Best netbook computers at the moment? Asus or something else?

I’m a very lazy person and i hate carrying heavy stuff around, like my everyday laptop (that has around 6 lbs). That’s why I’ve been planing to buy something smaller: a netbook .

I needed something that would provide me decent performances and good autonomy, would have as sturdy construction but would look OK (not something made of cheap plastic) and won’t be either heavy, nor expensive.

Netbooks - best summer 2009 offers

I know, I have high expectations But believing such devices exist on the market, is started looking for reviews and offers for the best netbooks at this moment (July 2009). And in the following lines I’m going to tell you what I’ve found.

Actually, I’ve been following the netbooks subject for quite a while now. I tried quite some of them, including several Asus EEE PCs, the Aspire One and the Dell Mini, but all of them had something wrong: poor display, resolution, construction, keyboard or extremely high prices. But now there are so many offers of netbooks on the market that i believe i can find something suitable for me.

The 10″ models – 2009th mainstream netbooks

I didn’t even considered laptops with a smaller screen, because they have lots of  problems (tiny screen and resolution, jammed keyboards, etc). So i first stated looking at the 10 inch display devices. And there are quite a few now, as this size has become mainstream in the netbook class.

Asus 1000H (and 1000HG) line + Asus S101H

They are the best Asus has to offer at the moment in this class. In terms of specs, there’s nothing missing: Intel Atom N270 CPU, 1Gb of RAM, 160 GB storage drive, Wi-fi, Bluetooth, 10.1″ screen (1024 x 600 px resolution), Windows XP OS, etc . THe 1000HG version even has an intergated 3G modem . You can read more about the Asus EEE 1000HG here, actually.

Asus 1000h - great price/quality raport

This line looks decent enough, but nothing out of ordinary. They come with an almost normal sized keyboad that won’t bother you even if used for a longer time. And they have great autonomy: the standard model has a 6 cell battery – up to 6 hours of life , but there are also versions with a 9 cell heart (beyond 10 hours of life). There’s also a more stylish version, slimmer, better looking and made of better materials, the Asus EEE PC S101H.

The prices for these devices are quite good. You can get the ordinary 1000H for around $400 and the 1000HG for around $450. The S101H hasn’t reached stores yet, but it’s reckon to have a price tag around $600 . There are other 10″ Asus netbooks too, you can check them out right here, on Amazon .

MSI Wind U100

There are many versions of the MSI Wind 100. They have the same specs as the Asus devices above. I can’t say they’re better, they’re the same. I had one for about 2 weeks when my laptop had a trip to the service and there’s nothing i can say wrong about them. The standard Wind with a 6 cell battery and up to 6 hours autonomy will cost you around $400, but you can find it here for just $369 .

MSI Wind U200 - perhaps one of the best 12" netbooks to come

Acer Aspire One

This one is the same as the EEE PC’s and the Wind above. Same specs, same construction, same screen. Just a different exterior and a better price. Cause the 10.1″ Acer Aspire One can be found for as low as $329 .

These are perhaps the best such models on the market. There are others too, like the Dell Mini (i won’t recommend this one, it has a horrible keyboard and looks like a piece of junky plastic) , the Toshiba Mini or the Samsnugn NC10. And also the soon to come Vaio W, the first true netbook from Sony, and the first high class name to enter this competition. More About the Sony Vaio W you can find here.

The 12″ models – the perfect compromise

Asus S121 - the 12'er from Asus EEE Series

There aren’t a lot of 12″ netbooks on the market yet. Actually, there are only two models available on Amazon, the Samsung N120 and the Dell Mini 12M. They have similar specs as the 10″-ers above: Intel Atom CPU, 1GB RAM, decent storage space, etc, but bring up a bigger screen with better resolution, thus a bigger work space. And that’s a great ad-don. The two models from above are not so expensive either: around $400 for the Samsung N120 and around $330 for the Dell Mini (only some colors) .

But, there are lots of ther models soon to reach the stores in this class, during this summer or this fall. The noticeable names will be the MSI Wind U200 , the Acer Aspire Timeline 1810T or the Asus S121 . They will have 12″ screens, resolutions of (1280 x 800px or 1366 x 768px resolutions), perhaps newer and more powerful Intel ATOM CPUs, 2 Gb of RAM, etc . They will boost autonomy to around 8-10 hours and will cost 500-700 bucks.

I for one believe these 12″ netbooks are the best compromise for now between power and portability. But, as this segment is evolving so fast, I’m not really convinced i should buy one in the next 2-3 months or wait too see what else is going to reach the stores during the Winter sales period (especially on Black Friday).

Anyway, i presented you the best netbooks at the moment. I couldn’t quite review them in this article, but if you need more info on a particular model, don’t hesitate to post a comment and I’ll try to help you.

Tags: Asus, laptop, netbook, Sony