You need to be able to see the screen.
Most netbooks come in 3 different sizes – 7″, 8.9″, and 10″, which is what most netbooks feature today. While the 7″ screen certainly looks cute and helps make the whole netbook much more portable, actually being able to see anything on these small screens is extremely difficult and can become very frustrating. It probably won’t be long before the cuteness of the 7″ wears off and you’re willing to trade it in for a bigger model. 

The keypad is only as big as the screen.
If manufacturers could, they’d pack as big a keyboard as possible into their netbooks and the truth is that they do. But for obvious reasons, they can only make the keypad as big as the screen. A netbook with a 7″ screen also has a 7″ keypad, which is extremely difficult to type on, without doing the two-fingered peck. Larger models of netbooks, even those with a 8.9″ screen, generally feature keypads that are 90% the size of desktop keyboards and so, will be much more comfortable to work with.

SyncToy. This is a utility that automatically syncs two different folders, meaning that you can easily carry around all the stuff on your netbook that’s on your desktop computer, without a big hassle transferring files.

Tweak UI: This utility customizes Windows XP especially for small screens such as netbooks. This means that you can make those wee little boxes look much bigger and it will be much easier to work within them.

Virtual Desktop Manager: This will open up 4 different desktops from you to work from. So you can check your email from one, browse on another, and play a game on another. It makes your machine run more smoothly and doesn’t leave you waiting for your memory to catch up with your mouse.

SharpKey: Because the world of netbooks is still a relatively undiscovered one by manufacturers, many netbooks are made in the same areas, giving some differences in keyboards. This utility will allow you to place the keys where you are most comfortable with them.

Foxit Reader: If you have Adobe Reader on your desktop, you need Foxit Reader on your netbook. It works the same way as Adobe, with the ability to read PDF files however, it takes up far less resources to do so and so is perfect for a small system.

Xplorer2: This is a utility that makes it easier for handling files in such a small space. Instead of clicking, cutting, copying, and pasting, this makes it easy to just drag and drop the files or folders.

WindowsMovieMaker: This is a great little tool that will take all of the pictures on your netbook and turn them into a slide show for you!

What makes it easier is that most netbooks, and laptops for that matter, all come with the same parts and equipment so things like hard drive, battery life, and memory space will be the features that most often come up. Once you have decided on what you need most from your netbook, whether it be a certain operating system (netbooks get especially fussy here), or a certain screen size, knowing these basics can help you narrow down the field even further.

Once you have decided on what features are most important to you, you can then decide on a price point. Look around for general price ranges for your priorities (a massive hard drive is certainly going to cost you more) and then find two or three models that have your priority features and are within your price range.

Once you have it down to less than a handful of choices, the choice becomes easy! All of them will be within your price range and all of them will have what you most need so simply pick the one that has the most features (or that looks the prettiest!) and place your order!

But apart from all the standard netbook features, this netbook also a built-in webcam and bluetooth technology, another unheard-of in machines this size. To top it all off, it has 2 USB ports so you can also plug in your mp3 player, digital camera, or external speakers and make your netbook work just as you need it to. It also has a sleek and slim design with an 8.9″ screen and a weight that comes just over 1 kilogram! All of this for another ‘unheard of’ – a price so low that it’s extremely tough to beat!

Price: £199.97
From: PC World

Because netbooks are known for their small size and light weight, one of your first considerations may be how large the netbook is. While most newer models weigh only 1 kilogram or less, some are much heavier and can weigh up to 3 kilograms! Be sure to check the weight if you’re going to need to tote your netbook around with you a lot. 

Because of their small size and their cheap price, many netbooks come with a hard drive that has a very small capacity on it. While this may help drive down the price, it may end up causing you buyer’s remorse in the long run when you can’t store everything you want on your netbook. Generally, a hard drive with 160GB of capacity on it will be plenty to hold everything you need it to while still remaining compact and reasonably priced. 

Being able to connect is a huge benefit to anyone who owns a netbook or a notebook and while this applies to wireless capabilities, it also applies to the number of USB ports the netbook features (the more the better!), its bluetooth capabilities, and things such as built-in webcams. Having a netbook that’s wireless-enabled is pretty much standard on the market today however, older models don’t always come with these capabilities and so this is especially important if you’re buying a used or reconstructed netbook.

