I get a lot of questions via email and twitter regarding how to pick the right netbook.  I don’t mind answering people individually but I wanted to share what I’m calling it a 2010 Netbook Buying Guide.  There are four areas this guide will cover: features, price, where to buy, and recommended tips and tricks.

Once you finish with all four parts you’ll be able to pick among the hundreds of netbooks and feel good about your choice.

Netbook Features

The specifications of your netbook will determine everything from where you can buy it to which brand you buy as well as how much you’ll pay for it.  Just like any other big purchase you should know what you’re looking for before you start window shopping.  The good part is that a majority of specs on netbooks are fairly consistent across the board.  If you have a desire for extras be prepared to pay for them.

Screen size – For all intents and purpose netbooks come in two sizes.  Most netbooks are available with 10 inch or 12 inch screens.  As you’d imagine the larger the screen the more expensive the netbook.  A larger screen means that it will have a higher resolution.  10 inch screen netbooks typically have a resolution of 1024 x 600 (some do 1366 x 768) while 1366 x 768 is the standard resolution on 12 inch netbooks.  Most websites are built for 1024 x 768 screens so you may find yourself panning left or right with a 10 inch netbook.

If you don’t care about picking up a new netbook previous models come with screens as small as 7 inches.  These first generation netbooks are the epitome of the product category which was meant to be a middle ground between the larger, more expensive notebooks, and phones which typically have screens up to 4 inches in size.

Hard Drive/RAM – Both of these refer to storage.  Your hard drive allows you to store files and programs, where your RAM allows you to keep tabs on what you were working on most recently and determines how quickly things launch once you click to open it.  Hard drives of current netbooks range from 160GB to 250GB, whereas older netbooks may have as small as 4GB drives.  RAM is pretty consistent with most netbooks coming with 1GB and maxing out at 2GB.  Only now are we starting to see netbooks which come with 2GB and are expandable up to 4GB.

Wifi – Wifi (short for wireless fidelity) allows you to connect to routers and surf the web.  Wifi comes in different speeds such as 802.11 a/b/g/n.  802.11n is the fastest allowing netbooks to transfer data as fast as 300Mbps.  The tradeoff is that when you use this functionality it takes away from battery life.  The faster it is the stronger the signal and the higher the drain on the system.

Keyboard – Netbook keyboard don’t match up with notebook keyboard but they come close.  Many netbook keyboards are 92% the size of a standard laptop keyboard.  You have the option of a chick let style keyboard or a keyboard where the keys are flush.  If you’re a touch typer you’ll find that typing on a chick let style keyboard is a lot easier and allows you to type faster.

Processor – There are currently four generations of netbook processors for you to choose from.  The processors used initially in netbooks were 900Mhz Celeron processors which weren’t fast but used little power.  Intel quickly moved to their Atom platform with N270 processors with a speed of 1.6GHz.  Afterwards, the N280 processor added a little extra pep with a higher FSB pushing the speed to 1.66GHz.  Netbooks from previous generations with screens larger than 10 inches used the Z520/Z530 class of processor.

With the additional draw of the larger screen these processors work at 1.2 or 1.3GHz respectively to allow the netbook to have somewhat decent battery life.  Today’s netbooks use Intel’s latest N450 processor.  The N450 combines power saving features while still providing performance comparable to N270/N280 processors.  AMD and VIA has both tried (and failed) to join Intel in the netbook processor space.

Graphics – Intel didn’t want netbooks to compete with laptops.  In an effort to keep these products separate as well as costs lows, Intel integrates their own graphics solution into most netbooks.  These graphics leave a lot to be desired.  They’ll allow you to use Windows but you will be hard pressed to play any advanced games.  You’ll be able to stream some video but most of it will play slowly if at all.  Nvidia saw the need and provides graphics for netbooks under the name ION.  ION is a graphics solutions which allows you to not only stream online HD video, but also quickly encode your own.  The premium for ION graphics is only warranted if you have a current need or anticipate a future need of watching video online or playing games.  If not the graphics Intel give you will accomplish what you need it to.

There you have it.  There are other decisions you’ll end up making regarding a netbook like the color, or if the keys make too much noise when you type, or how hot it gets while you’re using it but those kinds of features are subjective and can’t really be controlled for as they vary from one brand or model to another.

1. Top 5 Changes To Netbooks In 2009

2. Netbooks With Full Sized Keyboards

3. AMD Forcing Intel To Rethink Netbook Chip Strategy

4. Will Netbooks Make It Into 2012?

5. Screen Resolution Has Big Impact On Small Netbook Screens