Pixelmator is another inexpensive graphics manipulation solution, this time for the Mac OSX. For $59, you get most of the capabilities of Photoshop in an attractive package that features a slick, easy-to-follow interface. Pixelmator has both a normal window mode and a full-screen editing mode, with a wide selection of filters available for you to play around with. Pixelmator is excellent for quick photo editing tasks such as cropping, rotating and minor color effects.

Last but not least, Fotografix offers most of the capabilities one would expect from a small-scale graphics manipulation program, but with a twist – this program is only less than 1MB in size when unzipped, meaning that you can throw it on your USB drive and always have an image editing program at your fingertips whenever you need it. It lacks some features that you would expect – for instance, there are no grid and ruler options, but this software manages to get the job done. And it comes at a rather affordable of…free.

Like major appliances, most computer problems arise in the first few months after purchase and will routinely be covered under the standard warranty. Unlike a refrigerator, many computers are likely to need some type of repair if kept for three years or more. Studies have shown that extended warranties, if they are used at all, usually cost the consumer more that the price of repair. If the results of those studies are reliable, those who advocate declining the extended warranty would appear to be on the winning side.

There is a contingent who recommend extended warranties for book and laptops—Windows models and Macs. Portables are more likely to have problems and more expensive to fix. Be sure that warranties cover the common, careless incidents that frequently happen to portable models—falling off tables, cracked screens, spills and crumbs in the keyboard. Don’t expect them to cover malicious abuse or theft. Apple’s extended warranty is a little more attractive than some as it can be purchased anytime within the first year, since it doesn’t overlap the standard warranty, it offers up to an extra year of protection.

Are You a Mac or PC?
The first decision you need to make is which operating system you’d prefer to use – Windows or Macintosh. Both offer their own advantages and disadvantages. The majority of computer owners use Windows as their operating system and most computer programs will run on Windows. The cheapest computers on the market also tend to run Windows. However, its popularity makes it particularly vulnerable to security risks like spyware and viruses and many users find the latest operating system, Vista, to be a hassle.

Macs have been around about as long as PCs and are slowly gaining ground in popularity. The machines themselves are sleek and the operating system (Leopard) has far fewer security issues than Windows does. They tend to be among the more expensive computers available and are not compatible with all software (though the latest Macs can now run Vista or Windows XP through a program called Boot Camp, somewhat eliminating this problem).

Do You Need a Desktop or a Laptop?
This is the second question you need to ask yourself. Desktops offer a larger hard drive (some now come as large as one terabyte in size) but are anchored to one place and not easily transported. Laptops are far more portable and necessary for anyone who works away from a desk or needs to bring their work with them between home and the office. Laptops are also more expensive than a desktop, so you may end up paying more money for a computer that cannot do as much as a desktop. For many, though, the advantage of a portable computer more than makes up for the price difference.

What Specifications (Specs) Do You Need?
How much RAM (your computer’s thinking-power) do you need? Do you pick an Intel or an AMD processor? It depends. For those who simply need a computer that will surf the internet, email friends and coworkers and type up documents, a computer with 1-gigabyte of RAM and an AMD processor should be fine, and relatively inexpensive to purchase. Intel processors are more efficient and 2 to 4 gigabytes of RAM will give you a faster computer – ideal for the computer gamer or person who runs many programs at once.

This is due to the nature of netbooks and why they are so affordable (a new one will run you anywhere from $300 to $500 on average): compared to normal laptops, they are very underpowered. They don’t have the powerful processors present in most notebooks today. They don’t have the fancy graphics processors.

Thanks to this, though, the battery life of a netbook is much longer than what you get with notebooks: the battery that generally comes with the netbook will last you from 4 to 6 hours, give or take. However, you can get batteries for you netbook that will last you from 7 to 10 hours, and possibly more. This lets you leave your charger at home as you go about your day to day activities. Given the relative size of netbooks (they are quite a bit smaller than their notebook cousins), it’s easy to carry them around and pull them out when needed (or when you have a few minutes to check your e-mail).

Netbooks will come with either Windows XP or a version of Linux on it. There is a rumored Apple Netbook coming, but as of yet Apple has stated that they are not interesting in entering this arena. Sorry, Apple fans: perhaps in the near future this will change.

So, how does a netbook compare to a notebook? We’ve already covered it a little above, but below is a list of the pros and cons of netbooks when compared to notebooks.

Pros include:
-Longer Battery Life
-More Portable
-More Affordable

Cons include:
-Less Powerful Hardware
-No DVD Drive (everything is transferred over USB on netbooks)
-Can’t Handle more Resource Intensive Applications
-No Mac netbook… yet

Netbooks are the affordable solution for on the go computing.