Buying a netbook is not as big a decision as, let’s say, buying a Mac. While you are spending a decent amount of money, it’s not anything as drastic as the amount you would have to spend on a more expensive laptop. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take time to compare netbooks to find out which one works for you the best. The tendency in the laptop market is to go with the speed and the CPU. With netbooks, you don’t really get that many options. You can choose N270, N280, or some other Nano CPU for your netbook, but as far as the speed is concerned, you don’t have too many options.

Another major factor when buying a laptop is its RAM. The more the better, right? In the netbook market, you don’t really have too many choices. There are only a few netbooks that come with a 2GB RAM. So it’s not too easy to choose the right netbook these days. There are many similar units on the market, and the differences are not too easy to point out. So while you have less options, making the right choice is much more difficult.

Netbook Buying Factors:

If you are looking to buy a netbook, here are a few factors that you should pay extra attention to (in addition to CPU speed and RAM of course):

• Weight: why would you want to buy a heavy netbook if you intend to take it with you on the go. This should not be the only factor you pay attention to, but it’s one of the more important ones.
• Battery Life: getting hours of battery life per charge is a must these days. If you are taking your netbook with you during your trips, the last thing you want to do is keep worrying about charging it on the go.
• Graphics: older netbooks weren’t that great in handling HD graphics. The new models are getting much better. Make sure you do your research before getting one.
• Keyboard: there are a few netbooks that come with extremely small keyboards. Those are really tough to work with if you type fast. 92% size keyboards are not too difficult to handle if you intend to type fast on your device.
• Networking: many netbooks do not support wireless N connectivity. But those that do let you get fast connections that enable you to download and upload files fast.
• Connectivity: having enough USB ports and other connectivity ports certainly does help. You do want to be able to connect additional devices to your netbook. Can’t do that if you have few ports.

Price could also be a factor here. Some netbooks cost only in the $200s whereas some others can cost you as much as $500. The gap is huge, so if you have a specific budget, price will also play a role here.

Buying a netbook doesn’t have to be difficult. It does take some research, but by comparing netbooks, reading online revies, and testing them in person, you’ve got a better chance in finding the best netbook for you.

Your take: in your opinion, what’s the most important netbook buying factor?