It’s the hottest tech sector around, but which of these five extra-portable laptops should you not throw back? From the Godfathers of the netbook market to the latest entrant, five of them have shown up for in our nets
Aspire One 531A big leap forward from the original Aspire One and still decent value
The original Acer Aspire One was one of the best value netbooks around, with a few shortcomings that you overlooked because it cost about the same as a packet of Pop
Tarts. With the new Aspire One 531, Acer has planed off the rough edges and trimmed the device down to a svelte and streamlined finish, without having to raise the cost to
any outrageous degree. Boasting Intel’s newer Atom N280 CPU and a larger, brighter 10.1-inch screen than its predecessor, the 531 pulls away from the netbook throng, but
there’s still evidence of Acer’s budget thinking. The keyboard, one of the original Aspire One’s strongest features, is now a sore point. The keys are generally cramped, with
some squashed to microscopic proportions. It doesn’t leave it unusable, but it does leave it short of its test rivals here. As a minor consolation, the trackpad has received a much needed overhaul and now offers exactly the kind of precision and speed that you need from such a diminutive laptop. Acer has also loaded the 531 with plenty of connectivity. As well as three USB ports, G-class Wi-Fi, ethernet and Bluetooth, you get integrated GPRS and 3G, allowing for on-the-go browsing. Like several other netbooks here, the 531’s Achilles’ heel is its feeble, three-cell battery, which serves up three hours of use per charge. Using the 3G modem a lot runs it down even quicker, which is poor. What’s the point of being able to surf on a mobile data connection if you’re tethered to the mains? That aside, though, a fine effort.
LOVE Sleek, streamlined look. Quality trackpad. 3G connection built in. Still reasonably priced despite upgrades
HATE Cramped keyboard. Weak battery life reduces its portability greatly
WE SAY This skinny netbook is a perfect upgrade to the original Aspire One, with
improvements on almost every front
Samsung N310
Superb design and keyboard outweigh a slightly older processor Samsung’s latest is by far the most distinctivelooking netbook to date. With Japanese artist Naoto Fukasawa lending his hand to the aesthetics, this bubbly little device will certainly get noticed.
There’s a practical side to the design too, with the rubbery outer shell able to laugh off a few knocks and scrapes, saving you the cost and faff of a fiddly protective case.
Beneath that iconic exterior there’s a rather more bog-standard mix of tech, with an Intel Atom processor – an N270 rather than the more modern N280 – 1GB of RAM and a 160GB hard drive. The mediocre, 10.1-inch, 1,024×600-pixel screen lacks much of the vibrancy and gloss of rival netbooks, with colours looking a little bleached. On the other hand, blacks are deep and dark, making this a good one for reading text. Reinforcing the feeling that this is one for the networkers and bloggers, the “pebble” keyboard on the N310 is second to none. Spanning the full width of the case and offering few concessions
to its reduced size, the keys have an excellent travel and feel. The Samsung N310 is also fully loaded with three USB ports. You’d better be reasonably practiced at typing without seeing what’s coming up on screen, though. The clam-like casing prevents the screen from tilting back as far as we’d like, making viewing tricky in more cramped
confines such as public transport. Despite that, if you’ve fallen in love with the N310’s look, you needn’t let the old school processor and poor battery put you off. For cool kids of all ages, this is an eye-catching option in more ways than one.
LOVE Brilliant keyboard. Head-turning design. Good contrast on screen, although colour reproduction is poor
HATE The price seems a trifle high, given the below-par spec
WE SAY This netbook looks and feels great, but it’s not one for those addicted to high specifications
Sony Vaio W Series
A Vaio that can actually be described as good value, with a superb screen. Sony sat out the first year of the low-cost laptop explosion, and then launched the P-Series, an “ultraportable” PC that cost a bomb. The plan didn’t work out, as it’s now launched the W Series, the first Vaio to admit to being a netbook. The awesome, X-Black LCD screen is what sets the W Series apart. This 10.1-incher is by far the
best on test, offering deeper blacks and richer colours than you’ll fi nd on any other netbook. The 1,366×768 resolution adds enough detail to make browsing websites
and documents easy, slashing the amount of scrolling you have to do. Under the bonnet, an Atom N280 processor and N, high-speed Wi-Fi inch it toward the upper
end of the netbook scale, before the paltry three-cell battery drags it back to the middle of the road. You’ll struggle to get three hours of battery life out of the W. The absence of the P-Series’ Xross Media Bar, instant-on boot mode is a confusing missed
opportunity too. Being able to get right at your media files without having to wait for Vista to open was great. Perhaps Sony just forgot the P-Series’ best feature?
