Netbooks - 5 Things to Consider

By Greg Black

Netbooks may be inexpensive, but that does not mean you should go ahead and buy the first mini laptop or netbook you see. Just like shopping for anything, there is an art or technique to shopping for netbooks. If you are considering buying a netbook to add to your technology shuffle, there are a few things you should consider first.

Consider your needs and wants - There are roughly two types of netbooks in the market today, netbooks with Solid State Drives (SSD) and netbooks with Hard Disk Drives (HDD). SSD netbooks boot faster, are able to withstand impact and are generally more reliable in terms of performance. But they are also notorious for having low storage capacities (the SSD netbooks that do have high storage capacity are very expensive). On the other hand, HDD netbooks can store up to 160GB of data on the hard drive, but they are less tough than their SSD counterparts. So what does have to do with you? It's all about your needs and wants. Do you want a fast netbook with low storage or a netbook with high capacity but boots slower?

Consider the brands - One thing is for sure. There is not a shortage of brands to choose from when comparing netbooks. The netbook made its first appearance in 2007 and soon become a common product among many, if not all, of the major technology manufacturing companied. Different manufactures have different features. What's most important is to compare these different brands of netbooks to determine which features you need or want.

Consider the Operating System - Just like the traditional desktop computer, there is completion between Windows, Mac and others when it relates to netbooks. Many manufactures are set on which operating system comes loaded on their netbooks, but some netbook manufactures will give you the option of which operating system you want loaded on your netbook. Again, this is a user preference that should be weighed when deciding which netbook to purchase.

Read up on reviews from users - Determining the actual performance of netbooks from user reviews can be very useful. To boost sales, manufactures tend to embellish or exaggerate claims of their product whenever they can. Reading an independent product review in a magazine or online article is a good way to get the rundown on a particular netbook model. Various netbooks may also have forums that consumers may submit their reviews to.

Always do comparison shopping - You should never settle and buy at the first price that you see on a shopping website. One good rule of thumb is to compare prices from at least three different sellers of netbooks before making a final decision. Keep in mind things like shipping, handling and warranty to calculate the total overall cost upfront and potentially in the long run. Some sites can resell products like netbooks for less due to purchasing them in a bulk amount and therefore getting a discount overall.

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