College Advice Blog

Sep 5, 2010

Notebook VS Netbook

Are you entering college and wondering whether you should get a notebook or mini? I compared notebooks and netbooks in the chart below. I have both a mini and regular sized laptop and this is solely based on my opinion. 


HP Pavilion DV4-2161NR 14.1-Inch Laptop (Digital Plaid)
 
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                                  Notebook           VS           Netbook
Weight
Notebooks have let us say an average weight of 5 pounds.
Netbooks have an average weight of 3 pounds. Very, very portable; you can barely feel them.
Screen
Can go from 12-17 or more inches. For me 15” is a very comfortable screen size.  
Can range from 8 to 10 inches. This is nice, but for long periods of use it can get pretty annoying.
Keyboards
Wide and comfortable enough to write long papers. All the keys are in the right place, with a perfect distance from each other.
Keyboard is small and it can be very frustrating to type out a 20 page paper or even a 5 page paper. I was never able to get used to the keyboard and could only type on it for a short period of time.
Memory
Internal memory can be quite large depending on brand and other factors. Still, if needed you can add external memory.  
Internal memory isn’t that large no matter what brand you get. However, you can get external memory cards/drives.
Hard Drive
Hard drive capacity varies by brand, but it can be quite large. My notebook has 250 GB, while other laptops have as much as 500 GB.
I found this to be an issue because most netbooks will only have a limited hard drive. My hard drive is about 1GB and it messed the functionality of the mini.
Battery
A fully charged battery can last about 2-4 hours depending on how bright you make the screen when in use. 
Battery life is not that great, but I guess it makes sense since it’s a mini. Battery lasts about an hour to an hour and a half.
Final Thoughts
Some laptops might not be as portable as mini’s, but they are certainly more useful. I use my laptop most of the time and only sometimes take out my mini to the library or whatnot. I don’t take my mini to class anymore because it’s a distraction and I can’t really type notes on it.
Netbooks are nice to have, but difficult to use on regular basis. For the amount of time students spend behind their computers, I think something over 12 inches is more ideal than an 8-10 inch mini.

Which do you prefer: notebook or netbook?
 

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