Best Mini Laptop Buying Guide
Looking to find the Best Mini Laptop online? Welcome to BestMiniLaptop.net - your source of information to help you find the Best Mini Laptop to meet your
needs.
What constitutes the Best Mini Laptop, or netbook as they are alternatively known, will inevitably vary from individual to individual and will be dependent on such things as budget and what the laptop is to be used for. One important thing to understand though is that it is not necessary to pay a high price to get the Best Mini Laptop.
With quality manufacturers such as Dell, Samsung, HP, Toshiba, Asus and Acer competing with one another there are some teriffic deals to be found.
What to look for when buying a Mini Laptop
Mini Laptops, sometimes referred to as a netbook are in effect as the name implies, just a smaller version of a standard sized laptop. Produced by major manufacturers such as Samsung, Dell and Hitachi, although small, they are still very powerful machines and the latest
developments in technology mean that they are able to do pretty much everything that their larger relatives can.
Before buying a Mini Laptop however, it is important to understand that there are some differences that need to be taken into account and hopefully this website will help you in choosing the Best Mini Laptop for your needs.
Laptop Battery life
Most people will want to use their Mini Laptop whilst on the move, therefore, it’s important to search out a model with a good battery life. Some Mini Laptops are fitted with longer life batteries, so look out for this feature if battery life is important to you.
Touchpad
Mini Laptops as their name implies are smaller than a standard laptop,
therefore their touchpads are smaller, too.
Even if you’re going to buy online, it’s always best to go to a store and
check out the size and position of the touchpad, just to make sure it’s suitable for you. In some instances, Mini Laptop manufacturers have considerably reduced its size
Try to imagine how you are going to use the Mini Laptops touchpad, check that you have sufficient space to make a nice, smooth motion with your finger rather than having to make a series of short strokes due to the lack of space on the touchpad.
Mini Laptops come with a touchpad or trackpad instead of the trditional
mouse.
This is a small, rectangular, touch-sensitive surface below the keyboard and is used for moving the cursor around the screen.
There will also usually be a clickable button, or possibly two located beneath or alongside the touchpad. These buttons operate in exactly the same way as a traditional mouse button.
A Mini Laptop’s touchpads are particularly small and can take some getting used to. If this causes a problem an external mouse can always be connected through a USB port.
Keyboard
Always check out the Mini Laptop’s keyboard before making any purchase. Are you comfortable with the size and spacing of the keys. Some Mini Laptops do have particularly cramped keyboards.
Some of the keys, right shift and cursor for example can be smaller to allow everything to fit into the Mini Laptop, It’s important therefore to ensure thay you are comfortable with the size of these keys on your chosen Mini Laptop, particularly if you use them on a regular basis.
The keyboard on a Mini Laptop is not surprisingly smaller than the one you get with a standard laptop. And the smaller the Mini Laptop gets, the smaller the keyboard.
Most Mini Laptop manufacturers however have gone to great lengths to maximize the available space. They achieve this by fitting the keyboard across the entire surface of the laptop.
With limited space on a Mini Laptop, you will discover that the keyboard keys are much closer together.
Some keys may have been repositioned, whilst others may have been made smaller – both the cursor and right shift key for example are often treated in this way.
With the keyboard being integrated into the body of the Mini Laptop, you may discover that it’s less comfortable to use as a desktop keyboard for example. This is why It’s always best to try out a laptops keyboard before you buy.
Although their size and weight make Mini Laptops an ideal portable device, they are also excellent for home use. All you need to do is attatch in a larger keyboard and a mouse and you can end up with the best of both worlds.
Portability
Most people who buy a Mini Laptop do so because portability is an important factor. Therefore, check its weight. If you are looking to find the lightest model on the market, there will inevitably be some compromise on both the screen and keyboard size.
There are a number of key features on a Mini Laptop and many of these will differ considerably from a normal sized laptop. Before purchasing, it is particularly important to understand what these features do.
Ports and Sockets
Mini Laptops come fitted with several USB ports to enable peripheral devices to be added. It is important to note where these ports are placed on the laptop’s side.
