Desktop vs. Notebook vs. Netbook/Mini Laptop vs. Tablet PC
Which should I buy?
Few years back, we noticed a great advancement in the Information Technology which left us to with a lot of questions to be answered. After Desktops and Laptops market got flooded with other options like Netbook, Mini laptops and Tablets. While the popularity of Desktop is faded away, most of the people will be buying Laptops or Tablets or others but every device has its advantages and disadvantages and different usability. So let us focus on the options available in market and find out which one is best suited for you to buy.
First of all ask questions from yourself. What are you going to use it for? Why do you need it? Surfing the web? E-mails, networking, presentations? Are you always on the go? Are you a heavy multitasker who wants the best configurations?Are you going to play heavy games? How much do you wish to spend? These are some of the questions, which you have to answer and once it is done you are half way through.
Desktops:-Is it the time to retire? Well believe it or not, laptops are the new desktops. They free us from wires and worry of space. But it is also true that the level of customization which desktop can provide other can t. As far as cost is concerned laptops are not far away from desktops. You can get a handy laptop in anything more than 25k but you may not get a great computational power. Laptops have the computational power equivalent or even more than desktops with lots of added advantages. Lots of options are available in market in comparable prices.
No, I need portability!!! If you think Laptops are out new desktops then try considering Mini Notebooks and Netbooks. Well difference between Mini Notebooks and Netbooks is not well defined rather it depends on the brand that whether it calls it a Mini Notebook or Netbook. They are generally smaller in screen size (generally 7 to 12 inches) and in computational capabilities but have a number of advantages over regular laptops for the people who are always on the go.
It is very true that smaller size leads to decrease in performance but it puffs up your battery backup which is eventually increased 3 to 4 folds (even more than 9 hours). They generally use Intel atom processor or AMD Neo processor but Neo drains more battery. If you are really keen to buy a netbook then you need to compare its portability advantages with disadvantages of performance. It is not recommended to buy Netbook and Mini Notebook if you don t own a Laptop or Desktop because it is not a replacement of laptop. Some of the popular netbooks are Dell Mini, Acer One and Asus Eee PC.
I like it in my Pocket:) Tablet PC is a one step ahead technology which targets users looking for portability. They are designed to directly compete with Netbooks. Some people consider it a style statement but in actual it is much more than it. They use a touch interface to take input from the user. Today Apple I-pad has most of the share of Tablet PC market followed by Galaxy Tab and Blackberry Playbook. But some people think that apple I-pad is too chubby to carry in pocket so one should think of a tab of smaller screen size.
If you have made your mind to buy it then don t buy anything less than 1 GHz and focus on quality because you don t wish it to become your nightmare because they might be incredibly slow. Do a little homework and always try it before buying.
One of the big question that tablets leave for us is the operating system. Android and IOS are most famous for tablets but they might not be able to give same performance as on phone because they have not been tested much. Google has even stated that Android 2.2 (Froyo) is not optimized for Tablets.
Some people say that Tabs are expensive but again it depends upon the individual to decide what is expensive for him. As compared to Netbook it is not comparable to Laptops or Desktops because it is a whole new concept. Netbook is a close companion of laptop but Tabs might sometime become difficult to operate. Even a small cut paste task may become a headache.
CONCLUSION:
Till date, Laptop is the only answer to desktop which provides a fair portability. You can buy a laptop to completely replace your PC and use it as your main. Laptop provides rich features which can beat a Desktop at any stage of time.
Buy a Netbook and Mini Laptop as your secondary because in spite of being handy and portable it is not great at performance. It may be well suited for your office and business purposes but not for heavy computation and gaming purpose.
Tablets might be complete answer to your portability problems but it lacks some the basic features of a PC. They might be great for basic office work, multimedia, reading e-books, handy applications but lack at photo editing, word processing and running important softwares.