You have finally planned to replace your desktop, but confused on whether to buy a netbook or laptop. The two most obvious questions that rises in your mind whenever you come across a shopping store selling both netbook and laptop will be: What is the difference between a netbook vs laptop? Which one is the best?
Both laptops and netbooks are introduced with a purpose to provide portability as well as performance without the need of those extra fittings, which you’ll find with desktop computers. Before we get in detail about netbook vs laptop, you must first understand that laptops are the first one to be introduced to replace desktops and netbooks are just the midget version of the laptops.
Take a look at the below given comparison table for better understanding between netbook vs laptop.
As you could see in the above netbook vs laptop comparison table, both of them have their own pros and cons. Like if you are planning to buy a netbook then you have to compromise with the processor power because most of the time they make use of processors that consumes less battery power which in-turn results in less processing ability. So, if you need to be doing works that requires less computing power such as browsing internet, editing documents or listening to music, then netbooks are perfect to fulfill your requirements. However, if you want to play games or run graphics editing applications, then laptops with high-end processors and dedicated graphics will be the better choice.
Screen size is the another major factor that you would need to compromise while purchasing netbooks but again small screen size is what makes the netbooks look portable and weightless compared to laptops. Netbooks are easy to carry around and it fits nicely in your pursue or backpack, but laptops requires a dedicated laptop bag. And, netbooks comes with a default maximum screen resolution of 1024×600 which is ok if you are not going to watch any HD videos.
Storage and RAM memory of the netbooks are often very moderate while compared to laptops. This consequently makes netbooks lighter and requires low battery power to operate. If you want full sized keyboard just like that of your desktop computer, then netbooks are not the suitable one for your needs. Netbooks generally comes with a keyboard without numpad which makes it look small and sometimes uncomfortable to type on.
Netbooks usually comes with either mono speakers or stereo speakers, so that means your movie or music experience won’t be as good as of a laptop. However, you can overcome this by plug-in a nice pair of headphones. Also, netbooks doesn’t have an optical disc drive, so you need to make use of flash drives or external disc drives.
The only common thing that you will see between netbook vs laptop is the connectivity options. Regardless of a laptop or netbook they both come with built-in WiFi as well Bluetooth for easy internet access. Battery life of netbooks is far better than laptops due to its low end configuration, lack of dvd drives and power efficient processors. You can expect anywhere between 6 to 8 hours of battery life on average with netbooks while laptops on average provides only 3 to 4 hours.
Now coming to the price factor where Netbooks are the clear winner here. You can get a pretty decent netbook for around $250. However, you will only find very little choice when it comes to best laptops under $500. This is because a laptop with good configuration and features will cost you anywhere between $800 and $1000.
In conclusion, the decision to choose between a netbook and laptop should purely depend on your usage and requirements.
Very nice… informative but not overbearing. One of the best things you did was giving us the side-by-side, netbook vs laptop graphic — I owe you one.
I rather choose laptop rather than a netbook. 1 thousand mile away. Nice writing anyway.
Geraldino
Thanks so much for clearing out this questions that many have. Ive been looking for a laptop in the 250-350 range and I knew i wasnt going to get the best with that range. It seems like a netbook would be a better fit for me but im also very particular about the performance/speed. Anyways, thanks for the great article, I learned a lot!
p.s. As a fellow ‘savvy chick’ that wants to learn more about tech, Im bookmarking this site
Glad you liked it
Hello Savvy Chick – I’m trying to decide on netbook vs. laptop for my sons and this was very informative. One question though. Can you skype with a netbook?
Yes you can use Skype with a netbook. All you need to do is just install the Skype software on your netbook and you are ready to go.
Which do you think will be better for a college student?
It purely depends on your need and budget. For example, if you are a multimedia and graphics student who wants to use 3D and Photoshop applications frequently, then a Laptop with high configurations is recommended, whereas a netbook is suitable for those who just need internet access on the go for downloading and reading contents related to their subjects.
I’m thinking about a netbook vs laptop to work with scrapbooking software. Will the netbook work with creative memories scrapbooking software?
It would, but if you’re more into Photoshop editing, then a laptop with higher configuration is recommended and future proof as well.
how about for streaming media like amazon video? it seems that many netbook has hdmi port but not sure if the output resolution is any good. thoughts?
Netwooks are indeed good for watching streaming videos, provided they have good processor, and not the weak Atom processor, which cannot handle streaming contents at higher resolutions.
The output resolution would be low when connected to a HDTV via HDMI port, sometimes the pictures won’t fill up the TV screen. The reason behind this is that most netbooks comes with integrated graphics card, which is ideal only for displaying contents on small screens, not on a big size HDTV. If you could stretch your budget little bit, then buying a netbook with dedicated video card that supports a higher resolutions 1080p (1920×1080) would be a good choice.
Thanks for the info. really liked the side-by-side comparing.
Thank you for this information, since you obviously know what you are talking about, which netbook would you recommend?
Every netbook has its own pros and cons, so its better to choose a netbook that suits your requirements.