If for example you have a large USB key, ensure that you have enough space in between the sockets, to prevent your device blocking the next adjacent port.
Battery
A power supply for connection to the mains comes as standard with all Mini Laptops and in addtion, they all also have an internal battery for portable use.
Mini Laptop batteries now last for a very long time compared with a standard laptop with many lasting between six to eight hours before they need recharging. Although, if you use the laptops wireless connection this will run down the battery more quickly.
Make sure to check whether the netbook manufacturer offers a long-life battery for your chosen model.
Webcams
Most Mini Laptops will have a webcam built into the lid, situated immediately above the screen. This is a mini camera which allows images to be transmitted across the internet. Great for keeping in contact with friends and family.
Processors
The processor is the brain of the Mini Laptop. It carries out all of the
calculations your laptop makes every second. The speed of a processor is expressed in cycles per second, the unit for which is hertz (typically megahertz and gigahertz).
Many Mini Laptops are fitted with Intel’s Atom chip. These are specially
designed chips made specially for mobile devices and are designed to provide more computing power while providing less of a drain on the battery.
Ram (random access memory) is in effect a sort of short-term memory. The processor uses the laptops Ram when carrying out specific tasks.
Therefore, the speed at which the Mini Laptop’s processor can run at is determined by the amount of Ram.
Mini Laptops usually contain less Ram than many standard laptops – normally around 1GB.
Storage
Mini Laptops are fitted one of two types of storage – either a hard disk drive or a solid state drive.
Hard disk drive
The hard disk drive (HDD) provides long-term memory for data storage – measured in gigabytes (GB).
We suggest going for a minimum of 100GB hard disk space, as storing vidoe, photos, musc and software can take up a lot of space. Always go for as much hard drive space as you can afford.
Solid-state storage
These days, Mini Laptops utilise solid-state storage rather than a conventional hard drive to store data. This uses less power and, since it has no moving parts, is more rugged.
When first introduced, solid-state drives provided less space than hard disk drives. However, solid-state drives are getting bigger, and it’s now possible to get solid-state drives with 60GB of space.
If you do require additional storage space, it is always possible to add an external hard drive to your laptop.
Screens
Mini Laptops come with their own built-in LCD screen and the size of the screen will determine the size of the laptop itself.
As Mini Laptops are very small, screens are small, too – usually around 10 inches. The larger the screen usually means you’ll get a larger keyboard, but your netbook will weigh more, too.
Graphics
Don’t expect to find top of the range graphics in your Mini Laptop.
Mini Laptops are supplied with integrated graphics which operate by using a chunk of the netbook’s memory (Ram), which is fine if you’re just planning to do basic, everyday tasks.
Mini Laptops are designed in the main to carry out everyday tasks rather than power-hungry ones, so they’re not particularly suitable for heavy duty gaming.
If gaming is important to you, you really need to go for a full size laptop with a separate graphics card. These have their own memory, and therefore don’t take up your laptop’s valuable Ram.
Operating systems
An operating system is the software that runs your computer.
Mini Laptops will normally come supplied with Windows XP installed, however, some of the more recent models now come with Windows 7. Some have a version of Linux installed.
Linux is not as demanding as Windows XP in terms of specifications, so you’re likely to find it on lower-spec netbooks. It’s a user-friendly system, but you may experience some compatibility issues.
Lack of optical drive
Mini Laptops due to their size will not have built-in optical drives for CDs or DVDs. What this means is that if you want to install programs onto your netbook from a disc or burn to a disc, you will need to attach an external dvd drive through one of the laptop’s USB ports.
There are other methods of transfering data to and from your laptop, though, such as via a USB key or by utilising a wireless network.
Wireless connectivity on a Mini Laptop
Mini Laptops include built-in wireless connectivity. This means that you can connect your laptop to your existing home wireless network or even go online at a wireless hotspot while you are travelling around.
The latest wireless protocol is 802.11n, though you’ll find that most Mini Laptops still use the older 802.11g protocol.
802.11g is still perfectly acceptable, as you will only really benefit from the fastest connection if you are transferring large amounts of data across your wireless network.