Is a laptop any different from a netbook?

Netbooks are effectively smaller and lighter versions of laptops. So many people are betting in the netbook replacing the laptop in every aspects and rendering the laptop obsolete. Which is not true, the truth is each one was madeto concentrate on an alternative segment and each ones though similar in many ways fulfills their own individual purpose.

Just how is a netbook different from the laptop. Well let’s learn.

Processor - Laptops lately run on the Intel i3, i5 and i7 class of processors while virtually every netbook utilizes a Intel Atom processor. The Atom group of processors were created specifically use in netbooks. These processors do not match the processing powers of modern day laptops though they could almost match the Centrino range of processors. Also the atom processors have only one core. While processors on laptops most often have2 to 4 cores. This helps laptops to perform more threads of instructions and thus are faster that netbooks.

Size - With regards tosize and weight a netbook easily wins hands down. These netbooks are much smaller and come in screen size between 7 to 10 inches and they are lighter than laptops. You should understand the reason behind them being lighter than laptops in the nextparagraph.

Optical drive - A netbook doesn't have a built in optical drive that's your CD/DVD drive. This reduces the weight of the netbook when compared to a laptop. It may also help save battery life because an optical drive consumes a large amount of power. Though with the arrival of cloud computing and data being stored digitally on cloud you would not notice the lack of a CD drive. Cloud computing helps you store and access digital content while on a move.

Battery - Most laptops include either a 6 or possibly a 9 cell battery pack. While netbooks usually have a 3 cell battery that are part of it. Which implies the operating time of a netbook during battery power far less compared to a laptop.

Operating system - A netbook works on a starter version of windows which does not have all the features that are available in the standard and premium versions of the operating system. The choice of productivity software’s that can be used on a netbook is additionally limited.

Memory - laptops nowadays come with built in 4 GB of memory while a netbook typically has just 1 GB of memory. Which suggests it would take slightly longer to perform a task on a netbook than a laptop.

Thought after all these comparisons you might feel that a netbook is inferior to a laptop, which isn't the case at all. A netbook was created to access the internet on the go and it is also real cheap compared to a laptop. With the increasing popularity of social network the requirement for netbooks is usually increasing. With features such as 3G,Wi-Fi and Bluetooth built into netbooks they can be used to access the internet in the go and in addition are very convenient to carry around as they are small and light.