By Ed Fry

Our top ten mini laptops list as of February 2009. This list compiles the best netbooks based upon cost, size, practicality and how useful they are. On a side note, we’ve also judged by looks as well in some cases.

Down the bottom is of our top ten mini laptops is…

#10 – Toshiba NB100

The first Toshiba mini laptop is a bog standard 9 inch mini laptop with a huge Toshiba name stamped on it. It does have some nice features but overall, not much to fuss over. The looks are appalling, the lid and tray not matching up and the battery kicks out of the back. This is supposed to reverse the problems the Dell Mini 9 had, and not intrude on keyboard space. It has worked to an extent, but it’s a far from refined solution. You can buy much better for your money, but the NB100 is a Toshiba, so you’re buying expertise and brand as well.

Overall: 3 stars – previous ranking Decemeber 08: #7

#9 – MSI Wind

At the same time as this netbook has received praise from many, it being the pioneer 10 inch laptop. But here were reasons why it was not listed higher in our top ten mini laptops. MSI have fitted only a 3-cell battery in the standard version, has a weird keyboard set up and tiny touchpad. Asus themselves were quick to push out the Eee PC 1000, and larger players have entered the market with their own 10 inchers – Samsung , LG and HP for example. At the same time as the MSI Wind is not exactly obsolete, it needs updating to compete with the larger and better, more familiar brands.

Overall: 3 stars – previous ranking Decemeber 08: #8

#8 – Dell Inspiron Mini 9

Previously bottom of our top ten mini laptops, the Dell Inspiron Mini 9 moves up the rankings this month. It is a simple spec 9 inch netbook with Intel Atom and HSDPA provided by Vodafone (on contract only). The Mini 9 trips up though over its keyboard which has no function keys and is altogether not very large anyway. This is thanks to the battery being pushing right into the chassis in a bid to make it smaller and lighter. Dell are also introducing a larger 12 inch netbook similar to the Inspiron Mini 9 this month.

Overall: 3 stars – previous ranking Decemeber 08: #10

#7 – Asus Eee PC 1000

The various versions of the Eee PC 1000 were launched to counter the MSI Wind, which took netbooks above 10 inches. The Asus Eee PC 1000 shares a lot in common with the Eee PC 901, although larger, heavier and more expensive. Whether this is a excellent thing or not is debatable. Yes, the keyboard is larger, but you pay around £40-50 for it which is a bit of a blow on the value for money side. The introduction of the Eee PC 1002HA may have helped the Eee PC 1000 line, but new and improved struggle have resulted in it slipping a spot in our rankings.

Overall: 4 stars – previous ranking Decemeber 08: #6

#6 – Asus Eee PC S101

Previously, Eee PCs looked pretty much like toys. The S101 but takes the Eee PC to a whole new dimension. It’s sleek (as thin as 18mm) and sexy (auburn, no seriously) and features perfectly tapered edges. Underneath the chassis but, it’s still just a jazzed-up Eee PC 1000, and with a smaller battery and no real extra features, it’s hard to justify the £449 price tag.

Overall: 4 stars – previous ranking Decemeber 08: #4

#5 – Acer Aspire One

The Acer Aspire One is a fantastic 9 inch mini laptop which is fantastically cheap – around £200 depending on the spec. The small battery life and terribly designed interface let it down a small (although a new 9-cell option has been released). But for value for money, its brilliant – perhaps more so than the original Eee PC 701. Certainly worth a look if your going down the budget route.

Overall: 4 stars – previous ranking Decemeber 08: #3

#4 – Asus Eee PC 901

The Eee PC 901 was essentially supposed to iron out all the problems from the previous 900 model (including the ancient Celeron M administer – now the Intel Atom) as well as renewed product in the face of more struggle. The Eee PC 901, originally retailed at £319 is now available at much less than that. And now available on contract with ginger – the Eee PC 901 is a truly complete netbook. The Eee PC was previously #1 of our top ten mini laptops.

Overall: 5 stars – previous ranking Decemeber 08: #1

#3 – Samsung NC10

Samsungs low key entry into the world of mini laptops brings us the NC10, a 10 inch Intel Atom powered, Windows XP (no Linux) netbook which seems to have taken onboard all the lessons learnt by its predecessors. The keyboard is tailored for the writer, the arrow and function keys are shrunk down in favour of larger letter keys. The result is excellent, a typing performance nearly matching the HPs.
Overall: 5 stars – previous ranking Decemeber 08: #5

#2 – HP Mini 1000

The consumer netbook by HP carry’s on with the brilliant 92% full size keyboard from the original 2133 mini-note. This is perhaps its best selling point. Of course it has all the standard features, 10 inch glossy cover, built-in webcam, microphone, WLAN, Bluetooth as well as the Intel Atom in house of the slower Via C7-M processor. Prices are competitive too, with the Compaq mini 700 version starting at £299. But, keeping it off the number one spot of our top ten mini laptops is the battery life which remains a 3-cell like its predecessor.

Overall: 4 stars – previous ranking Decemeber 08: #2

#1 of our Top Ten Mini Laptops – Sony VAIO P Series

The new Sony VAIO P Series mini laptop was unveiled at CES. Sony’s new 8 inch, £849 “lifestyle pc” (Sony are vary wary to avoid the term “netbook”) is less than 2cm thick and only slightly larger than an office envelope. It comes with a world of features including 3G Mobile Broadband, inbuilt GPS, Windows Outlook, battery life of up to 8 hours, SSD storage of up to 128GB and amazingly weighs less than 640g!

NEW RANKING THIS MONTH!

Original article at http://www.mini-laptops-and-notebooks.com/top-ten-mini-laptops.html | Homepage at http://www.mini-laptops-and-notebooks.com/pointer.html | The one-stop resource for mini laptops and netbooks | Copyright Ed Fry 2008. All Rights Reserved

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