Very informative! Thanks! I would like to be able to hook my computer up to a tv screen and use a computer for email and job hunting. Is a netbook still a good option for me?
Yes, Just look out for HDMI output port before buying a netbook.
Can you play all the facebook games on the netbook?
Most facebook games are playable on the netbook, as they are browser based, however some may require better hardware requirements. If you are into gaming, then it’s better to choose a laptop than netbook.
thank you for the information i will consider buying a laptop.
Hi savvy chick. I’ve had a Dell Inspiron 1545 for the last 5 years but am now thinking of buying a HP Mini 110. I use the laptop for mainly facebook, ebay, youtube and downloading music. Rarely used to watch movies on but I do download a fair few movies. Would this HP netbook be any good? Thanks much appriciated!
If you need a netbook just for web surfing and some basic multimedia playback, then you can go with the HP Mini 110-4250nr. However, note that as it comes with Intel Atom processor, the netbook is not very good at multitasking or displaying HD video, or for intensive use.
Can you connect an external CD/DVD Rom to a netbook? I am a homeschool parent of a 2nd grader and I am considering a netbook. I have some student edition text books on CD Rom that I would like him to be able to access.
Yes, you can connect an external optical drive to your netbook.
would it be nice to play offline games on netbook like Warcraft?
how to use a broadband connection on a net book
You can either use WiFi or Ethernet connection.
Netbooks are not meant for gaming, so its better to get a laptop or desktop with dedicated video graphics.
can you tell me whether netbook is fine to use all MS office applications? Am a research scholar & all my work needs word, ppt, excel, pdf and all. will netbook is good enough to use those applications?
Yes, you can run MS office applications comfortably on a netbook. However, if you want to perform multitasking then the performance won’t be up to the mark.
Want to buy my 9th grader a netbook or laptop. This is mainly for homework, web, music, and netflix. What upgrades can I add to a netbook to get the most bang for the buck. Is there one you like better than another?
A netbook would be decent enough if you are going to use it only for doing homework, web, music etc., Also get one with at-least 2GB DDR3 RAM and 320 GB Hard Drive, and since netbooks don’t come with an optical drive (DVD R/W), installing applications, OS etc, would be difficult. For that, you have to connect an external optical drive.
Was needing a tool for taking notes at meetings and saving that information and also being able to print these notes later. Can a netbook do all this? I am new at all this, and my boss has given me a laptop, but it is soooo heavy and saw a netbook at walmart for around $250. Was planning on using this just for taking to different places to take notes on. What do you think?
If it is for just taking notes, print-outs and not for running any heavy apps or tools, then a Netbook can do all that.
Hi Savvy Chick, I found this article quite informative… I’m on my current laptop all the time but I mainly just use it for Microsoft Word, Skype, some Photoshop, Facebook chat, internet browsing and the occasional DVD movie… nothing too fancy. It has a 15″ screen, is heavy and clunky and I struggle to take it out of the house. In your opinion, would a netbook do?
Yup it would, but Photoshop would run a bit slowly (sometimes may not run) on a netbook. If you are not concerned about the price then I would recommend you to check out the new Series 9 Notebook from Samsung they are lightweight as well as powerful.
I currently having a dying Samsung NC 10 which I need to replace. I like the size and the keyboard. I surf the net, email, watch some video clips and do some word processing. I also like to use my Clear wimax.
Do you have a replacement recommendation?
May be you can go for Acer Aspire One series netbooks, or else choose the Samsung 9 series ultrabook which is costly, but has a beautiful design as well as better processing power.
Thank you for this information. One question that I can think of is, does Facebook run the same on a laptop as it does a tablet? Or does it run more like a phone app? The reason I ask is the fb page I am an admin on, does not allow me to be fully functional from my phone.
Hey. This is very informative, thanks. What are some of the ‘ heavy ‘ applications that that can’t run well on netbook. Is ms project one of them?
Any graphics intensive applications would struggle on netbook, but ms project may run comfortably as it needs only moderate system requirements.
Hi!! Great information. I am looking for a laptop/notebook for my 9 year old who likes to go on websites to play games like Animal Jam and Club Penguin (nothing with major graphics). Originally she wanted a tablet but I can’t find one that will work with her computer games w/o Adobe Flash.
Can you recommend a model which isn’t too costly (<$400.00) that will be suitable for a 4th grader.
You can either go for Acer Aspire One AO725-0488 or AO722-0473; both models come with a dedicated graphics and offers better battery life as well.
Can I use ms movie maker on a netbook comfortably. How do I download programs that have CD to a netbook?
Yes you can! Regarding programs on CD you should either copy them on a pen drive then transfer to a netbook or else attach an external DVD R/W.
Wonderful article! I was thinking about getting a netbook for my 7 year old, he likes to play games on CartoonNetwork, Nick and Roblox. Will a netbook handle the graphics for these types of games? I am hoping to find something for him to keep him off of my HP Envy laptop.
Yes, a netbook can handle online games well.