Video:Difference Between a Laptop and Netbook

Transcript:Difference Between a Laptop and Netbook

Hi I'm Ron Lipsky for about.com. Today I'm going to talk to you about buying a new laptop or a netbook. Pretty much the same thing and I'll explain to you the difference. Look at what's out there. How are you going to know what you should walk out of the store with.

How Will You Use a Netbook or Laptop

The most important thing to think about is you. How do you use your computer? What do you need from your computer and how long do you want that computer to last. So first of all, examine your own usage.

My computer, do I carry it around a lot or does it usually live in one place? Does weight play into the kind of computer I want? How important is it for me to watch movies on my computer? To have a wide-angle screen? To have a matte screen or a glossy screen?

All of these things are the little distinctions that are going to make a difference in the computer and then the one huge difference, which is price point. The first thing I'm going to note is the difference between a netbook and a laptop.

Processing Differences in Laptops and Netbooks

A netbook is usually going to be significantly cheaper because it has a lot less processing power, storage power, doesn't have a DVD player and usually won't be as dependable long-term as a laptop. If you're looking for an all in one machine that can suit all your computing needs, you probably need a laptop more than a netbook.

Size plays in too. Netbooks range from 9 inches to 11/12 inches while laptops go from 15 to 18/19. That's a very large machine and that's where you need to consider how much you mobility is important for you. If you carry your laptop a lot, maybe the netbook is the way to go. If you carry your laptop a lot but you need computing power, that's when you're going to start sacrificing and raising the price bar to get something smaller that has all the features you want.

Tech Specs Between Laptops and Netbooks

Let's look at RAM first. RAM dictates the ability of your computer to process a lot of different things at once. If your computer usage is based on multi-tasking, using a lot of things at once, moving from PowerPoint to Office into Photoshop, you need RAM, you need that power.

If your computing revolves around making Word docs and watching some TV on hulu, you don't need that power so much so start compromising on that end. RAM can range from 1 GB to 4.2 GB.

The size of your hard-drive is an important factor as well. Hard drives range in size from 60 GB to one Terabyte. If you're the type of person who takes a lot of pictures, works on a lot of pictures and likes to keep a lot of pictures in one place, you're going to need hard drive storage. If you're a video editor or capture a lot of footage, you're going to want a lot of storage.

My suggestion is this: In today's day and age, most computers are also becoming televisions. So if you're planning on watching any TV on your computer or recording TV on your computer, hard drive space is a good thing to have and these days it's pretty cheap. You want hard drive space. So 100 and above is a good place to look.

Consider Battery Power for Laptop and Netbooks

There's nothing more frustrating than being out in the park, using your computer, working on a document when suddenly your battery dies. Batteries can go three to seven hours these days so it's your calculation on what you want and what you need. The other thing to consider is a spare battery, which just like buying a pack of Double As can be worthwhile if you find yourself stuck in the middle of nowhere with no battery power.

To sum it up, there are a lot of laptops out there and the choices are very difficult. You need to be an educated consumer. That means walking into a store, saying what you want, knowing what you want, having a list of things you need and making sure that the salesman is not selling you too much computer or too little computer. I got a great laptop last week, so I'm going to log on to about.com and learn about some more stuff.