What's a Netbook?

Differences between netbooks, laptops and UMPCs

Netbooks, by the best definitions, should refer to minimally capable mini laptops that are primarily useful for web browsing, limited word processing, accessing email, and some non-demanding multimedia and gaming. However, the industry -- with the aid of marketers and the media -- has extended that term to cover all kinds of mini laptops, regardless of how powerful they may or may not be.

The least powerful netbooks have displays of 10 inches or less and 512 MB of RAM. On-board storage is limited -- often just an 8 GB or 16 GB flash drive rather than a traditional hard drive. Many use an implementation of the Linux operating system, which means many popular programs and most games won't run on them, but they are loaded with their own suite of software for fun and basic office work, as well as a graphic interface that mimics Windows.

However, netbooks can also be much more powerful -- and capable -- machines. Small flash drives give way to traditional hard drives with capacities up to 320 GB (160 GB is typically standard). Memory is usually 1 GB, but can be boosted as high as 2 GB. Windows XP (Microsoft has extended the life of that last-generation operating system specifically for use in these machines) takes the place of Linux, and even Vista makes an appearance in some higher-end options.

Vista's forthcoming replacement, Windows 7, is said to have a smaller footprint than Vista, and Microsoft is claiming that all versions of that operating system should run fine on a netbook. In late September 2009, word leaked out that Microsoft had decided to abandon plans to limit netbooks to more limited versions of Windows 7 (i.e. Windows 7 Starter Edition -- in Vista, Starter was only available in emerging nations) and Home Basic and will allow more full-featured -- and expensive -- versions of Windows 7.

Whether or not you'll want to run Windows 7 on a netbook is another discussion, however. PC World benchmarks three flavors of Windows 7 (Starter, Home Basic and Premium) and Windows XP on a Lenovo IdeaPad S10-2 and finds that all flavors of Windows 7 run on a netbook, but with about a 10 percent performance hit. Considering how limited netbook performance is in the first place, 10 percent might be too serious a penalty for some.

Regardless of how robustly they are configured, there's a practical limit to how much performance you can expect from a mini laptop. Most netbooks use Intel's Atom processor, a low-power (and low-performance) chip developed originally for mobile devices such as smartphones. Another processor, the Via Nano, is also beginning to appear in netbooks. In benchmark tests, the Nano handily outpaces the Atom, but Laptop Magazine reports that performance is not notably better for everyday tasks. Regardless, the tiny processors and limited graphics power of netbooks leave them in the dust when they are tested against full-sized laptops using the latest generation of processors and graphics.

Keyboards can also be an issue. Though some netbooks with standard-sized keyboards can be found, most are no more than 93 percent of standard size. Additionally, many netbooks sport "chiclet" keyboards -- keys that resemble small, rectangular pieces of chewing gum -- that some find difficult to use. The small displays can also be a challenge, requiring lots of scrolling and perhaps a bit of squinting.

Then there's the value issue. At the lower end of the pricing scale, netbooks are a reasonable product for first-time computer users and those who don't need the power of more traditional computers. Netbooks can also be a practical and lightweight traveling companion for business users. While most experts say that netbooks are really best as secondary computers, if you don't use a computer for more than web browsing, email and light-duty tasks such as basic word processing, a mini laptop might be all you need.

Once you cross the $400 mark, you enter a realm where budget-priced, full-sized laptops dwell. With those, you typically get superior processing ability, a more readable 13- to 17-inch display, a full-sized keyboard and optical drives or even a DVD burner. Of course, you also pick up considerable bulk and heft (most mini laptops weigh less than half as much as their closest full-sized competition), meaning that regardless of price, mini laptops can be a good choice where light weight and small size are prized. If you want to learn about top choices among full-sized cheap laptops, ConsumerSearch has a separate report on those. Business travelers might also be interested in full-sized ultraportable laptops, which, though relatively pricey, are very lightweight and fully capable. Again, these are covered in their own ConsumerSearch report.

In the past, some referred to netbooks as ultra-mobile personal computers (UMPCs), even though such usage is incorrect. UMPC is a Microsoft-coined term for a family of small touch-screen and tablet computers. Though some budget-friendly options are available, most true UMPCs are both more expensive and more powerful than the netbooks discussed in this report. Additionally, to be a true UMPC, a laptop must have a touch-screen interface. Touch-screen and tablet laptops are also discussed more fully in our report on ultraportable laptops.