Buying a Netbook: A Compact Guide

Netbooks are great as cheap "mini-laptops" to use around the house, reading emails in bed or checking the news in the garden; or as a compact, lightweight addition to your business trip so there's no lugging around a large laptop bag; or maybe even picking one up in a colourful, vibrant red, pink or blue as a neat present that won't break the bank.

Three "Look Fors": Size, Weight, Robustness.

Netbook buyers primary concerns when choosing a netbook are usually, size, weight and robustness.

1) SIZE: netbooks generally range from about a tight 8" to a more comfortable 12". For a device smaller than 8-inches, you'll likely find something like a PDA -- or an iPod Touch -- more suited. Over 12 inches and you're going into notebook territory; even the ultra-thin, ultralight and optical-drive free MacBook Air still clicks in as a notebook with its 13.3" screen. A 10" screen is a decent compromise between compactness and usability, though popping into a physical store and measuring up screen sizes against one another is your best bet for finding your Best Size: if size is your primary and over-riding concern, Sony's P-series (compare prices) range of mini-netbooks is carefully treading the line between compactness and usability.

2) WEIGHT: smaller netbooks with SSDs can weigh in at under a kilogram, which is light even in the big world of small netbooks. Typically, larger netbooks will break the 1KG barrier, but not by much -- the 10.2" Samsung NC10 (compare prices) with a 160GB HDD weighs in at just 1.33KGs and most other netbooks don't reach past 1.5KGs.

3) ROBUSTNESS: it's hard to judge robustness of a netbook over the Internet, but by reading the reviews offered directly on BestSelector you should be able to get a good feel for how the product feels. We recommend you go to your local store and check out the netbooks you're most interested in person to see how they feel: tap your fingers on the palm rest to see how the material reacts, close the lid and flex the structure of the netbook entirely -- and then, of course, come back to BestSelector.com to find your Best Netbook at its' Best Price.

Other Considerations: HDD vs SDD, Battery Life, 3G, O/S, etc.

Many netbooks come with 160GB HDDs, though one wonders how many netbook users utilize all that space on a computer that's not well suited to viewing pictures, watching videos or even listening to music. Although more expensive (SSD: $3/GB; 2.5" HDD: 20-30cents/GB), SSDs are at the cutting edge of large-size storage technologies and having no moving parts are faster, lighter, quieter and more reliable than their conventional HDD counterparts; Tom's Hardware has an interesting comparative article on 'A Quick Comparison of SSD and HDD Performance'.

Battery life claims can vary from the relatively humble, 2-3 hours, up to more ambitious claims of 7 hours-- with more dubious claims of the simply unachievable under real-world conditions of 9 hours. Realistically though, 3-4 hours of battery life under real-world operating conditions (active WiFi connection with a browser window open, a spreadsheet or document being edited and music playing in the background) is very respectable performance and manufacturers who advertise such realistic times under real-world conditions should be commended.

If Internet everywhere, anywhere1 sounds good to you, some netbooks also include 3G connectivity technology: meaning you can just pop your SIM card in and surf away2, from your bedroom to the beach! 3G connectivity means you can just open-up-and-go without having to worry about not finding a WiFi network or being awkwardly attached to an ethernet cable.

The Operating System the netbook comes reinstalled with is not a deal-breaking issue, but by no means a small one: a flavour of Linux or a version of Microsoft Windows -- many netbooks come with Windows XP, though higher-end netbooks do come with (the much criticized) Windows Vista. An identical netbook with Linux would retail cheaper than a Microsoft Windows netbook as Linux distros are typically free; meaning if you can get a Linux netbook then grab a bargain of a deal on a Windows license, you're up. Most users will be far more used to and comfortable with an installation of Microsoft Windows and may even require it for work-necessary applications. But for the more daring among us who'd like to opt for a Linux operating system outright, you can read more about Linux on Linux.org's 'Getting Started with Linux - Introduction'.

Elsewhere on the Web: Amazon.co.uk offer an interesting 'Netbook Buyers' Guide', the BBC's Click offers The options when buying a netbook and The Register has a range of netbook and netbook-related articles, such as 'How to backup and restore your netbook', 'The Netbook Newbie's Guide to Linux', 'Zen and the Art of Laptop Battery Maintenance and 'Whizz for Atoms: inside Intel's next netbook generation'. There's also the rather awesome ExtremeNetbooking.com and 'Extreme Netbooking' group on Flickr which feature pictures of people using their netbooks in extreme situations, such as on a snow-covered mountain! (I wonder if she got 3G coverage...)


1. The coverage and provision of a 3G network is the domain of your network provider, and access usually requires a fee: you should consult with your network provider before purchasing a netbook on the belief that you'll enjoy "Internet everywhere, anywhere".

2. Internet access of any kind may be actively forbidden not be activated on your contract, or may incur you high data charges if you have no prior agreement and arrangement with your network provider. You should consult your network provider to discuss their terms, conditions and offers before attempting to access the Internet via your SIM card.

BestSelector.com is not responsible for the content of external sites.