Recently I’ve been looking around at the different laptop models available on the market for someone interested in buying one, and it really struck me, how laptops and netbooks have kind of merged into one and another somewhat. So it got me thinking, if you were buying yourself a new PC today, what do you go for, a desktop,laptop,netbook or tablet?
For me I think it’s pretty clear when you need a desktop. Generally these are power houses and are used as gaming rigs, media servers or for crunching heavy numbers. Obviously you can’t move them around too handy, but now a days it seems people have a desktop and either a laptop,netbook or tablet as well. And a lot of the time, you will find the desktop can be left there sitting idle because it’s just handier to use your portable device instead.
There’s also another option which I went for, buy a desktop replacement laptop. These kind of laptops are high performers,high spec and not designed with portability in mind. They generally have larger displays 15″ +, bigger processors, graphics cards etc…. They weren’t built for those interested in bringing their laptop everywhere with them, they can weigh quite a bit and aren’t exactly slimline. But when the need arises, it’s simple to just unplug the power cable and you can bring them around with you no problem.
But it’s when you get away from these desktop replacement laptops that things start to get confusing. The other “budget” laptops will suit most people who are just interested in surfing the web and watching movies etc…. but laptops are being made smaller, thinner and lighter all the time. Some laptops have screens of only 11″ or so, and for me that’s netbook territory. However manufacturers will tell you different and insist that they are in fact laptops, or mini-laptops.
Then you have your netbooks, which have screens ranging from 12″ down to a tiny 4.8″ inches. So there’s a bit of an overlap with laptop and netbooks when it comes to screen size. And the difference in there specs isn’t always exactly a mile wide. While netbooks are small and light, they then lack the performance of laptops, or mini-laptops.
Finally, we then have the Tablet butting in and making a new market of it’s own, mainly caused by Steve Jobs and his beloved iPad. Where are tablets trying to fit in? I don’t think it’s below the netbook, (we have smartphones for there) and it’s not above the laptop, so it must be either in between the netbook and laptop, or trying to push out the netbook.
So as you can see it’s pretty difficult to try and pick a PC these days, but at the end of the day I guess it’s up to what each individual is looking for. Performance,portability,style or practicality.
