Help! Netbook vs Laptop?

[noiseredux]

My wife is finishing up a couple of certification courses that are online. Her current laptop is pretty oldhat and huge. I was thinking of surprising her with a new netbook, but I really can't spend too much right now. And I'm planning to purchase through Best Buy only, since I have a credit card there.

There's these pretty cheap ones:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/ASUS+-+Eee+ ... Id=2947218

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Toshiba+-+M ... Id=1853531

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/HP+-+Mini+N ... Id=2754052

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Acer+-+Fact ... Id=3072125


All of those say they have Windows 7 Starter. Now, I realize netbooks don't offer the same level of performance as a laptop. But, this is what she'll need to do with it:

1. access the internet / watch streaming video online
2. create documents in Word format
3. read e-books in Kindle PC format

With that in mind, should any/all of these netbooks that I've linked do the job?

or should I spend a little extra and get this Acer Laptop?

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Acer+-+Aspi ... 8356319700

[eskil]

For those tasks, any computer currently available will be more than enough.
One thing you need to watch out for with netbooks is a comfortable keyboard/trackpad. I'm in the market for a netbook myself right now and I'm heavily leaning towards the HP mini. The predecessor had an excellent keyboard but an average trackpad, this one seems to have improved on the last generation.

[CRTGAMER]

Get one with a touch screen and built in keyboard. The screen can swivel like a "iPad look alike" touch pad. If you wife likes Bejeweled and Bookworm, they play great with a touch screen.

[noiseredux]

Get one with a touch screen and built in keyboard. The screen can swivel like a "iPad look alike" touch pad. If you wife likes Bejeweled and Bookworm, they play great with a touch screen.

I don't think anything like that will fall within my budget.

[CRTGAMER]

Get one with a touch screen and built in keyboard. The screen can swivel like a "iPad look alike" touch pad. If you wife likes Bejeweled and Bookworm, they play great with a touch screen.

I don't think anything like that will fall within my budget.

Forget Best Buy, too expensive. Try Frys or Amazon.

300 bucks, mixed reviews:

[noiseredux]

Forget Best Buy,

did you read my first post?

[noiseredux]

for a little bit more, it looks like I can actually get her a laptop instead. Maybe it would be best to do that rather than a stripped down netbook...

[CRTGAMER]

Forget Best Buy,

did you read my first post?

Yes, good to compare prices and features. You bring an ad and Best Buy will price match. I just have a preference of Frys which also price matches including competitor's internet ads.

[noiseredux]

for a little bit more, it looks like I can actually get her a laptop instead. Maybe it would be best to do that rather than a stripped down netbook...

alright so I could get a Windows 7 Starter netbook for around $230 or I could get an Acer Windows 7 Home Starter laptop for around $280. Recommendations/thoughts?

[noiseredux]

edit: Revised the OP -- would really like some opinions from some of you PC nerds.