Netbook Buying Guide – Part 1

June 3, 2010, 5:24 am PDT by admin
Filed under Netbook Buying Tips

When buying a netbook, just like any computer, it is important to educate yourself about what is available in the market in order to get the best netbook deal. The tips in this netbook buying guide will help you make the right decision in getting a netbook that offers the greatest value for what you want, and/or need.

As manufacturers compete vigorously for market share, they continue to slash prices and tack on extras. Many new models have hit the market recently and more are expected in the coming months as a result of new developments in netbook hardware and software. This netbook buying guide will help you to understand what features to look for and how to compare them to choose the right netbook that fits you best.

A lot of people tend to buy the lowest priced netbook when a small increase in price would buy a significantly better product. It is important to keep a checklist of your computing needs and follow some basic guidelines in your netbook buying decision.

In Part 1 we will look at the internal components of a netbook. It is the internal components such as processor, graphical processing unit, memory, hard drive, etc that gives the netbook its computing power. In Part 2 we will look at the external factors such as the screen size, keyboards, touch pads, ports, connectivity option, etc which largely determines how comfortable and usable is a netbook.

Operating System

Netbooks are usually equipped with Atom processors and 1GB of RAM, and are limited in their performance. This is one of the main reasons why the operating system used is important, as one which is too demanding can drag down the entire system and lead to poor user experience.

Most netbooks come pre-installed with Windows, but some come with Linux.

There are three flavors of Windows currently available on netbooks . Windows XP, Windows Vista and the new Windows 7. Windows XP Home Edition comes pre-installed on most netbooks today and seems to be best suited for the capability of older machines to provide the best user experience out of the box.

Windows Vista is so bloated, that it is not currently a practical choice for any netbook and has been removed from marketing.

Most netbooks have moved to Windows 7 Starter and have been shown to run well on the newer generation of netbooks. Windows 7 will undoubtedly feel slower than XP on older machines but it is far more modern, and some users will find the features it offers a necessity and of course opt to upgrade.

Netbooks with Linux run great for web surfing, email, and word processing via Open Office. However, Linux may be incompatible with some programs, and if you’ve never used it, you may have to take some time to get used to it. Our personal opinion is that while Linux may be a cheap option, it really does not make sense to learn an entirely new operating system when the Windows 7 option is just a few bucks more. The advantage of choosing a Windows netbook is that most are familiar with Windows so the netbook can be used right away.

Central Processing Unit

Intel’s Atom platform, made up of the Atom processor, integrated graphics, and memory (usually 1GB) is by and large the most popular one for netbooks. Nearly all netbooks use either the Intel Atom N270 OR N280 processor, with the N270 running at 1.6GHz and the N280 running at 1.66GHz. It’s an incredibly efficient, low-power chip running on a single core capable of running a variety of operating systems and most light-weight computing tasks while maintaining battery life.

Intel also offers the Z-series (Z20, Z530, Z540) Atom CPU and is only available in single core configuration, no HyperThreading, generally reserved for less demanding machines.

Although most netbooks have an Intel Atom single-core CPU installed, there is a dual-core Atom processor called the Intel Atom 330. Technically, Intel only recommends this CPU for nettops, which have the same specs as netbooks but are always plugged in. The chip isn’t as power efficient, but nonetheless you can find some netbooks on the market shipping with Atom 330. For example, the latest Asus Eee PC 1201N netbook.

Pine Trail is the next generation Intel platform for netbooks. It consists of the Pineview processors Atom N450, D410, and D510 paired with the new low-power NM10 Express chipset. The N450 is targeted at netbooks, while the single-core D410 and dual-core D510 are designed for nettops, and each chip should use about 20 percent less power than its predecessor.(Pine Trail is the name of the technology platform; Pineview is the name of the new Atom processor).

The improvements in the Atom N450 come from the smaller chip size, achieved by integrating the graphics and memory controller into the CPU. The atom N450 will run at a clock speed of 1.66GHz, which is the same as an existing Atom N280 netbook chip, and will process multimedia faster and free up bandwidth for the processor to communicate with other components. Previously, the graphics and memory controller resided outside the CPU. This will bring longer battery life and improved system performance to low-cost laptops. The smaller footprint of the chip could also lead to thinner and cheaper netbooks

A competing netbook CPU is VIA’s Nano, which actually outperforms the Atom CPU in raw processing, but has an inferior motherboard chipset, causing performance as a whole to suffer. AMD Athlon perform well but don’t have the Atom’s power-saving prowess.

