I'm in the process of replacing my laptop with a netbook, and I've been researching for a couple of months, being that I want a protection plan. My tweens use my laptop, and the same will be true of my netbook, I'm sure, so I need to be prepared for inevitable bumps, drops, and so forth. I held off on my purchase because some of the netbooks are a bit scarce at this moment. The under $300 selection seems to have all but disappeared, or they are low or out of stock. There are some listings on various sites of 320 GB hard drives, with an under $300 price, and I've seen them in stores. Walmart actually had such a netbook priced at $248, and fortunately, I found it in stock. Last summer, when we considered a Walmart computer for my daughter, there were no accident protection plans. That has since changed, and my new netbook, with protection plan, is on its way.
If you are watching for netbooks, don't expect to see significant price drops this year. Rather, expect to see increased memory and hard drive space. Watch for deals on the accident protection plans. I avoided some retailers because the plans were nearly as costly as a new netbook. I was tempted to build my own netbook at HP, but the protection plan made the cost more than I wanted. Watch for deals on these plans during back to school promotions.
On another note, if your tween does permanently damage his laptop or netbook, it's helpful to find a trustworthy repair shop in your locality. My laptop wasn't able to be repaired, but my hard drive information was successfully transferred to an external hard drive, making it possible to salvage pictures, iTunes music, and school work.
