Mobile Computing News

Photo: Asus

While doomsayers the world over predict tablets will eclipse netbooks, and netbooks will disappear as fast as they’ve come to prominence, there still remain a few netbooks that are head and shoulders better than anything else in their price range. This list aims to serve as a quick reference guide to the best all-round netbooks available on the market today.

The Asus Eee PC 1005PE

The granddaddy of netbooks, having started the whole netbook movement, Asus still makes commendable computers. The company’s most recent release, the Asus Eee PC 1005PE, cements the fact that Asus understands its baby better than all the other adoptive manufacturers.

Design build is remarkable, with a solid chassis. The input devices – the well-spaced keyboard and trackpad – feel better than virtually everything else on the market. At 10.1-inches, with an Atom N450 processor, 1GB of RAM and a generous 250GB hard drive, it performs significantly better than 90 per cent of most netbooks, let alone those in its price range. The Asus Eee PC 1005PE is, without doubt, one of the best netbooks on the market.

The Samsung N220

Photo: Samsung

It surprises us how fast Samsung have managed to get a foothold in the highly competitive computer space, but alas, they did. The Samsung N220 has input devices that are decent enough for most purposes – though they don’t compare to Asus Eee PC 1005PE. It also sports a 10.1-inch monitor, with a resolution of 1024 x 600 with a twist though – it’s wonderfully bright due to LED backlighting.

With an intelligent dual-OS mode – including Windows 7 and a stripped down Linux build called Hyperspace for quickly viewing the net – there’s as much going on at software level as there is at hardware level. Processing is provided by an Intel Atom Pine Trail, it has 1GB of RAM and 250GB HDD. We like this laptop enough that it just sneaks on to this best netbooks list, even though it had to fend off stiff competition.

The Packard Bell Dot S2

Photo: Packard Bell

The Packard Bell Dot S2 is notable for being brave enough to break the all-white or all-black motif other netbooks manufacturers ascribe to, by having various colour options available, including a very sexy crimson red. It’s a 10.1-inch machine, with a sturdy gunmetal casing. It’s quick, too, with a 1.6GHz Intel Atom N450 processor doing the heavy lifting, 1GB DDR2 RAM and the requisite 250GB hard drive. It’s got great battery life, too, peaking at about eight hours, and is a light 1.2kgs. The Packard Bell Dot S2 is a worthy inclusion in this list of the best netbooks (at an agreeable price) available on the market right now.

So that leaves us with the Packard Bell Dot S2, The Asus Eee PC 1005PE and the Samsung N220. Have we missed any standout netbooks, or do you believe some don’t belong on this list? And do you believe doomsayers who say tablets will crush netbooks in a short timeframe? Sound off in the comments section.