2009 Review of Netbooks

Up until last year, computer manufacturers sold us on bigger and more powerful machines, convincing us with each new purchase that we needed to spend more for the more advanced computers. When they got smaller they made us pay even more, attributing the cost to the trouble of cramming good components into a smaller package.

That was until last year. Then a company, Asus, recognized that the power most people really needed to do their everyday stuff- cruise the Internet, run a few simple applications, watch movies on the go- was already available years ago. What people wanted now was a small, portable laptop that didn't have unnecessary specs just to blow up the price. The final catalyst to push this forward was the Intel Atom processor- basically a really small processor that still had a good kick to it. With this last piece in place, Asus put together the Eee PC and the netbooks were born.

Netbooks differ from laptops mostly in their philosophy: netbooks are meant to provide their users with basic, efficient functioning in a cheap, small, and portable package. In 2009 every other company (well, most) have caught on and are offering up their own options that adhere to this philosophy.

Because of this difference, a review of netbooks must be different than a traditional review of laptops. We must first note a few things:

1. Most netbooks have comparable specifications. The standard netbook configuration right now is 10" screen, Atom processor, 1 GB RAM, 3 cell-battery, 160 GB hard drive, and Windows XP. Pretty much every company offers this configuration. But pretty much every company also offers a higher end, one with 2 GB of RAM, a SSD (solid-state disk), and a larger battery. Note: All come with comparable webcams and wireless capability as far as I can tell.
2. The most important differences are the small ones. Because the specs are all comparable, what will determine your choice will be things like price, durability, screen quality, support, and, probably most significantly, the configuration of the keyboard and mouse (since the biggest disadvantage to these computers is that their small-size often sacrifices ease of use). Just today I was at Best Buy talking to customers about netbooks, and they were confused at how to make the decision between various netbooks because these differences seem so minor in comparison to what they were used to looking at with computers. Welcome to netbooks :)
3. More is not always better. When you look at what they are offering keep in mind that these computers are meant to run all of your basic stuff on the go. So if, like Gateway does, they offer better specifications but throw Vista on there- that runs contrary to the whole philosophy- and Vista is going to take up every last bit of that extra RAM and processor.
4. These are new to the market, so it is hard to make some judgment calls on things. Specifically, durability is really hard to judge. The only ones that have really been around long enough to take the hit in this department are the Asus and Acers. So if you've heard about them having problems realize this: these are small little things so they tend to get thrown around a bit. All of the netbooks are and are going to continue to have problems with durability. My recommendation: get an extended warranty.

All right, so with these four things in mind, here's a rundown of the netbooks of 2009. My judgments may seem somewhat arbitrary because, as I said above, the small things make all the difference with netbooks. If you feel that this is the case the only advice I can give you is to go to the store and play with them yourself with this stuff in mind and see how the small things make all the difference.