Pros & Cons of Buying a Netbook
Buying a Netbook
Read our review on the Top 5 Cheap Netbooks under $200 – $300.
As the netbooks are new to the market, this device is hard to choose. Obviously, we can’t know about new technologies soon. Every device has its own pros and cons, but we expect the merits to outweigh the cons. But there are things one should keep in mind while choosing this type of device. The next question in your mind would be ‘What’s that?’ Let us see what are the pros and cons of buying a netbook.
PROS of Buying a Netbook
No system is stable, every system has its own pros and cons. We should analyze the pros and cons of buying a netbook to start off, you should understand that the main objective of mini laptops or netbooks is to achieve mobility. It is made so small and versatile, which makes one interested in the netbook. It has a fairly good computing power while still this device can go on without the need for charging for 5+ hours. Hence, it is obviously less efficient than laptops. So, one should look for the battery life than preferring to performance, of course these are the only pros or advantages in buying these mini laptops.
CONS of Buying a Netbook
Further, the components which are inside a netbook are the same or there may be little variation depending on the manufacturer. Over 90 % of the manufacturers pack an Intel atom processor. This processor has a clock speed of 1.6 GHz, a good processor to run day-to-day applications, a little bit slow in the case of software that demands more. Now, Intel has launched their multi-core processors, but we have to wait to get our hands on those, as the price range is a bit high.
QUALITY DIFFERS
There are pros and cons of buying a netbook, but these netbooks come with a video card, more than expected for a low price. In the best case, they provide a NVIDIA ION which can easily handle HD, but rather slow at gaming and other video rendering/editing software. The memory can be expanded up to 2GB , but even then the netbooks tend to be slow as it needs a bit more RAM from the HDD to meet the extra demands.
Looking at the display size it can be easily judged that these netbooks are optimized for low energy consumption and not for high quality graphics. Yeah, most netbooks can stream high definition videos, but on a 10.1” display it fairly good to see a high quality movie.
WHAT’S YOUR NEED?
After analyzing the pros and cons of buying a netbook, you should know why you are opting for a netbook, instead of a laptop or desktop.
All in all, the netbook is good to buy asides its pros and cons if the buyer knows the limitation of the device. So one should look for a portable device and an average performance, you should not expect a super computer quality from a netbook. If you are looking for real computing power and some portability, netbooks is not the choice for you, you should buy a laptop in that case.
So, you should look for what you need from a computer, you should know what you want. Make sure that your needs are the pros of the netbook. Say, If you are looking for portability and if your requirements are minimum, then the netbooks do a fantastic job, as their battery life is more than those all-in-one laptop.
Although you know the pros and cons of buying a netbook, you should go for a netbook only if mobility is the objective and should be ready to sacrifice performance.
Toshiba Netbook Reviews & Deals
Toshiba Netbook Review
The Toshiba Netbook has been a great competitor in the market lately but why exactly is it considered one of the best brands to purchase? Originally there was the NB100 & NB200 series, now discontinued but you may still find it on Amazon or other online retailers. After this was the birth of two seperate series of Toshiba Netbooks, the NB300 series and NB500 series, both of which have great features.
Click here to view current Toshiba Netbook deals.
Toshiba Netbook Review – NB300 Series
This Toshiba is the higher performance but slightly pricey of the two netbook series. It start’s at about $349.99 and can be found cheaper once in awhile on Amazon when they have specific netbook deals going on. The Toshiba Netbook NB300 series has a 10.1″ widescreen display which is pretty standard when it comes to netbooks. One great feature is that it’s very light which makes it easily portable, you can litterly bring this thing wherever. The nice thing about a Toshiba Netbook is they have a long lasting battery life, you’ll be able to get up to 11 hours on a single charge! The looks of this series is very stylish, it has a sleek finish that looks and feels amazing. Currently you can get this Toshiba Netbook in a Royal Blue or BUrgandy color theme. It has a 250gb harddrive, allowing you to save huge amounts of vital information including photos, movies, music and documents. The NB300 series comes with an international limited warranty right out of the box so you won’t have to worry about any issues happening.
How is the performance of the Toshiba Netbook NB300 series?
This is one of the great features of this netbook. There is a dual-core intel atom CPU to boost performance which allows you to do so much more than other competitor netbooks. The Toshiba Netbook can easily stream HD movies such as Youtube or Netflix, play the latest MMORPG & other gaming, listen to music and even use large programs like photoshop. It has a built in wireless-N connection for faster internet speeds which makes multi tasking much easier.
Toshiba Netbook Review – NB500 Series
The NB500 series Toshiba Netbook starts at $271.99 which is about the average cost of a higher quality netbook. The screen is a 10.1″ widescreen with a backlit display, making it easier to read in darker rooms. It’s battery life lasts up to 8 hours which allows for easy travelling. Currently this Toshiba Netbook series has the most colors to choose from. You can pick from a variety of 6 different colors and they all have a stylish easygrip finish. The keyboard and touchpad are both full sized, allowing both adults and kids to use this Toshiba Netbook.
What does the Toshiba Netbook NB500 & NB300 series come with?
- Built in webcam for recording Youtube videos or live chatting.
- Microphone to record and even connect with friends over Skype Voice Chat.
- Windows 7 starter, which is the latest and best performing operating system available for Windows.
Exclusive Toshiba Netbook applications:
- ReelTime – Shows you a visual timeline of the most recent files accessed displayed in a graphical frameset, allowing you to save time searching.
- Bulletin Board – Plan vacations, family photo albums, list documents, links, photos, calendars and notes that will help organize your life. It’s a personalized way to put everything together in one spot.
- Media Controller – Makes sharing music, movies, and other files with multiple computers in your house fast and easy with simple drag & drop features.
- Hard Drive Impact Sensor – If you ever accidentally drop or bump your computer, this sensor kicks into affect. The Toshiba Netbooks harddrive instantly detects sudden movements and it parks the drive in place before any damage may occur.
- PC Health Monitor – This is one awesome part about any Toshiba Netbook. Basically with this software, if anything begins to go wrong it will detect and fix it before it may become a serious issue. It will monitor your systems CPU temperature, power consumption and has many other capabilities.
Recommended Toshiba Netbook Accessories
External CD Drive – As you may be aware, netbooks don’t come with CD drives. If you have software or music that cannot be downloaded online and requires a CD, it is recommended to pick up a cheap external cd drive. You can find them on Amazon usually for around $25-$35 which is a reasonable price.
Netbook Case – The Toshiba Netbook is 10.1″ so you’ll want to select your case according to the right size. You can find very cheap netbook cases for $10-$20 on Amazon or at your local retailer. This item should be the first on your list, don’t carry around your new netbook without any kind of protection against accidental damage!
Wireless Mouse & Keyword – Definitely not necessary, but I like to use them sometimes. I almost always use a wireless mouse, I just don’t like the feel of a touch pad. The reason I get the keyboard is because you can almost always find a good deal on cheap wireless keyboard and mouse combinations.
Toshiba Netbook Review Summary
The Toshiba Netbook is great for both children and adults. It’s higher performance and full sized keyboard + touchpad make it perfect for gaming, working, or just simply browsing Facebook and checking email. This may also be a good netbook for children since it has extra protection like the PC Health Monitor and will have great performance if they want to watch videos or play games. Plus they have 6 stylish colors to choose from! Since the Toshiba Netbook comes in two different series, they have multiple price points which allows you to select the perfect netbook for your needs!
Not interested in a Toshiba Netbook? Check out our ASUS 1001P Review.
off
In-Depth Sylvania Netbook Review
ASUS Eee PC 1001P Review
Top 3 Best Netbooks for Performance