Buyer's Guide: Netbooks

If three years ago you approached a hardware executive in a bar and said the next big thing in personal computing would be low-octane, pygmy machines with stunted keyboards, your car keys would have been taken from you and you'd have been drinking club soda for the rest of the night.

But that's what has happened with the netbook. The small wonders have been moving off shelves faster than bread before a blizzard. Last year, DisplaySearch estimates, netbook revenues jumped 72 percent over 2008 -- from $6.65 billion to $11.4 billion -- while unit sales rocketed a staggering 103 percent -- from 16.4 million to 33.3 million. And while sales growth is expected to slow this year, it will still be in the neighborhood of 19 percent.

MSI Wind U160

A combination of factors have contributed to the wild interest in netbooks. Hard economic times have made their low price tags tantalizing to consumers and to business hardware buyers with besieged budgets. Their size makes them less intimidating to some computer shoppers as well as very mobile, which is very attractive to a raft of users addicted to untethered connectivity thanks to cell phones. What's more, much of what used to be the sole domain of local applications has been moved to the cloud, reducing the need for robust processing power at the punter's end of things.

Does all the froth about these diminutive, take-anywhere PC companions make you itch to buy one? If yes, here are some things you may want to compare and evaluate before you open your wallet.

Size Matters

While pricing is always important when choosing a computer, it's particularly important when considering a netbook. That's because pricing has been a key ingredient in the success of these mighty mites.

As a rule, you can expect to pay at least $300 for a netbook, though closeouts on older models may dip below that price, with $400 -- plus or minus $30 or so -- being the sweet spot for well-equipped new machines. More muscular netbooks that rival the power of a true notebook will take you closer to $500. And if you go wild with customization, you can drive some models over $600, but at that point, you'll want to reconsider the netbook route and start looking at small laptops.

Another element to the netbook's success has been size, which is intimately tied to the dimensions of a unit's screen. While 7- and 9-inch displays were seen in the netbook's nascent days, 10.1-inch screens with 1,024 by 600 resolution are the common denominator now. A few models such as Asus' Eee PC 1005PR offer higher resolution in a 10.1-inch size. For the most part, though, if you need more screen real estate, you're looking at 11.6-inch models like the HP Mini 311 or, if you have the cash, 12.1-inch units like the Lenovo IdeaPad S12.

Generally speaking, 10-inch netbooks are a little over 10 inches long and seven inches wide; 12-inchers, slightly over 11.5 inches long and eight inches wide. Most netbooks are relatively thin -- ranging from just under an inch to just under 1.5 inches thick -- and light -- weighing in at 2.4 to 3.7 pounds, with larger screens and bigger batteries defining the high end of that range.

Asus Eee PC 1005PE

Battle of the Bulge

Most netbooks rely on integrated graphics -- either the famously too-slow-for-gaming Graphics Media Accelerator 950 chipset of first-generation Intel Atom platforms or the only-slightly-faster GMA 3150 built into today's Atom processors.

A recent development is netbooks with dedicated graphics controllers, most prominently Nvidia's Ion and the new Ion 2 seen in the Acer Aspire One 532G and Asus Eee PC 1201PN. Not only does the technology provide superior HD video playback and 3D rendering (though still falling short of the most demanding PC games), but it's optimized for low power consumption -- stretching battery life to as much as 10 hours, according to Nvidia.

Netbook battery life can be all over the ballpark, from as little as three hours from a small three-cell battery pack to the 14 hours claimed by Asus for the Eee 100PE-PU17-BU. Since remaining untethered is a high priority with most netbook users, you'll probably want a unit with a battery that supports at least six or seven hours of power, even if means doling out some extra bucks to get it.

As a rule, six-cell lithium-ion batteries rated at around 60Wh will get you the kind juice that you're looking for. If aesthetics are a major concern for you, the bulge some six-cell batteries add to the rear of a netbook (or the base, where they prop the unit at a slight angle for desktop typing) may give you pause. However, some models, like the Acer Aspire One 532h, manage to fit a good-sized battery but keep their sleek lines.