Can you use a netbook as your only computer?

For £500 (or less) you can easily get a notebook which suits realistically your computing needs, eliminates the need for a keyboard and DVD drive.

A entry-level 15" notebook (although you could go 13&quot will be thin and light enough for you to take with you in a backpack or messenger bag (etc.) comfortably.
I suppose are you willing to compromise on the screen? Would you be able to handle a 15" all the time without an external one?

Well I have a 15" now, and it's just too bulky to take to uni and carry around. If I wanted to replace my 15" with a 15", I'd have just bought another Dell Inspiron. I was asking about netbooks because the size and weight is a priority to me...

Ah I see.
Well I would strongly recommend maybe going to PCWorld or something just to look of and get the feel of, for instance, 13" laptops. (But please God don't buy one there, expensiiive).

I can only speak from my opinion, obviously, but a 13" notebook is negligibly more bulky than a netbook, but is not inherently crippled.
If you have experience with netbooks before then completely ignore me, but if you don't I really do recommend you look at them first.
Listening to music while having a few tabs open is hard work for an Intel Atom, plus I can't see a netbook driving a standard 17"-19" monitor with much ease.

Which is why I was planning on getting one of the newer netbooks with a dual core processor, and 2GB RAM...

My bad, didn't see the while duel-core business.
Regardless, my points remain (marginally less) valid. You should be able to make an informed decision.

You have to bear in mind people buy netbooks because they're cheap and small, MacBooks are neither.

OP, I'd just go for a standard netbook and upgrade to 2GB of RAM, that will cover your basic needs. You should be able to browse the web, have office open, listen to music all simultaneously. Watching HD video should be OK provided you're not doing a multitude of other things at the same time. Just check to netbook is compatible with what you need to do with it, ie. installing more RAM, hooking up to a monitor etc.

Anyone got any views on Packard Bell netbooks? I'm contemplating this as an alternative to the ASUS, given it's superior RAM, storage, and screen size... Never had a PB computer at all though, and unsure of quality.

Ah I see.
Well I would strongly recommend maybe going to PCWorld or something just to look of and get the feel of, for instance, 13" laptops. (But please God don't buy one there, expensiiive).

I can only speak from my opinion, obviously, but a 13" notebook is negligibly more bulky than a netbook, but is not inherently crippled.
If you have experience with netbooks before then completely ignore me, but if you don't I really do recommend you look at them first.
Listening to music while having a few tabs open is hard work for an Intel Atom, plus I can't see a netbook driving a standard 17"-19" monitor with much ease.

I'm currently using a Dell Inspiron 1525, which is rapidly dying. I'm looking to get a netbook to replace it (probably an ASUS, with a dual core processor), but suddenly wondered if it's as functionable as I want...

The plan was to hook it up to a decent sized monitor, external DVD drive, etc, so that at home it runs pretty much like a desktop, but then unplug it and take it to uni. Will it be able to run video (I watch tv on my laptop), multiple internet tabs, a few Office programs, etc without slowing down?

I'm currently using a Dell Inspiron 1525, which is rapidly dying. I'm looking to get a netbook to replace it (probably an ASUS, with a dual core processor), but suddenly wondered if it's as functionable as I want...

The plan was to hook it up to a decent sized monitor, external DVD drive, etc, so that at home it runs pretty much like a desktop, but then unplug it and take it to uni. Will it be able to run video (I watch tv on my laptop), multiple internet tabs, a few Office programs, etc without slowing down?

For clarification - if the spec is listing a netbook as having 1GB RAM plus 1 SODIMM slot (max 1GB), does that mean it has a space for me to expand the total memory to 2GB?