As I’ve already covered here, mini laptops are used primarily for convenience. I use mine all over the house – my desktop is upstairs, so while I’m watching a movie or TV, I can whip out my netbook and check IMDB or browse the web during the commercials.

But if I had just spent $300 on my Acer Aspire One just so I wouldn’t have to go upstairs to use the computer, or worse yet, not have to use my larger laptop while downstairs, it wouldn’t be worth it.

The real value in the mini laptop is that I can toss it in my briefcase, or just carry it under my arm like a paperback book, and take it to the Peet’s Coffee and do some writing there. Or I can take it to the park. Or on the subway. With a 6-cell battery, most netbooks will last between 4 and 8 hours on a single charge, so it is conceivable that you could take it out for a day at work and not even have to bring the power cord.

Now for the drawbacks:

I have a full-size briefcase, which used to carry my full-sized 17” laptop. The case itself weighs about 3lbs, and the laptop is just under 10. It gets old carrying that around after a while. When I put my mini laptop in the case, I can also fit almost anything else I need in with it. I can carry the power cord, spare Ethernet cable, one or two books, a notebook, and as many pens as I could ever want.

With the growing popularity of mini laptops, there are more and more companies making sleeves and cases designed especially for them. However, men beware: almost all of the cases that have shoulder straps just look like purses. So either work on your confidence, or you might have to “repurpose” some other items.

Honestly, I think the biggest drawback by far is that you don’t actually need a netbook. It isn’t necessary to your life. These days, cellphones are a must, and having a computer of some sort is essential to most of our lives, but the mini laptop really just fills a niche. Disclaimer aside, if you have $300 to spend on new tech, the netbook is a terrific way to spend it.

I have had my Acer Aspire One for almost 6 months now, and I use it almost every day. Buying it has helped me be more productive as I am more inclined to work while at the coffee shop or outside with a cigarette, which in the past have been my main procrastination techniques.

Mini Laptops, more commonly known as netbooks these days, are small form-factor portable computers that are characterized by a 10” or smaller screen and lack of CD drive. They are approximately half the size of a normal 15” laptop and are becoming increasingly popular due to their convenience and low cost.

These netbooks truly are mini laptops – almost everything about them is smaller. The screen is obviously smaller, and there is no CD drive, but the keyboard and tackpad are, with a few exceptions, also smaller. These keyboards are definitely a change of pace for anyone used to typing on a normal keyboard, and they take some getting used to.

Because they are so small, netbooks will fit in a backpack or purse quite easily, and often weigh around 2.5 lbs. It is this portability that helps make the mini laptop so popular. With some larger laptops, one is less inclined to actually take them somewhere because of their size and weight.

Mini notebooks do have some drawbacks though. First, the hardware inside them is designed to use as little power as possible, so most have Intel Atom processors running at 1.6Ghz, which would be decent speed for a laptop in 2005. Most usually have 1Gb RAM, which is quite low by today’s standards. But netbooks are not designed for photo editing or graphics-intensive videogames. As the name implies, they are designed for primarily web browsing on the go.

While these small computers should not be expected to replace an existing laptop or desktop computer, they are perfect for a quick jaunt down to the coffee shop or for typing that last minute school paper or business proposal on the bus or in the carpool. And for the low prices these fine pieces of technology are commanding, some as low as $200, the convenience afforded is well worth the cost.