Apple iPad 2 and Netbook are two gadgets that confuse the people when it come to their purpose. Technology is evolving all the time and is advancing at a furious pace. Every other day companies come up with a new gadget having new as well as features of altogether different device. We all know that a Netbook is a small and handy computing device that can be termed as a miniature laptop with lesser capabilities. Now Apple has launched iPad 2 which is not only an advanced version of iPad, the benchmark tablet, in terms of better and faster processing power, but it has also confused and excited many as to whether they should go for a netbook or iPad 2. This article is meant to find the difference between netbook and iPad 2 so that readers can make a better choice depending upon their requirements.
Buying purpose
If watching movies, playing games or using the device as an e-reader is concerned, iPad 2 is certainly far ahead of a netbook but it also comes with a higher price tag than a netbook. However, if you are looking beyond entertainment and intend to do some serious work with your device, a netbook offers you more hard drive space and gives a physical keyboard to work with, which is not there in iPad 2. Virtual keyboard in iPad 2 makes typing long text documents a tedious job. But if you are looking for a fun filled device, iPad 2 with its multimedia capacities such as dual camera and the ability to capture HD videos is much better than a netbook.
Physical differences
iPad 2, which is a tablet PC, is in the mould of a slate and there is no briefcase type designing which is what netbooks look like. As far as looks are concerned, iPad 2 is aesthetically more pleasing and it is lighter and thinner of the two also. It has a 9.7 inches display in comparison to netbooks that normally have a bigger display of 10-12 inches. The weight of iPad 2 is just 613 gm which is only half of the weight of the netbooks. The display of iPad 2 is a touchscreen where as the screen in netbooks is OLED and not touch screen. The display of netbooks is brighter and more energy efficient than that of iPad 2.
Internal memory
iPad 2 is available in different capacities such as 16 GB, 32 GB, and 64 GB but do not have any ports for using external devices such as USB, but all netbooks allow USB to be used and also have memory card slot to increase internal memory. Netbooks on the other hand have a much larger internal storage capacity and normally have 160 GB of internal memory.
Price
There is a huge price variation in netbooks and one can get them for anything from $250 to $900. On the other hand, iPad 2 is pricier, the most basic model costing $499, and the most expensive one priced at $829.
Browsing
Web browsing is far better in netbooks than in iPad 2 and as iPad 2 does not support flash, you may not be able to surf many websites.
Battery
Though the battery life of iPad 2 has been considerably increased and is now comparable with netbooks, the user cannot replace the battery of an iPad 2 as it is inbuilt whereas it is easy to replace an old battery in any netbook.
Multitasking
This is where a netbook comprehensively beats iPad 2 as Apple has deliberately made iPad 2 to not allow full multitasking, though much improved compared to first generation iPad, as it bogs down if you try to run several Windows based programs on it. The biggest drawback is the touchscreen of iPad 2 which is too cumbersome to attempt anything other than simple use.