The speed of a netbook depends on the netbook and your connection...they are not all created equal. We have had 2 for my dd. The first was the Acer. The connection speed was great and it was just great for her to do homework assignments on, but because the screen is small, the constant scrolling really bugged her. When that computer had an accident with the kitchen floor, we replaced it with a remanufactured msi. She likes the new one much better, mainly because it has a webcam so she can videochat with her friends. It is very fast.