Netbooks - Are They Worth It?

Recently I’ve noticed an influx of netbooks at my college. In simple language, netbooks are “mini laptops” with a basic set of features, limited performance, a small hard drive, and Wi-Fi capability. As more and more of these netbooks (I like to call them bite-size laptops) pop into the consumers’ view, the age old question pops up: To buy or not to buy?

Unlike its full-sized counterpart, the netbook isn’t as concerned about performance as it is with affordability. The emphasis: cheap. A netbook typically costs from about $300 to $500, dramatically less expensive than normal laptops. However, as the adage goes, you get what you pay for. Consequently the netbook is a lot less powerful, and its appeal fades when compared to the functions offered by standard laptops.

However, the netbook does have a few redeeming qualities. For one, they are extremely portable and can fit nicely into most purses and bags.  In addition, they’re a lot tougher than you’d expect, making it a great computer to carry around.  Going on a camping trip? Just toss it into your bag and off you go. If it gets rained on, chewed on by wild animals, or accidentally dropped into a deep ravine, you’ll be happy knowing you lost a much smaller investment than if it had been your $2000 Mac.

In addition, small and cute is not necessarily good (I bet most of the male population can vouch for that). For starters, on most standard netbooks with an 8.9 inch screen, touch typing is very difficult. Also, a smaller size means cutbacks on battery life, slow processors, almost no graphics ability, and minimal RAM. Most have no optical drives, meaning that despite the similarity in size, netbooks in fact cannot double as DVD players.  Also, many netbooks run on Linux systems, which can be a drawback for users dependent on Windows.

So now the final question: should you shell out a couple Ben Franklins for this snazzy new toy? Well, if you’re a poor college student who just trashed your laptop in a wild frat party and need a replacement PC pronto, the netbook will get the job done until you save up for a new laptop. Otherwise, I’d probably wait till after the industry figures out some optimum system configurations and matures a bit or until Microsoft Word actually starts recognizing the netbook as a legitimate noun.