Netbooks are great. You can throw them in a bag and lift them with a couple of fingers. Most importantly, you don’t pay a lot for their portability. However, what happens when you want to watch a DVD movie? Or pop in a CD to install software? You have to connect your external DVD drive for this. Granted the add-on external DVD drive that comes with the netbook is portable itself. But, that is a deal breaker for many of our computer customers. Just knowing you don’t have everything you need internally makes a netbook, well, less like a netbook due to the clunkyness factor.
So, is there a magical netbook with an internal DVD drive? Yes, but there all being sold overseas! The closest we have that will be coming out on the US market soon is the Asus Eee PC 1004DN Netbook. It sells for approximately $850, but is only available currently in Taiwan. The big names, i.e. Sony, Dell, HP, do not sell a true netbook with an internal optical drives. You may find a small 12″ or 13″ zooped up sony with an optical device, but get ready to shell out over $2,000 for it.
So, what’s a die-hard netbook lover to do? If you’re looking for a decent laptop with an optical device, the best route is to go with a Dell Vostro 1220. This new 12″ screen model starts at $561, but will finish out at $675 most likely with all the bells and whistles.
The take-home point here is that a netbook screen is 10″ or 11″ depending on the model you choose. By the time you pay for a $100 external DVD drive, you’re almost at the same price point as this Dell Vostro model. Plus, the Dell is only an inch or 2 bigger than the netbook, and that larger size will probably result in easier typing on the bigger keyboard anyway. So, don’t get bogged down in the netbook crazyness (unless you want to wait for the Asus Eee PC 1004DN to come to the US) when you can get a smaller laptop with better portability of an internal DVD drive at the same cost. The computer setup is easy since it comes with Windows and you don’t have to worry about installing a DVD drive.
Here’s the Dell Vostro 12″ screen spec breakdown for your reference:
- Windows 7 Home Premium
- 12.1″ Widescreen WXGA – 1280 x 800 TrueLife Display
- Starts at Intel Celeron 2 Duo 2.1GHZ and ranges up to Intel Core 2 Duo 2.66GHZ
- Comes with 2GB RAM and may be upgraded to 8GB RAM
- 8x DVD-RW
- Defaults at 160GB hard drive, upgradeable to 500GB storage
- Wireless G card, upgradeable to N series wireless
- Bluetooth
- Integrated 1.3 megapixel camera
- Comes with Trend Micro Internet Security 15-month subscription
- Black or Red color
- 1-Year warranty
