Netbook Roundup: 5 of The Best Netbooks On the Market

Netbooks are an emerging market of laptops that focus primarily on Internet access such as browsing, e-mailing, and cloud computing. In a sea of sameness, it becomes the minute details that make one Netbook better or worse than another. When looking for a new netbook it is important to take into consideration the less advertised features: keyboard size and feel, camera megapixels, and battery size.

The specs listed below are just the base models and they can be widely customized—for example, some come with Windows XP, some can be installed with Ubuntu, some with SUSE Linux; most also have solid-state drive versions; and most come in a wide variety of colors.

We’ve done the reasearch, and here is a look 5 of the best notebooks on the market.

1. Acer Aspire One - $349The Aspire One from Acer comes standard with a 1.6 GHz Intel Atom processor, 1 GB RAM (upgradable to 2 GB), 10.1″ 1024 × 600 display, an 89% of full-size keyboard, a 160 GB HDD, only a .3 megapixel camera, Windows XP or Linpus Linux Lite, 3 USB ports, WiFi b/g, Bluetooth, a 5-in-1 card reader, and a 3-cell battery (upgradable to a 6-cell.) Configured with the 3-cell battery it weighs 1.33 kg.
2. Asus EEEPC - $329ASUS was the leader of the market with the EEEPC. Their 1000H netbook features a 1.6 GHz Intel Atom processor, 1GB RAM (again upgradable to 2GB), a 10.1″ 1024 × 600 display, a 160GB HDD, a 1.3 megapixel camera, Windows XP, a 92% sized keyboard, Bluetooth, 802.11n, and a 6-cell battery which the claim offers 9.5 hours. With the 6-cell battery it weighs 1.45 kg and measures 26.6 × 19.12 × 2.85 cm.
3. Dell Mini - $299The Dell Mini comes standard with a 1.33 GHz Intel Atom processor, 1GB RAM, a 10.1″ 1024 × 576 display, HDMI port, a 160GB HDD, WiFi b/g, a 3-cell battery, Windows XP or Ubuntu, and a 1.3 megapixel camera. It can be vastly improved and customized, at a premium, by Dell, upgrading to a faster 1.6GHz processor, 2GB RAM, adding Bluetooth, a 6-cell battery, 802.11 n, and 3G connectability through Verizon’s EVDO network. One of the lighter netbooks, the Dell Mini weighs in at 1.2 kg. A side note, the Dell Mini is a favorite of those attempting to make a “Hackintosh”—a netbook running Mac OS X.
4. MSI Wind - $429Like its brethren, the MSI Wind also features 1.6 GHz Intel Atom processor, 1 GB RAM, a 10.1″ 1024 × 600 display, a 160 HHD, Windows XP or SUSE Linux, WiFi b/g, Bluetooth, a 4-in-1 card reader (SD/SDHC, MMC, MS, MS Pro), a 1.3 megapixel camera, and a 3-cell battery. The Wind, like the Dell Mini, is the lightest of the netbooks we compared weighing 1.2 kg. It measures 25.98 × 18.0 × 1.90 cm.
5. Samsung NC10 - $419Lastly, the Samsung NC10, which features a 1.6 GHz Intel Atom processor, 1GB RAM (upgradable to 2 GB,) a 10.2″ 1024 × 600, a 160 GB HDD, Windows XP, a 1.3 megapixel camera, a 3-in-1 card reader (SD, MMC, SDHC), WiFi b/g, Bluetooth, and a 6-cell battery. It also features a larger keyboard, 93% full-size, that has been coated with anti-bacterial Silver Nano ions. The NC10 measures 26.1 × 18.5 × 3.0 cm and weighs 1.33 kg.

Let us know it the comments which netbook is your favorite, especially if we left yours off the list.