Summary of common processors found in netbooks today:

Intel Atom N270/N280
Intel Atom Z520/Z530/Z540
Intel Atom N450/N470
Intel Atom D410/D510
Intel Atom N330
VIA Nano L3100 and Lower
VIA Nano U3500 and Lower
AMD Athlon Neo MV-40
AMD Turion Neo X2 L625

So far, we have to stick with recommending the Atom processor, which allows for longer battery life, smaller form factors, and reasonable performance at an affordable price. For maximum performance measured against battery life, go with an Intel Atom N450 chip; otherwise, consider a dual-core netbook with the Atom 330 CPU. You’ll lose some battery life, but gain a lot in raw CPU performance.

Note : Intel will be refreshing the pineview processors to support DDR 3 RAM and they are expected to be released in the second half of 2010. There will be two new processors, one Atom N475 clocked at 1.83GHz and the other Atom N455 at 1.6GHz.

Graphics Processing Unit (GPU)

A netbook struggles on streaming video or games, especially for netbooks with 10 or 11 inch screens that often have higher resolution.

There are currently 4 GPUs used in most of todays netbooks. The first is the Intel GMA950. This is an older GPU used in cheaper and older netbook models. It’s also the worst one out there. Avoid it if you plan on using your netbook for any sort of media.

Intel’s newer GMA4500 is a a big step up over the GMA950, and handles higher resolution screens much better. However, it struggles with 3D applications. If you’re getting a netbook with a high resolution screen, but don’t plan to play games or other 3D applications, then the GMA4500 may be sufficient.

The current best performer is the e Nvidia 9300M, sometimes referred to as Ion GPU. It will handle high definition video, newer 3D games on moderate visual settings, and all of Windows 7′s new bells and whistles with ease. The trade off is that you’ll often pay $50-$100 more compared to similar netbook models and you might sacrifice a bit of battery life as well.

The last one isn’t a GPU at all, but Intel’s newest Pineview Atom processors, which incorporate the GPU into the CPU. Though the N450 processor supports 720p HD graphics natively, early reviews show that they perform somewhere between the GMA950 and the GMA4500. They’re cheap though, and they use moderately less power than other GPUs, so if your graphics needs are modest, these may be a good solution.

Alternatively, some netbooks now supplement their Intel GPUs with a Broadcom decoder chip that does nothing but speed up video playback and improve its quality; if you want to use your netbook to watch a lot of Hulu or YouTube videos, you may want to pay a little extra for this option if it’s available. For example, Dell iM1012 offers an optional HD panel and Broadcom Crystal HD media accelerator to render full high-definition 1080p video.

Memory

Selecting a netbook with more memory is one of the most effective ways to ensure enhanced performance, smoother multitasking, and faster web surfing. To run Windows 7 Starter Edition on an Atom processor, you need at least 1 GB, but would be much better off with 2 GB of RAM. Linux does very well with just 1 GB. Don’t settle for 512MB of RAM, because RAM is cheap these days it is possible to upgrade fairly inexpensively. If the netbook allows for easy upgrading of memory, you will be able to save money by upgrading later on by buying the memory at discount sites and installing it yourself. Some netbooks use nonstandard memory ports and may make upgrading difficult. It is recommended that you buy the highest memory available for these netbooks.

Storage Drive

Storage capacity should be a consideration for any computer you buy, but netbooks (and laptops, for that matter) aren’t easily upgradeable, so it pays to choose a model that suits your needs from the start.

You have either the Solid State Drive (SSD) or the Hard Disk Drive (HDD) option. HDDs consists of regular spinning hard drives. They give you more capacity, and are cheaper, while weighing more, using more power,and having an increased failure rate.

SSDs are pretty new in the consumer market, and their size is usually limited to about 32GB. It uses computer chips for storage, rather than spinning platters. SSDs have the advantage of being faster, quieter, consume less power and weigh less than HDDs. It is also more durable and shockproof since they don’t use any moving parts. On the downside, SSDs still cost significantly more which means many netbooks come with low capacity drives to keep costs down.

However, most of these SSDs haven’t proved to be much faster than traditional HDDs, and because of the space limitations most manufacturers have opted to ship netbooks with HDDs instead. Almost all Windows 7 netbooks shipped recently have come with a regular 2.5″ 5400 RPM HDD, since Windows takes up a lot of space.

One useful way of supplementing netbook storage is to use an online storage service — essentially personal space on the internet for your own files that you can access from any computer. Some netbooks come bundled with free online storage, but there are a number of other paid-for services available.

Netbook Buying Guide Part 2