Netbooks aren't meant to be replacements for main computers. Their purpose is to complement the main system you work with. They're meant to be portable. However, for some reason we can't seem to let go of our deep seated desire to keep all the bits and pieces we expect in a full notebook in a netbook.

Look at the side of your netbook. Most of the thickness comes from the need to accommodate the VGA, or D-SUB, video port and the ethernet port. Drop those and the side profile can be almost halved. Not only does this aid your netbook's portablity but it also looks a lot better.

I can already hear the naysayers. "But we might need an ethernet port one day". Bah... the point of the netbook is portable computing. A wired ethernet port is not needed and if it is there are plenty of cheap USB-ethernet adapters.

The VGA port is a little more problematic as many of us use our netbooks for giving presentations. However, the new DisplayPort and MiniDisplay port connectors are far slimmer and adapters to VGA are readily available. In fact, there are DisplayPort to HDMI converters out there meaning that almost any modern TV becomes a presentation screen.

What do you think? Is it time to ditch the ethernet and VGA ports? Register at Netbook Mojo and leave a comment.

By Anthony Caruana