Netbook showdown: The top 10 mini laptops rated

AnonymousFri 6 June, 2008 6:37pm

I like your last sentence on page 11 which says "Give us 10 inches, or give us death!" I laughed because, THATS WHAT SHE SAID!

I'm so sorry for that. :(

AnonymousFri 6 June, 2008 7:06pm

thanks for that, good article. I wonder where the Dell one is in this list though, not interesting enough?

AnonymousFri 6 June, 2008 10:32pm

The keyboard on the Eee PC 1000 looks much better but it still has a really small right shift key which is a pain when you try and capitalise letters on the right side of the keyboard (particularly if you hit the up arrow (next to it) instead). I've had to learn to always use the left shift with my Eee PC 701.

From what I've seen of the Dell netbook it looks to have exactly the same problem.

The MSI Wind is better (the device is wider so it can house a wider shift key).

The Acer is better still (it has smaller arrow keys that make way for a larger shift key).

AnonymousSat 7 June, 2008 3:02am

How can the Asus Eee PC 1000 be number 1 if you haven't used or even seen it yet??

AnonymousSat 7 June, 2008 7:44am

i am wandering as well how come dell mini inspiron is not on the list. it looks like a great machine and i will wait for it to be released and then i will decide either acer, dell or msi.

AnonymousSat 7 June, 2008 12:11pm

dammit someone got there before me lol. great minds :p. on a notebook related note does anyone know how much the linux version of the msi will cost? ive heard £200 but that seems far to low considering what you get for it.

AnonymousSat 7 June, 2008 11:21pm

I'm sorry, but I don't agree that 10 inches screen should be on first place.
10 inches is not the portability we want.
10 inches morphes the size with existing laptops.
10 inches increases weight
10 inches increses cost

AnonymousSun 8 June, 2008 2:05am

the wind seems to give more value for money than the eeepc 1000.. and it still has the 10" screen...might be a better choice for number 1... asus seems to have forgotten that one factor that drove the sales of the eeepc 701 was the low cost...i'm still thinking of getting a 701 for use as a disposable laptop... but i'm also definitely getting an MSI Wind...

Rory ReidMon 9 June, 2008 9:52am

We didn't include the Dell because it's not been officially announced yet. There are absolutely no details about it.

AnonymousMon 9 June, 2008 11:18am

I wonder why the Eee arrow keys can't be moved one key to the left, then the right Ctrl could be at the corner, the leftover dead space could be given to the wider shift and that's all it would change.

I also don't understand the agony in having the mouse buttons on the sides. i think it's the best idea after running water. It takes less space which leads to smalled laptops -> instant win. Or it can lead to larger touchpads -> win too. People get used to ergonomical curved cut-in-the-middle keyboards, so give some loving to this small but easy to get used to adjustment.

Also when you are complaining about the small keys, there are people who are happily jumping around loving them (me for instance). There must be a concept of too small, but I haven't found it. Even a Nokia 9500 communicator has a usable keyboad (even tough I'd have to cut my nails to use it properly...).

Rory ReidMon 9 June, 2008 12:05pm

Having mouse buttons at the side is lame. Hold your hand in the air. See how your thumb is significantly lower than your index finger? Well a mouse selector button should be significantly lower than the top of the trackpad. If not, having to twist your fingers into an uncomfortable, unnatural pose. There's a reason 99.9% of mouse trackpads are the way they are -- they're designed according to the natural shape of your fingers.

AnonymousMon 9 June, 2008 12:51pm

Ah, well that's the corky thing with me. Even now I use the pad with my middle finger and buttons with index and ring finger - sort of like the arrow keys or mouse scroll and buttons. Perhaps it's too wide tough and will have to revert ring finger to little finger... We'll see.

Don't be so grumpy even if everybody doesn't do things your way. Different people have different ergonomy.

AnonymousMon 9 June, 2008 1:08pm

I agree with the previous Anonymous. It essentially is a mouse so why would you want to use it differently from a normal mouse unless you absolutely have to? Thumb is just clumsy. You are only used to bad positioning, but now you can get back to scrolling with middle finger (up-down, left-right) and have normal fingers pressing the buttons.

So I too think that this is a good change.

Rory ReidMon 9 June, 2008 2:58pm

You use your middle finger on the scroll wheel? with your index finger and ring finger pressing the buttons? Freak :)

AnonymousTue 10 June, 2008 3:28am

How can MSI Wind be better than the eeePC901 and the MSI Wind:

# The Windows version comes with 1 GB of RAM; The linux version with 512 MB (wayyyyyy too low)
# Its size is about 4 cm larger, 1 cm wider the weight is about 200-300g heavier than the eeePC901.
# No bluetoth for the Linux version (pfff)
# It has a mechanical HD for both versions. I rather go SSD for this type of netbooks.
# Battery for Linux is a 3 cells and Windows version 6 cells. 3 cells? you kidding me?
# I think the Linux version is way under powered and not worth it. The Windows version is better, but it has the same price as the eeePC 901, so I would rather stick with eeePC 901's specs!!!

Also, the eeePC1000:
# Price is high: $625+
# It weights 1.45 KG, thats 50% more than the eeePC 901/900.
# Its relatively larger in size than eeePC901 AND MSI Wind
# It looks more like a regular laptop than a Netbook. I mean compare this one with the eeePC 701. Its way off-track.

