Most people buy a computer to surf the internet, send / receive mail and occasionally work with text files or other documents. Today even the most "poor" computer can do that without problems and very low prices. If this is all you need and you do not have pretensions then any computer is helpful.

In 2007, Asus introduced netbooks into the consumer's market although they lacked the quality of performance and the exceptional features that their notebook counterparts possessed. They also cost much less than their competitors. Today, netbooks are smaller and contain more computing technology giving them the edge over notebook computers.