Top Laptops and Netbooks – Tablets, iPad for Christmas

What’s the Best Laptop Screen Size?

Check out the best size laptop for home, office or college!

Whether you want a small, medium or full size laptop – the question is still relevant: how large should it be? Personally I think the main issue with large laptops is that they’re heavy. Carrying that weight around is not good for your back. Smaller laptops are obviously lighter (though it pays to look at the precise weight), but they often use chips that are slower or not as fast. Personally I prefer a middle sized 13 inch laptop.

Thankfully, with tablets on the market to mix things up, the smallest laptops (often called netbooks) are often not so bad anymore in terms of specifications. Ultrabooks are designed to be lightweight as well as high in functionality.

When it comes to choosing the right size laptop you should realize the following:

  • Laptops smaller than 13 inch NEVER have an inbuilt CD/DVD player. 13 and 14 inch laptops sometimes do, sometimes they do not. You can get an external CD/DVD player to fit into the USB port
  • 13 inch is the size that traditionally wasn’t made much, but it’s come up in the world as small is more portable and the smaller laptops were generally not equipped with serious chips.
  • 15 inch laptops and up do still often have better chips – quadcore vs dualcore for instance. So to get serious work done, or play a media intensive game, a larger laptop may be your best bet. 
  • How often do you actually get your laptop out of the house? If it’s usually at it’s spot on your desk, weight may not be your most important consideration. 

I asked my readers: What’s your favorite laptop screen size?

134 people voted in this poll.

Netbooks: Advantages and Disadvantages

Netbooks have rapidly evolved since they were first introduced as tiny laptops. They had small screens (around 7 inches) but this has grown to the 10 inches now available. They also generally weigh around 3 pounds. They look exactly like the larger laptops, most run on a Windows Operating System (the earlier versions often ran on Linux) and the average price is between $300-$400, although you can pay more and there’s also some budget ranges for less.

Advantages of netbooks

  • Netbooks normally run on Windows
  • Battery life is often good, allowing all day use when no power source is available, making them great for travelling
  • Generally very affordable

Disadvantages of netbooks

  • The screens are often unsuitable for HD Video Playback
  • Lack of processor power makes them unsuitable for some applications and multitasking

Tablet or Netbook – consumption focused

If your ideal on the road experience is simply to browse Wikipedia, read a novel and check Facebook and email, a tablet is probably all you need.

Personally I’m partial to Android, but at this point the difference between Android, iPad and even Windows is not that big for the casual user.

The only issue I can think of is that for the very casual user, the Windows platform may not be the best bet, simply because you won’t find too many of your more tech-savvy friends who can help you figure it out. Android and iPad are both more widely used and therefore you’re more likely to find people who can guide you through the maze of options.