@AlfredaPrufrock, yeah, the idea of a netbook is that software on the internet will replace or augment software loaded onto the computer. It’s also an evolutionary step where we’ve all come to realize that technology from 5 years ago is wholly adequate for our everyday computing needs (e-mail, web, pictures, music). The best way to think of a netbook (I think) is to imagine the guts of a 4 or 5 year old computer that have been miniaturized in a small and more portable package.
What comes installed, generally, is an operating system (most commonly a user friendly version of Linux or Windows XP) and in the case of a Windows XP installation, you get Internet Explorer, probably Windows Media Player, WordPad, and it seems that most come with Microsoft Works which is a watered down version of Microsoft Office plus other “standard” XP software.
What you need or don’t need is a matter of personal use. Originally, I think netbooks had small hard drives (like 4 GB small) because it wasn’t meant for work with large files or large libraries of files, but now it looks like there are many with 160 GB hard drives, which is plenty. For example, my music collection of 3,600 songs takes up 15 GB).
On top of that (and the Atom processor and 1 GB RAM noted above), it seems that most come with a few USB ports and other connectors that allow you to attach peripherals (such as a USB hard drive or USB CD/DVD drive). What doesn’t come on a netbook is an internal CD/DVD drive. Again, the idea is that you don’t need it because you can download everything off the net. If you want to put your CD collection on the netbook, you need to either do it from another computer or an external CD/DVD drive purchased separately.
Yes, you can download iTunes and purchase music on a netbook, I’m 99.9% sure. You’d transfer music to your iPod via iTunes just as you would on a regular computer.
You probably want Windows XP. Linux requires more gumption and elbow grease.
The other factors I’m learning about are variation in battery life from 3 hours up to 6 hours or more. More battery life means a bigger batter (3 cell vs. 6 cell) which means a slightly bulkier form. Some touchpads are multi-touch, which I think is essential for all the scrolling you’ll be doing. Others have a dedicated area for scrolling on the right side of the touchpad, which is okay, too.
It seems that most of the essential specs across different models are comparable with some variation in bells and whistles. In my looking around today, it seems keyboard comfort stands out as a make or break factor. The Dell Mini 9 was just stupidly small, while the HP model had nearly full size keys. But, if you’re a hunt and peck typist that might not make as much of a difference.
While we were looking around tonight, my gf decided she was even comfortable going to a 12” screen size, which is above the netbook sizes of 10” and 9”, so that opens up some options. The 12”, of course, has a full-size keyboard, an internal CD/DVD drive and fewer compromises overall.
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