A netbook is a small, light, cheap and extremely portable, but has the computing power in less than a full-sized laptop. But, it is well suited for general computing, word processing, running a web browser and Internet connection. Laptops are small, usually slightly less with 10-inch screen, but some images may or greater. It weighs 2.5 pounds and sold for less than $ 500 nowadays. Most of the netbooks come with Intel Atom processor with at least 1GB of RAM.

Released With the ever increasing demand of many companies design Netbooks growing netbook models in the global market. Therefore, it is not simple to make the right choice for buying a netbook excellent for the buyer. For anyone who wants to buy a Netbook, here are some key features considered netbook:

Keyboard and touchpad
A keyboard of netbooks is usually smaller than a standard keyboard of full size laptops and range from 88-93% of the full-size keyboards. The keyboard layout of netbook is quite similar to the full size keyboard but key buttons on netbooks are smaller and closer.

But even if two netbooks have the same size keyboard, their layouts could be different and their keys are closer on some netbooks than others. If possible, please test out the keyboard to ensure they are large enough and user friendly.

Touchpad is one of features to consider. At present, a wide variety of touchpad have been developed and specially designed to offer a more comfortable experience during prolonged use. So, try out and get a touchpad that supports multi-touch gestures.

Screen size and show resolution
Netbooks generally come with a screen size which ranges from 7 to 12 inches. That’s a huge difference from the average 15 inches on a full-sized laptop. In order to choose which screen size is excellent enough for you, you should try to run your favorite programs and view your favorite websites on a variety of different sized screens.

Try to buy a screen size of 8.9 inches or larger otherwise the screen and its resolution might be too low and finally make it more hard to read. A 10-inch netbook usually has resolution of 1024 x 600 pixels and weighs less than 3 pounds whereas 11- and 12- inch netbooks usually have resolutions of 1280 x 800 and 1366 x 768 respectively and weigh a small bit more. But, when considering its price and weight together, a 10-inch screen is a perfect choice and is the best selling netbook size on the retailer’s site.

Processor
Intel Atom is the most common processor available for the netbooks (most of them run on the Intel Atom N or Z Series). Here you should go for the latest technologies because they are available with more efficiency and try not to buy an ancient netbook because you can face problem of speed and efficiency.

The latest Atom processor on netbooks for 2010 is Intel Atom N450 Processor (1.66 GHz). Most netbooks launched into the markets last year were Intel Atom N270 or N280 which are being replaced by new Intel Atom N450. We can notice that all processors on netbooks are slower than the standard processor on laptops, which is about 2.1 GHz. This means that a netbook will be slower when running heavier programs. So, you shouldn’t use a netbook for heavy processing, such as photo/video editing and gaming. But, netbooks are perfect for light processes like web surfing, email, and word processing.

Operating system (OS)
Netbooks are available for Linux and Windows operating systems and new netbooks have went to Windows 7 Starter, which is a lighter version of Windows 7 to help with load time and overall performance. As we all know about windows because that most people are familiar with the Windows layout as they have been using it for several years on their home and office computers.

You can also get a netbook with Linux, which is a much more basic and quicker operating system. Netbooks with Linux run fantastic for web surfing, email, and word processing via Open Office. But, Linux may be incompatible with some programs. Lastly, you can still find netbooks running on Windows XP or Vista.

Battery Life
Ancient notebook batteries usually come with 3-cell (less than 30 Wh) units but for new netbooks, they have upped their standard batteries to 6-cell units which can get you unplugged for about 6-9 hours while 3-cell systems usually get between 1 and 3 hours of endurance. If your job or work require traveling then you should look for the 6-cell option that can get you unplugged for about 6-9 hours on a single charge. These are small costly than 3-cell battery netbooks but can be very useful if your activities involve overseas travel or all-day classes.

After Intel has unveiled new Atom N450 processor, new netbooks can consume less power approximately 20% over previous netbook generation (e.g. Intel Atom N270, N280). New latest netbooks are coming with battery life of 10-14 hours such as models Asus Eee PC 1005PE-P, Asus Eee PC 100P, Acer A0532h and Toshiba Mini NB305-N410 (10-inch screen).

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