Given a choice, would you purchase a full-fledged laptop or go for a much lighter netbook? Most people that I know at least, would probably just settle for the cheaper netbook. I can imagine that even some of those who do not give in immediately would attempt to convince themselves that they are just "light" users and hence do not require the horsepower of a more traditional laptop.

Well, the price appears to be a compelling enough factor, according to Intel. Unfortunately though, some netbook retailers who falsely marketed the cheaper devices as laptops saw initial return rates of up to 30 percent, no doubt by disgruntled users who found the more basic netbooks were unable to meet their expectations.

While I did not yet have the opportunity to use an actual netbook, I did own an ultraportable laptop for a year just before netbooks caught on. With a weight of just 2.6 pounds, an 11-inch display, and a puny 1.02 GHz processor, my ultraportable could almost have passed off as a netbook.

My typical usage consists of checking my email using Microsoft Outlook, Firefox to browse for news and writing in Microsoft Word. Sounds like the typical profile of a netbook user, doesn't it? So what is my verdict of the ultraportable? Well, let's just say I switched back to a more powerful laptop the first chance I could.

The problem has to do with my usage profile. While a 1.02 GHz processor (and on Windows XP to boot) is certainly adequate for web surfing, the truth is that I open at least two to three instances of Firefox when I write. And each browser window would be filled with up to 10 tabs or more tabs consisting of the stories and corresponding research that I am trying to write about. Throw in a couple of Microsoft Word documents, and the monster of Microsoft Outlook, and you get a clearer picture now. Let's just say that the experience was less than satisfactory.

So just because you are not a game programmer, graphics designer or architect does not necessarily mean that a netbook will be able to meet your needs. The devil, as they say, is in the details--of how you use it.

So, would you go for a netbook or a laptop? - Paul