Mini laptops are perfect for students, travelers, and just about anyone who wants a lightweight, portable laptop. Once you’ve determined that a mini laptop, also known as a netbook, suits your needs, you’ll need to decide which model is right for you. While they all share some common features; screen size between 8.9 and 10.2 inches, light weight and small form factor, there are some differences.
Screen size: Most of the mini laptops have a screen size of 8.9 or 10.2 inches.
Pro: The benefit of a larger screen is that it increases readability.
FraudNote: Increasing the screen size increases the weight of the laptop and potentially reduces battery life. It also increases the overall size of the laptop.
Hard Drive (Storage): Mini laptops are available with either a solid-state drive that uses memory chips or a traditional hard drive with platters and a read/write head.
Pro: Solid state drives are typically faster because there is no read/write head to move and they are less likely to fail, again due to a lack of moving parts.
Cons: Currently, solid state drives for laptops are available in sizes ranging from 8 GB to 64 GB. This is small compared to the standard 160GB hard drive.
If you choose a mini laptop with a solid state drive, you can use an external USB drive for additional storage and backup.
Operating system: Windows XP or Linux
Pro: The benefit of Linux is that it requires much less hard drive space and is faster.
Cons: Programs designed for Windows, which are most programs on the consumer market, do not run on Linux.
While programs like OpenOffice, a free Office suite similar to Microsoft Office, do have Linux versions, unless you’re a technical user who likes to tweak things to make them work, you’re better off buying a mini laptop running Microsoft XP. installed.
Battery: 4 cells or 6 cells
Pro: 6-cell batteries typically have a longer lifespan than 4-cell batteries.
Cons: 6-cell batteries weigh a bit more and are more expensive.
Unless you’re going to be keeping your laptop plugged in all the time or your budget just can’t stretch any further, select a mini laptop with a 6-cell battery.
Once you’ve found a laptop with your desired screen size, hard drive, operating system and battery, it’s important to determine if you prefer a mini laptop with the new Wireless N and if built-in Bluetooth is important to you. Please note that Wireless N is backwards compatible with Wireless B/G. If your desired laptop doesn’t include built-in Bluetooth, be aware that inexpensive Bluetooth adapters are widely available. The last decision is the color. Some models of mini laptops are available in various colors like black, blue, pink, green, red and more.