Users of the Linux operating system have claimed that they like it best because it works with open source software and is incredibly resistant to things such as viruses. The system also just generally crashes less than Windows XP and because it’s a cheaper system, it will bring down the overall price of the netbook. The Linux operating system has the ability to be customized and varied in many different ways and so, it’s not only important to know that the netbook has Linux but also what customizations and applications the manufacturer has included. 

Many users however prefer Windows XP simply because using their netbook is then no different than using their desktop computer at home. Windows XP does take up considerably less memory, and other resources from your netbook, that allow it to run incredibly efficiently and smoother than Linux. There are also some programs and applications that will only work on computers that run Windows XP and so, when these are needed, so will the Windows operating system be. Windows XP does have some downfalls however. It is more susceptible to things such as viruses and malfunctions than Linux and it is a pricier system.

This Toshiba also comes with a screen that’s 8.9″, which while that also was once the standard in netbooks just won’t cut it anymore without a few features to pad it and it also has no optical drive so unless you have external storage, there won’t be any way to get your files from your netbook to your home PC. The operating system is not from a dinosaur’s age but certainly isn’t among the more impressive operating systems being put into other models – it’s the Ubuntu Netbook Remix operating system which will serve the purpose but will also take some getting used to. 

This Toshiba really is a bare-bones machine and even for those who are just looking for the basics in their new netbook should pass on this model. For the price, there’s much more available that will let you do many more things with your netbook and get much better use out of it!

From: MicroWarehouse
Price: £210.73

With the Mini 702’s wireless capabilities, you’ll also be able to browse the Internet and check email while on the go and when cyberspace just isn’t enough to keep in touch, use the integrated webcam to talk to friends and family face-to-face. Also built into this beauty is Bluetooth capabilities, which is almost unheard of in netbooks. You’ll also find in this Compaq built-in speakers so you can enjoy all of your media and it all come wrapped in a pretty, shiny black package! The Compaq Mini 702 netbook brings features to the netbook that give it a slight edge above its competitors but at the same price. And you can’t ignore the fact that it looks great!

From: John Lewis
Price: £299.00

This problem could be remedied by simply swapping out the tiny Intel Atom processors that netbooks generally run on today and exchanging them for the hefty Intel Core 2 Duo processors that you’ll see in many laptops and nearly all desktop computers. So why not make the switch? While some may think that these duo processors are simply too large to put into these tiny machines, that’s not exactly the case. Or not all of it anyway. 

Putting in a dual core processor into a netbook is certainly doable but, at a price. It has been done, in the 7″ Raon Digital Everun Note but if you want to be one of the first to try it, you’ll have to pay about £800, which is about £500 more pounds than you’ll pay for other netbooks. There’s no doubt that netbooks featuring duo processors are somewhere in our technological future but first, they’ll have to figure out a cheaper way to do it.

The newest version of the iPhone is the 3G, which holds a music player, an Internet connection with Wifi capabilities as well as the Safari browser, and of course, a phone. So with all of this that comes in a small lightweight package that can fit in the palm of your hand, wouldn’t this automatically be the hands-down winner? Not necessarily. A netbook has all of these capabilities as well, with built-in webcams that let you keep in touch with your friends and family, wireless capabilities and the ability to store and listen to music via built-in speakers. 

It’s true that a netbook is much larger than an iPhone however, because netbooks are designed with their compact size in mind, most usually aren’t much larger than a book. And for students who are already carrying around textbooks and notebooks, a netbook doesn’t seem like that much more to carry. This could be bad news for the iPhone as size was really the only thing it had over any netbook.

You may also think that an iPhone will be cheaper since really, it only has 3 platforms and with a netbook, you’re getting an entire machine. However, consider that most netbooks fall within the price range of £200 – £300 while the iPhone costs approximately £500 and you’ll quickly see where your money will be better spent.

Browsing on the Internet is also much easier with a netbook. With the iPhone, you only have the option of using Safari, which can have its limitations but with a netbook, you can easily use Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, or any other browser that you choose. However, consider also that with a netbook you will be typing on a QWERTY keyboard as normal and with the iPhone all you’ll get is the 3.5″ screen and again, netbooks will make it much easier. 

The only real advantage that an iPhone has over a netbook is that it will connect you to the Apps store, which will let you turn your iPhone into just about anything you want. But considering that you can also customize a netbook, this is still not much of an advantage. It’s clear that in every department, netbooks are a clear winner.