Netbooks are becoming almost as popular as laptops. Some people believe that netbooks will replace laptops entirely within a few years. To many, though, there is confusion about what a netbook is, and how it differs from a laptop. Of course, they both are powerful and popular little computers, but there is a lot that distinguishes the two.

The first and most obvious difference is the screen size. Netbooks can be as small as 7″ and go all of the way up to a whopping 10.2 inches. Laptops, on the other hand, start at 14″ and go up to 17″. Netbooks can be carried in your purse easily, especially with the over sized purses that women are carrying around today. Laptops are still very portable, but not quite as portable and light weight.

Along with screen size comes screen resolution. There is just no way that you will be able to see as much with a netbook as you will with a laptop. However, most netbooks allow for a 1024×600 resolution or larger, which will allow you to view almost all of your favorite sites on the web.

Netbooks are much more energy efficient. A 6 cell lithium battery in a netbook can give you up to eight hours of work time. The same battery in a laptop will give you only a half or even a third of that time. For those needing a computer that keeps going and going and going, the netbook is the clear choice.

Now, netbooks do not have all of the advantages. Laptops are simply more powerful than netbooks. They have more memory, faster processors and more hard disk space. There is no doubt that you can do more with a laptop than a netbook. Laptops are replacing many people’s desktop computers. The same can not be said about netbooks.

Also, the keyboard for the netbook is smaller than the standard size keyboard. It is generally 90% of the size of a full sized laptop keyboard. For people with large hands or plump fingers, this can be a real problem. For many others, they are able to adjust easily. Netbooks also do not usually have CD-Rom drives. If this is important to you, you will need an external drive.

There is also a vast difference in price between a laptop and a netbook. It will be difficult for you to find many laptops under $500. However, the most expensive, high end netbooks will still be under $500. You can get decent netbooks for as little as $200, so if your budget for laptops is under $300, you will be looking for a netbook.

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