Portable Mini Laptop Computers

Mini Laptops are the hot prodouct of the year. It you are a company that manufacturers laptops, you have to include in your aresenal a mini laptop as they are walking out the door. They are becomeing a huge hit amongst students and teenagers alike due to the fact they can be taken anywhere but not obtrusive as their larger counterparts. The features and functions rival those of larger types and the affordability is right up there.

They are commonly referred to as netbooks or the cool name "laptots". The obvious feature is the portability they provide and with wireless connectivty to an internet connection available everywhere, these are the obvious choice for mobile computing. They come with a 7 – 10 inch screen which is roughly half to two thirds the size of a mainstream laptop. Their weight is quite negligable and prices range from US $199 – $699.

As future models are released, prices will surely come down even further and as technology increases, as well the features and power of these little beasts. But once your mind is made up that you are buying of these little beasts, what are the things you need to take into account?

1. What are you going to use if for and what is your budget?
If you are just going to use it for reading emails on the run and quickly browsing the internet, then you won’t need a fully featured one, but if you will be using applications and programs extensively, using it to view multimedia, then perhaps a fully featured laptop other than a netbook is the way to go. Due to the size of the smaller laptops, their microprocessors are simply not as powerful so playing games or video editing simply won’t cut it.

2. Make sure your screen is around 8 to 9 inches.
It is great having a small and mobile laptop, but if you are trying to view a web page on a 7 inch screen, the page is barely legible not to mention the strain on your eyes. Don’t worry to much about the weight increase going up to the 8-9 inch models as it is fairly minimal.

3. Make sure you have enough battery power.
Get a 6 cell battery and pay a little extra. Most of the laptops are coming standard with a 3 cell battery. These batteries will offer you roughly 2-3 hours computing time without power. A 6 cell will double that time and some brands like Asus come standard and you can get up to 8 hours.

4. Test the keyboard first.
Some of the netbooks are designed for looks first and functionality later. Obviously, due to their smaller size, the keyboards are going to be smaller. But you still need to be able to type. Make sure you are able to use the keyboard and there is enough space between the keys. Some keyboards keys are quite flat and makes it difficult to type correctly. So make sure you test it out and is suits your needs.

5. Software: Windows or Linux OS.
Some laptops are coming without software installed as some manufactuers haven’t installed any under the pretense that people can download free software off the internet. But seriously, who wants to go through the trouble of doing that when all you want to do is start playing with it. Also, the Linux operating systems on these small laptops is extremely easy and fast. They tend to boot up faster than windows and there are of course linx based office based applications as well. One tip, don’t use windows vista on these things, it is too resource hungry and your laptop will run too slow.

Mini Laptop 6. Price.
If it costs more that US$500, you might want to consider buying a normal laptop. The thing is, once you start getting near that price range, the normal laptops are going to give you better value for money feature wise. The larger laptops have more powerful processors and dvd drives. The netbooks don’t come with dvd drives.

7. Check out the range.
There is an ever increasing range and new models coming out all the time. Like the larger laptop counterparts, manufacturers put their own style and look into their products. Along with dertmining what you are going to use if for, price and features, you want it to jump out at you.

So there are many things to take into account when you are looking at buying a mini laptop. However, forwarned is forarmed and after reading this short guide, I am sure you will be able to make an informed decision when buying your mini laptop.

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