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What is a netbook?

Netbook is a catch-all term (not a brand name) for a relatively new category of super-portable laptops. What makes them so portable?

Netbooks, in general, are:

• Very small. Netbook screens are usually under ten inches and also have slightly smaller keyboards.
• Very light. Netbooks usually weigh just 2-3 pounds.
• Have above-average battery life when compared to full size laptops.

Any netbook worthy of the name comes with built-in wireless capability (as you might expect from the name). However, most do not come with a built-in CD or DVD drive.

Just because the machines don't weight a lot, that doesn't mean they are lightweights in terms of computing power. A quick glance at Amazon's top 10 netbooks reveals that all of them have come with fully capable processors (1.6Ghz) and plenty of RAM (1GB) to accomplish the tasks one would likely want to perform using one of these machines. These tasks are likely limited to: checking email, browsing the internet, and making quick edits with a word processor or spreadsheet program.

Netbooks are great for frequent travellers that don't need a lot of screen real estate and don't spend hours on their computers each day. If you're a traveller, but also like to do a lot of photo editing of your digital pictures while on your trip, a netbook probably isn't for you, as the small screen size will quickly become a hindrance and probably somewhat annoying.