professional question for you

My laptop is dying slowly and painfully, and I'm looking to get a new one someday.

Honestly, all I really use it for is writing, internet and some photos.

I'm looking about and need something lght and portable. Would a netbook work for me, especially f I'm not storing everything int he universe on it?

If you do any photo editing, the answer is no. You need something with more power.

Only editing I tend to do is crop and resize to smaller, to fit the demands of the places I publish. I I could do that in photobucket just as well.

Local_Historian wrote: Only editing I tend to do is crop and resize to smaller, to fit the demands of the places I publish. I I could do that in photobucket just as well.

If you are just processing small jpgs, it probably will be OK. I have a Intel Dual Core Atom desktop for browsing the web and as a webcam server. It is the same power you would find in a netbook, it is a slow box but only uses between 10 and 40 watts of power while running, it is also very quiet.

I think you might be happier with something with a Core 2 Duo or an AMD dual core.

A netbook is good as long as you do not need a CDROM (it is not built in). Also avoid the ones with Windows 7 Starter edition, you can run only 3 applications at a time. Windows 7 Home Premium is what you need. Also all new laptops come with Office 2007 "trial" version, and after a few months you have to buy the software. You can use however the older Office 2003 if you own the CD & product key. All hard drives on entry level laptops are 160GB. An entry level laptop with a 15.4" screen between $395 and 600 maybe more suited to what you do. Dell, Acer/Gateway, Lenovo (formerly IBM Thinkpad) are good choices. Careful with some HP models, they are several class action lawsuits against HP. Check the web to find out which ones.

Thanks Computer Hounds great info. I am off to check on those Class Action Suits. They were horrible to me earlier in the year and I had to get BBB involved.