<p>Do you guys think that I could get by in college with just a netbook? I know one big drawback is that they don't have CD/DVD drives. I wouldn't really mind the small screen, I don't think.</p>
<p>Or would the better route be to get a netbook+cheap desktop? I think that that combination would still be cheaper than some of the higher-end laptops.</p>
<p>as long as you keep in mind that netbooks have pretty weak processors, and thus won’t be able to run stuff like Photoshop or any games/movies well. I have a netbook and a laptop, and that’s working out fine for me, although for most science majors you dont need a laptop at all, and could stick with just a cheap desktop.</p>
<p>my opinion only:
Don’t get the netbook because they’re underpowered and aren’t a good long term investment (If you’re doing 4 yr college). You will feel the lag when watching larger youtube vids, loading websites, and daily tasks. Get the laptop because I’m pretty sure you can carry a 4-5 lb computer. If you have a small budget, you can still get a good laptop from coupons and on-sales. Check them out in August.</p>
<p>You can get a much better laptop for <$600 with an i5 and an okay discrete GPU (good enough for HD movies and stuff) that isn’t prohibitively unportable. Check out the other two threads on this forum about that. </p>
<p>Although apparently there are dual-core netbooks with 1.8GHz processors coming out soon, which should be enough for normal usage as long as there’s a decent integrated GPU put in those. You could check out those. If you can stand the small keyboard then go ahead; just make sure to get an external monitor for your room.</p>