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Laptops versus Netbooks: What 's the Difference?
Kunal Gangar, Dec 29, 2008 1959 hrs ISTSo similar in appearance, yet so different when it comes to usage. A comparative study to help you make the right choice
Are you in the market to buy a new laptop? You see lots of them, but the salesman shows you a new category netbooks. You knew what laptops were, but net what?! Well, if you re one of those who find it difficult to know the difference, then here it is a comparison between laptops and the new phenomenon, the netbooks.
Screen Size & Weight:
One of the biggest differences between netbooks and laptops is its screen size. Generally, a netbook's screen size starts from 7-inch and goes up to 10.2-inch. Laptops, on the other hand, start from more than 10-inches and go up to 20-inches.
An average netbook will weigh anything around 1 kilogram whereas laptops weigh from under 1 kg to up to 2kg or more. In short, an average number of laptops is heavier than these small offerings.
Processor:
Due to the low processing power of netbooks, they are mostly used for performing light tasks like web surfing. Majority of the netbooks today are powered by an Intel Atom processor.
Laptops are meant to perform each and every task as a normal desktop PC. Thus, it becomes necessary for the vendors to house a powerful processor that can handle power-hogging tasks like video editing, etc with ease.
Memory:
The default for most netbooks is to have 1GB RAM. However, users can expand the memory to up to 2GB. Many laptops too come with 1GB of stock RAM, but users have the freedom to expand it to 4GB (6GB in some laptop models). More RAM makes memory-intensive applications and tasks work without any lag.
Storage:
You cannot compare much between the two when it comes to storage options. HDD options for netbooks go up to 160GB, whereas laptops are privileged to have up to 1 terabyte of storage goodness. The SSD options between these two also go head to head.
Operating System:
Netbook manufacturers have bundled their devices with a customized Linux distro or with Windows XP. Though it can run Windows Vista, manufacturers have limited themselves to XP because of the lower specs. There s no denying that laptops can run Vista because of their better configuration.
Optical Drive:
Even though the usage of optical drives is on the decline, laptop manufacturers haven t dropped it from the configuration. But to maintain a smaller and lighter footprint, netbooks don t come with optical drives. Yes, users can always attach an external USB optical drive to the netbooks, but buying an external one and lugging it around somehow loses the mobility freedom.
Battery Life:
With the use of low-voltage processors, LED backlit display and few multimedia capabilities, netbook scores on the battery life front. A single charge of a 6-cell netbook battery can give you around 5-6 hours of continuous running, whereas laptops give around 2-3 hours of continuous usage.
Usage:
Netbooks and laptops are so similar in appearance, yet so different when it comes to usage. If you re the guy who indulges in light gaming, working on office files, viewing videos/pictures and heavy internet usage, netbook is the way to go.
But laptops would be the apt selection if graphic-intensive and heavy applications take most of your computer time.
Price:
This is the biggest plus point for netbooks. A full spec'ed netbook would cost you anything around from Rs. 20,000 to Rs. 28,000. But if you re tight on the budget and laptop is the thing you re eying for, you might only be able to get your hands on an entry-level laptop with basic configuration.
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Hari
,Mumbai, on Mar 08, 2009 08:09 PM
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