8, 10, 11.6 or 12 inch laptop? What should I choose?

Netbooks came out a couple of days and managed to fit a growing need like a glove. People we’re looking for some affordable computers with standard performances and compact enough to carry around in their trips or when traveling. Before them, compact computers could only be touched by a handful of customers, because of their prohibitive prices. Asus changed this with the first netbook, the 7 incher EEE PC 701.

Now this segment has evolved a lot. There are hundreds of such machines on the market, with various specs and sizes. I’ve got the chance to play with many of them, from the early 7 inchers to nowadays 12 inchers. In the last days I’ve had the Sony’s Vaio P on my desk, an 8 inch computer, meant to be one of the most portable of them all. And it is, but it comes with lots of cons.

So, how small is too small for a netbook these days? If I were you I would not get anything smaller than a 10 incher, while my main pick would be a device from the 11.6 inch segment. Here’s why.

At 10 inch and below, you get stuck with ATOM hardware, so performances are poor. Keyboards are cramped, most devices only offer them up to 92% Full-size. Trackpads are usually cramped too, although with the last devices, both keyboard and trackpads have seen big improvements (see devices like the Toshiba NB305 or the new Asus lines). Also, there’s the screen problem. Regular 10 inch display come with 1024 x 600 px resolution, which is too low to allow decent browsing experience or a decent sized working space, at least for me. And yes, you do get some HD ready 10 inch screens, but everything will looks so small on them that will make you eyes bleed .

On the other hand, 10 inchers are affordable (top versions go for around $370) and offer sky-high battery life. Still, battery life with sluggish performance is not my thing. And saving 100 bucks on a computer ain’t either, as I’m not that kind of person changing laptops like socks. I do get them coming for tests and all, but I in fact change my main computer every 2 years or so.

Now, with the 11.6 inchers. They are only a tad bigger and heavier (around 0.2-0.4 pounds) than the 10 inchers, but they do come with improved hardware, boosting low-consumption platforms from Intel or AMD. This translates in snappy everyday performance, multitasking, multimedia capabilities (most these devices can handle HD content) and even some minor games. All these without sacrificing battery life a lot (you will still get 5-6 hours of life on good picks, while 10 inchers might get up to 10) and without doubling the price (a good 11.6 incher goes for around $500).

The pictures below should help you get an idea on the size of computers. There’s the 8 inch Vaio P (in Orange), the 10 inch Asus 1018P (in white), the 11.6 inch Acer Aspire 1825PT (in black) and the 12 inch Asus EEE PC 1215N (again in Black).

8 inc vs 10 inch vs 12 inch

These are your choices

Every inch counts

Of course, this is just a superficial skim of the subject. I plan putting together a series of posts about how to pick a netbook in the next weeks and I’m going to speak about the particularities, pros and cons of each class, so stay tuned. In the meantime, you can always check out the Netbook Buying Guide. Also, if you have any particular questions regarding these machines, don’t forget you can always contact me by mail.