I think the ratings were not well thought on the point above. I would want to run with the MSI Wind and see how its mechanical HD will react. Wont be a problem with the eeePC901.

AnonymousTue 10 June, 2008 5:00pm

People, wait til summer's over. Then the Atom dual core gets out, and everything gets updated all over for Q3/4. (sneaky bastards)

AnonymousThu 12 June, 2008 12:05pm

no macbook air?

AnonymousThu 12 June, 2008 3:08pm

Ermmm, you seem to be labouring under a misapprehension .... quite a serious one for such a comparison review, that seems to undermine much of your reasoning. You think the 1.6Ghz Atom is fast! It is not! The 1.6Ghz Atom is 10-20% SLOWER THAN THE CELERON 900MHz!!! Perhaps you should log that little fact and go for a second take?

AnonymousMon 16 June, 2008 5:08pm

Where did you get the information, that you can`t play games on Wind ?

Rory ReidTue 17 June, 2008 5:05pm

I take it back.. you can play Solitaire. And even Hearts.

AnonymousWed 18 June, 2008 4:35pm

Rory - any idea where you can buy the acer aspire one from in the UK? I was all poised to buy the Acer, and then read your review, so now am keen on the Acer, but where does one get it? The Acer website is a dog. Thanks!

aamircThu 19 June, 2008 10:02am

I struggle to understand why Gigabytes 8.9 inch UMPC tablet is not in this list... And yet three EEe PCs are in the list
The Gigabyte M912 boasts crazy specs as well including:

-Intel® Atom 1.6GHz
-8.9”LCD panel/WXGA 1280x768, w/Touch screen, LED Backlight, as 180° rotation angle
-Intel®945GSE
-2.5” ,9.5mm S-ATA HDD 120/160/250GB
-Built-in 1.3M pixel web camera
-Speaker 1.5 watt x 2
-80 key keyboard/Touch Pad

It also comes with either XP, Vista or linux. This for me eats the competion in half.

A Rotatable touch screen operated with a pen is just what i would look for in a UMPC. However the price is a liitle steep though. Roughlyh $1100 for an xp version. $900 for one with linux. Those are Aussie prices
so for the UK prices expect them to be half those figures. But common guys a UMPC should be touch screen at the least and this is just that. NOt only is it pretty neat it looks ok tooo.

GO gigabyte for releasing this one I reckon I'm gonna get one of these.... All Laptops should at the least be touch screen by now.... comon laptop producers its already 2008. Any bet sooner or later Apple will change laptop perception pretty soon... AS if they havent already done it with the Air.

AnonymousThu 26 June, 2008 5:59am

As for the person above who said "No MacBook Air?" why do you think it wasn't included?!? Price! Duh! This was supposed to be about cheap price, portability, and features. The MacBook Air obviously did not fall into that category.

AnonymousThu 26 June, 2008 9:15pm

Rory, what is your take on robustness and build quality of the chassis (not ssd vs he), especially when comparing the wind, acer and 901? I am looking for a robust and quality built machine, if other things are comparable. Thanks

AnonymousWed 30 July, 2008 1:00am

is this site a joke?

"It's the bomb"
"you can't run 3D games on it"
"Why it might suck?

Shesh, am I reading a review by a 14 yr old?
For your information this latop DOES run 3D games and some of the old ones rather well (works with q3 really rather well), especially if you're not bothered about turning down the graphics in favour of gamplay.

Really guys you need to sort your s*** out,

AnonymousThu 31 July, 2008 5:37am

Battery life is an important consideration to me (in 3rd world). Increased screen size increases power use.

And price is important.

It would be good to see this info as a table updated with the new machines mentioned here...

AnonymousFri 1 August, 2008 11:56pm

the webboook starts at £220 for the linux version up to £250 for the xp version.

80gb harddrive on both

512mb

AnonymousThu 14 August, 2008 1:44pm

Why no Advent 4211?
This is surely a better option than the MSI Wind, considering it is exactly the same machine, costs just £280 (£270 at Dixons with voucher code) and is readily available in most PC Worlds as well. For this reason alone it would easily make #1 spot for me.

AnonymousThu 21 August, 2008 2:58pm

I have the Eee PC 900 with the Ubuntu Eee 8.04 distro installed and I just love it! I must admit that after reading this comparison guide, I have become hooked on getting the Eee 1000 in the future - and of course with the 40 GB SSD & Linux! Asus just gets it right - IMHO.

AnonymousTue 26 August, 2008 4:20pm

Check out the MSI wind - rebadged as an advent 4211, selling at PC world (I know they are usually rubbish but..).
its £279!!!!
I have mine running its native XP and also linux from the SD slot.
Word of warning - the wifi drivers need updating to work - just do a windows update and the new drivers will be located.
For £279 - its a bargain.

AnonymousThu 4 September, 2008 8:53am

I want a netbook with a anti reflective screen like the Acer has, but i also want at least 6 hours of battery, a little solid state primary drive, with a switch to start up a 320GB internal laptop hard drive. bring it on.

AnonymousThu 4 September, 2008 8:54am

then again, i'm happy to carry a little external 320GB.