A laptop is a portable computer with a full sized keyboard, a monitor that flips up and is 14 to 17 inches diagonally and has a drive to play DVDs. You can carry one around with you but still have a multitude of features that a desktop PC can offer so they can be heavy compared to netbooks and notebooks. They are powered by strong processors with a fairly long battery life, usually greater than 3 hours, have an integrated modem, Bluetooth and WiFi capabilities. So it’s pretty much a portable desktop computer. Owing to the advanced features, they can be quite expensive.

A notebook has quite a few differences from a laptop. They happen to be thinner than laptops owing to the lack of a DVD drive. Instead, notebooks can be connected to external drives through communication ports. They are also not as high tech as laptops. Their graphics capabilities are lower and have the smallest keyboard possible to lessen weight and improve functionality. It does have an integrated modem like a laptop. Notebooks also are usually powered by Sempron style processors that take up lesser battery life, so they last 4 to 5 hours. They are costlier than laptops owing to their higher level of portability and some even come with touch screens.

Netbooks on the other hand are small inexpensive laptop computers that are smaller than notebooks. They are defined by their size and processing power. Netbooks are generally used to access internet based applications. They are equipped with 10 inch monitors, while laptops have 15 inch monitors. Netbooks have long battery life and are ideally used for traveling, especially if you don’t want to carry around a bulky laptop. They also lack DVD drives and have low memory (RAM or ROM).