Netbooks have become one of the hottest selling items in the world of computers. Everyone from home users to executives is interested in having access to these light and extremely portable laptops. Unfortunately, the capability of netbooks isn’t entirely clear and can sometimes lead to user frustration when their expectations aren’t met. Here we’ll quickly look at a couple of items that my help in making the decision as to whether a netbook will work for you.

The most first and most obvious topic to touch on is power. Netbooks are based on special processors, which have low power consumption. This allows for longer battery times and reduced heat. While these CPUs may be energy efficient, they do have limitations in terms of raw power. Word processing, web surfing and music listening are examples of activities that netbooks are perfectly capable of handling. However, when you start looking at things like graphic design, video editing and HD movies playback, then most netbooks start to come up short. These devices simply aren’t designed for high-end applications. Users with these needs may want to acquire a netbook as a supplementary device, but it won’t replace their dedicated workstation.

The next important item to touch on is the operating systems that ship with most netbooks. Your average netbook will ship with either Vista Home Premium or Windows 7 Home Premium. The key word here is “home.” These systems weren’t designed with small business or enterprise environments in mind. The big missing piece here is the ability to join a Microsoft Active Directory network. In a business environment, this can hinder your ability to access the company’s network resources and may pose a security concern for your IT department. While this may not be an issue in all organizations, you would be best served by checking with IT before purchasing one of these machines for work.  

This just touches on a couple of the more important items to keep in mind when shopping for a netbook. The most important thing to take away from this is that you need to have your expectations firmly in mind when shopping for one of these devices. That way you can be sure to choose one that correctly meets your needs. Please contact your friendly RetroTechs Consultant and let us help you pick out and buy a notebook that meets your requirements.