What are mini laptops? These small but mighty wonders are actually the smaller cousins of the standard laptop. If you think you’ve never seen one, then just remember the times when you passed by a computer store and marveled at how cute that laptop is.

Mini laptops are fast becoming a global sensation, because apart from being lightweight, they are also light on the pocket. But how do they compare against standard laptops?

Over the years the development of a stripped down, downsized laptop has evolved, and just like the standard laptops, most mini laptops now come with an operating system (Windows or Linux), basic software, substantial memory, entertainment options, and Internet connectivity. Still, the minis are distinct from standard laptops based on these features:

Price

Mini laptops are in the range of $100 to $500, which make them very affordable to practically anyone. Standard laptops cost $800 to $1500 and up.

Weight

They just weigh around two pounds while standard laptops generally weigh closer to six pounds.

Screen

Mini laptops have screens from eight to ten inches wide, while standard laptops have 15-17 inch display.

The good thing about netbooks is that they have sizable memory, from 512 to 2GB, with storage space ranging from 16GB to 160GB. If your files exceed the storage capacity, you can easily expand it with flash disks and memory cards.

With these smaller laptops, you can easily create MS office documents, read email, watch movies, listen to music, take pictures and chat with your friends, and surf the Internet, among other things.

Probably the only downside to these small laptops is that they have smaller keyboards than standard laptops. Some computer users might find it uncomfortable to type on smaller keys for an extended period of time.

Whether or not mini laptops are going to be the standard laptops of the future remains to be seen. But it is doubtful the standard laptops are going to be obsolete. As it is, there are certain jobs that need wide screens and more processing power that exceeds the power available in the current generation of ultra portable notebook computers. Tasks currently unsuitable for a mini  include intensive graphics design and 3D-rendering jobs.