1” TFT screen with 1280 x 800 pixel resolution that ensures great picture quality. It has got DVD+RW optical drive which uses light Scribe technology for optimum functionality.

Samsung P460 (NP-P460-FA01UK) uses Intel GMA X4500 -128 MB graphics that helps users to play even high definition 3D games on their laptop. The company provides 1 year warranty on this product that is the testimony of the great faith that the company have on this wonderful product. The Samsung P460 (NP-P460-FA01UK) is integrated with 1.3 Megapixel notebook Camera that helps a lot in video chat etc. This is a very thin (34cm x 25cm x 3.1 cm dimension) and light (weighs just 2.42 kg) laptop that provides great convenience to the business people in carrying this laptop wherever they go. All these aspects of the great innovative product makes it the best buy for the users.

The Samsung NC10 is one of the hottest netbooks recently released Samsung computing products. It’s a good mobile computing machine if you are not a professional video editor, graphic designer or a hardcore gamer. It has been designed for an average user and is best suited for accomplishing day to day tasks whilst on the go. But it’s not to be looked as a low performance and disappointing gadget either. The hardware configuration is still satisfactory which makes the NC10 excel in its class. The only thing is that it’s specifically targeted at average users.

The Samsung NC10 equips a 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 processor at its core. Besides this, it has got a 1 GB DDR2 RAM running at a rate of 533 MHz. The main board installed is the Mobile Intel 945GM Express Chipset which is a good performer in its class. An Intel GMA 950 graphics chip is also integrated to handle the complex geometry and display. For storage, one 160 GB HDD is installed that has an operational speed of 5400 rpm. Apart from these features the Samsung NC10 has got a 10 inch display which contributes to its compact form factor. It has also got the best Netbook Keyboard with easy to use keys including some important ones positioned at convenient places.

Other goodies offered by the NC10 are VGA-out, stereo speakers, mic/headphone jack, 3xUSB 2.0 ports, SD card reader, modem, Ethernet, 802.11 b/g Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and Windows XP Home Edition SP2 as the OS.