Ask yourself what you're going to be doing with it. Neither the netbook nor the notebook will do any serious gaming. Both should be capable of basic office apps, web browsing, IM, video conferencing, ect.

To be sure, you're going to lose some functionality with a netbook- which is why I say they're a bad choice for someone's only PC. But for people like myself who have separate desktops, they're a nice way to stay connected when you're away from it.

My desktop is in my upstairs "office", whereas the netbook usually lives in my living room. I love having it to hop on line with while watching TV, or for chatting/looking up gamefaqs while playing console games, ect. It's also extremely convenient to grab if I know I'm going somewhere that has WiFi. Often, I don't even turn it off- just shut it (which puts it on standby), unlpug it and slip it into it's jacket- its power consumption is almost nil in that state.

If you just want something to get online and stay connected with, I'd go netbook. If you need a full-featured (albeit underpowered) PC, go with a budget notebook.