Wait! What exactly is a Netbook?
Surprisingly enough, the exact definition of a Netbook is a little hazy (which makes making this website just a delight), especially as the barrier between traditional Notebook and Netbooks begins to disappear. As notebooks shrink and netbooks grow in size this debate continues, as seen here and here.
The truth of the matter is there is no exact defination of a netbook, but there are some characteristics of a netbook that generally distinguish it from a notebook.
Portability
This is meant in multiples senses, a netbook needs to be small enough to easily carry around and use in tight spots and light enough that you would be willing to carry it around. Even more confusing is that everybody's definition for what qualifies for each of those sub-characteristics varies, but on average a netbook would be around 10", weigh around 1 kg, and offer battery life for around
Capabilities
Due their hardware limitations obviously imposed to them due to their size a netbook will always have less capabilities compared to a notebook. For example, netbooks are ill suited for graphic intensive process such as editing a video or playing a video game. This is because those demanding processes are not what netbooks are made for. Netbooks are made to give you the bare minimum to get you online and take advantage of cloud computing. The word netbook is a portmanteau of the words Internet and notebook
Price
This is always an easy rule of thumb to use to distinguish a netbook and notebook. Netbooks on average run from between $400 to $800 while a notebook can run from $500 to over $2000.
In Summary
The term netbook has come to mean a small ultra portable PC, typically costing much less than other laptops and notebooks. They are aimed at the cheap end of the market and favour less functionality for less cost and lightweight specifications. Their market is becoming more and more viable as its users take advantage of cloud computing.
