A buyer's guide to the top 10 netbooks

Thinking about getting a netbook, but don't know where to start? We take a look at 10 of the most popular netbooks out right now.

By Benny Har-Even, 18 Nov 2009 at 09:03

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However, it’s also very much a work machine in the main thanks to a fine keyboard, with separated keys like a Macbook - the highlight being the dedicated Page Up and Down keys.

The CPU is a 2.66GHz Atom N280, which is a touch faster than most Atom netbooks, but otherwise it's standard specs. We’d highly recommend going for the extended battery, which lasted for over nine hours in our light use tests.

HP Mini 5101 £325 ex. VAT
hp 5101
If cost is no option, the HP Mini 5101 comes in as one of our favourite netbooks, as it offers all the qualities and convenience of a high-end laptop, but in netbook form.

We’re talking a high quality black premium finish, and all the specs you need - Wi-Fi n, Gigabit Ethernet, LED backlit screen, webcam and a decent sized hard disk.

At this price, you’re looking at the Suse Linux version so you’ll have to pay more for Windows and for an extended battery and for integrated 3G.

This makes it potentially the most expensive netbook on the market, but if you’re high enough up the corporate tree this is the netbook you’ll want.

Nokia Booklet 3G £450 ex. VAT
nokia_booklet
The HP Mini 5101 goes super expensive when you rack up the options but the Nokia Booklet 3G is inherently pricey.

Nokia probably won’t want it even in this list as it claims that this is not a netbook.

It is powered by Intel’s Atom processor but aside from that it really stands out from the crowd. Its high quality MacBook-like chassis is lightweight and equipped with integrated 3G, as you’d expect from Nokia, as well as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. It will run Windows 7, and Nokia is promising a record breaking 12 hours battery life when it finally appears. While we’re still waiting for it to ship, a successor has already been confirmed.

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1 comments

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netbooks are great

if you know what you're doing. I've got an eeepc S101 with a 10.1" screen running a Kubuntu Linux standard desktop. The keyboard is big enough for documents with a bit of practice. When I need real CPU power or access to my data files, I run the nx remote control app to my quad-core desktop with the apps running on SSD. When I'm not using it to do business, it's a great little multimedia device. People can keep their boat anchors aka laptops. I effectively have access to quite a lot more computer power than the average laptop user and a lot less to carry around.

By alizard on Friday Jun 4