Thankfully, it remembered to bring the excellent keyboard from the P Series, this time with a proper trackpad rather than a rubber nipple. Mac-style, isolated keys are an
increasingly common feature on new netbooks and laptops, and it’s easy to see why. Even though this one’s slightly short of full size, typing seldom feels cramped. With
a few minutes of practise you’ll be firing emails off in an eye-watering display of textual acrobatics.
LOVE Stunning X-Black screen. Well designed, practical keyboard. Slick, minimalist design. 802.11n Wi-Fi
HATE Middle of the road spec, the screen aside. Poor battery life. The P-Series’ quick-boot mode is missed
WE SAY Sony’s first proper netbook is a solid all-rounder, set apart from the
pack by an excellent, high-res screen
TOSHIBA MINI NB200
Solid build, sensible design, low price: the quintessential netbook.
From its 160GB hard drive to its 1GB of RAM and 10.1-inch, moderately hi-res screen, this is every inch your standard-issue netbook. Only the textured outer edge and metallic effect keys give any clue that it might have been designed by humans rather than by ticking a series of boxes. And frankly even with those little flourishes, the NB200 is nobody’s idea of exciting looking. What sets this apart is that for less than £350 online, you get a six-cell battery as standard. This means that the battery life goes up to a whopping nine hours – although it’s more like about six hours if you cane your applications the way we do. It does make this so-called “Mini” decidedly lumpy, though. You’re also furnished with a cutting-edge N280 processor. It runs Windows XP, which is less cutting-edge but a better netbook option than sluggish Vista. The 10.1-inch screen has a snazzy gloss finish. This looks the business when you’re under artificial lighting or in dull daylight. As ever with these gloss jobs, though, put it under the sun’s steely glare and you’ll struggle to see much of anything, apart from your own face gawping back at you. The keyboard is a slightly ropey, faux-metal affair on closer inspection, but the keys are as close to full size as you could hope for in something that’s just 263mm across. They span the full width of the device, are well segregated and offer luxuries such as full-sized shift keys and separate cursors. The trackpad is something of a travesty. Ultimately, while the NB200 won’t set your eyeballs tingling, it is a solid, practical netbook at a price that’s very reasonable indeed.
LOVE Large keyboard. Very long battery life, making this ideal for life on the
road. Price is as sensible as the spec
HATE Overly glossy screen. Hopeless trackpad. Boring, slightly shonky look
WE SAY Value and practicality won out flair here, but as a result this is a
sensible choice with great battery life
ASUS EEE PC 1008HA SEASHELL
In the kingdom of the netbook, the Asus-owning man is still king
Asus started the craze for tiny, cheap laptops, and ever since the world and his dog have been fighting for a piece of the pie. Despite this, the Taiwanese tech giant has stayed ahead of the imitators, with tweaks such as smarter looks, better keyboards,
bigger hard drives, and what can only be described as “not actually being all that cheap”. The Eee PC 1008HA, aka the Seashell, continues that trend. Looking swish enough to turn any head, this is also packing full N-standard, high-speed wireless and a Li-Polymer battery that pushes useful life up to an impressive six hours. Like Apple’s new MacBook batteries, it’s a permanent fi xture, hidden away inside the Seashell’s guts, which rules out any chance of upgrading or hot-swapping between spares, but how many of us actually bother with that? There’s also a similarly Apple-styled multi-touch trackpad to raise the bar still further. This lets you zoom in and out of text and images by pinching and drawing apart your fi ngers. The keyboard is good but not great. A bank of wide, flat keys makes typing easy and reasonably fluid, but it lacks both the aesthetic pleasures and the functionality of Vaio or MacBook-style isolated keys. Our conclusion? Asus is still leading the charge. This Eee PC’s looks ace the stylish Samsung; its battery wallops the similarly priced Vaio; it’s slimmer and lighter than the notably svelte Acer One 531. The only notable shortfall is its screen, where the Vaio steals a march, but even bearing that in mind, as an allrounder the Seashell is exceedingly hard to beat.
LOVE Skinny, sexy and light. Very impressive battery life. Multi-touch trackpad. Proper, 802.11n Wi-Fi
HATE Non-removable battery. Only two USBs. A little pricier than the norm
WE SAY Despite fearsome competition, Asus remains ahead of the game, and
the Seashell is the best Eee PC so far
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