Netbook vs. Notebook for Programmers? [closed]

I wouldn't recommend Netbooks personally for the following reasons:

• Small keyboard. Your programmers are most likely going to hate the small keyboard after a short time period. Productivity killer.
• Possibly slow speed. For running the software depending on which processor you get it may be quite slow compared to what they could use - this could be a big productivity killer.
• Small screen. The tradeoff here is more a personal preference to the user and how well they can work with their constraints. At least with code it's nice to be able to bring up two documents and not need to squint.
• Hard Drive space. There isn't much and depending on how much data you're dealing with is a point worth noting.
• Graphics. Depending on the netbook the graphics card will be sufficient to run an external monitor and you could use an external keyboard/mouse via USB. It's worth noting that the vast majority of netbooks provide VGA out so you'll have to double check the monitor being used can still use VGA - that said how well your programmers can cope with the massive discrepancy in screen size may be more of a hassle both than it's worth. That's in terms of both managing dual monitors or having everything sized for a larger monitor and going back to a very small monitor.

Summation: If the constraints of a netbook don't hinder your users, sure. If they do you'll only be frustrating your users.

EDIT: Added last note about graphics cards to address edit in question.

The biggest strike against netbooks for this type of work is the small screen. The screen on most if not all netbooks is too small for a modern IDE. You could get vim + a command window using 6x13 into 1024x600 but an IDE is not going to work.

If your team is mobile your main compromise is between weight and screen real-estate. In essence, the more pixels the better, as long as the text remains readable. For example, I did once have a 15" Toshiba Tecra with a 1680x1050 screen that I couldn't use because the text was too small for my slightly decrepit eyesight.

One return flight and a few nights in a hotel will cost as much or more than a laptop, so cutting corners on this hardware is likely to be a false economy. Hardware cost will also be a small fraction of the cost of the software in most development shops. Although Python and MySQL are free, Visio and Office are not and the more expensive incarnations of (say) Visual Studio can run to several thousand USD.

One significant win with netbooks is battery life, but the ergonomics of spending an 8 hour flight working on an EEE-PC 901 are not going to work for most people.

So, on the whole I think that netbooks probably won't work very well as development machines. For development work you're better off getting the machine with the biggest screen that you can comfortably lug around.

My philosophy has always been to get the most powerful systems in the hands of the developers. I believed this as a developer, and as a system administrator, and still as a database administrator. I understand that they are running Python and MySQL, but if they are serious about their craft, they are going to need the power. Plus there is the issue of screen real-estate. With a netbook you can certainly plug in a monitor when you're at home or in the office, but not when you're on a plane or remote. One of the reasons I have a wider laptop is for the screen size.

The keyboard may be an issue. Many cut corners to get the size down and since you don't get a full keyboard, typing may be frustrating.

System resources and screen size may be an issue for some as well. I know the Dell netbooks only come with XP, and with Windows 7 just around the corner, the netbook landscape could change shortly.

I considered this a few months ago and decided it was better off getting a 13" notebook. I paid a bit more but it was worth it.