When checking out netbooks there are things to consider when making the purchase. As the choices become greater you will find many deals on pre-owned and even new netbooks. You will need to assess your needs when you start looking. Asking the question on what you will be using your netbook for whether school or work, these can be helpful first questions.By looking online you will find some of the best deals and even find coupons for netbooks from some manufacturers. Top netbooks include manufactures like ASUS, Acer, and MSI. You can also find other great netbooks from Dell and HP. These manufacturers have made great improvements on design, battery life and performance when it comes to small portable mobile devices.
Memory:
The most common memory configuration will be either 512MB or 1GB. Once you buy one look into upgrading your netbook memory to 2GB. The performance increase with be worth the money spent on more memory. Look for something in the 1 GB range to start with and that has the possibility of upgrading in the future. The more operating systems evolve the more processor and memory intensive they become. Get more memory will also reduce the life of your battery, although its hard to say how much.
Processor:
The most common processor you will find is the Intel Atom N270 and the latest N280. With speeds of 1.6GHz and 1.66GHz they are single core processors that are designed for smaller mobile devices. They are designed to run your applications like word processing, web browsing, watching videos and more. You may also find some competition in the future with the VIA NANO and even a possible AMD Athlon Neo. Netbooks from ASUS, MSI, Dell and HP include the Intel Atom so look for the newer N280 for the best performance and battery life.
Battery:
Depending on make and model you may also get a chance to choose anywhere between 3 and 6 cell batteries. If the battery is not built in then look for the larger battery or find one that provides a larger battery in the future if you decide to upgrade. If youchoose the lower of the cells you will get a lighter netbook, but the downside is less hours to use the netbook. With the Atom N270 and N280 processors they are designed to maximize the life of your battery. They can be energy efficient giving you 8 to 10 hours of battery life.
Accessories:
Well your not going to find to many of the smaller and cheaper netbooks that include a CD or DVD drive, so you will want to look for a netbook with more than three USB ports you can hook your external CD or DVD along with your mouse and keyboard for when you are more stationary. Getting one with WI-FI is a must. If you plan on travelling with your netbook get one with the latest integrated Wireless and Bluetooth. You can find most come with 802.11G or even 802.11n. If you buying through AT&T, Verizon and others you may get a free mobile broadband wireless card that will keep you connected anywhere.
