If you are looking for deals on netbooks and want the best one, here’s some suggestions:
Eee PC 1005HA is probably the best netbook on the market for value, performance, and price. I own the slightly older version 1000HE and I have to say, this is the best portable laptop I have ever owned. ASUS is a brand you can trust, especially for netbooks since they practically invented netbooks.
The Eee PC 1005HA comes with Atom N280 1.66Ghz processor, 1 gig of ram, 160GB of hard drive storage, and 10.5 hours of battery life. (of which you can expect about good 8 hours in real-life testing)
Also, ASUS netbooks have a feature where you can either overclock the processor or even run it in maximum-battery saving mode at the touch of a button.
The best part about ASUS netbooks is this:
The Eee PC 1005HA also comes with a user-friendly wide-format multi-touch touchpad to help you easily navigate the widescreen display without a mouse. The multi-touch interface allows you to scroll and zoom quickly with 2 fingers and is intuitive and kid friendly.
It take awhile to get used to the multi-touch mousepad but once you do, you won’t need to carry an external mouse.
Price: $349.95 on Amazon w/ Windows 7
(There’s cheaper 1005HAs on Amazon but they are the ones with Windows XP, I recommend Windows 7 over XP for better power management.)
I can’t see a better value or pricing on any other netbooks other currently but if you must, check out these netbooks:
- Toshiba Mini NB205 – This Toshiba has almost exact specs as the ASUS Eee PC 1005HA except larger 250GB harddrive and less battery life at 9 hours. At $348, the price is about the same as the ASUS. I would go with the ASUS because it also has a multi-touch like touchpad, great for navigating on netbooks.
- Acer Aspire One AOD250 – This Acer is also identical to Toshiba with larger 250GB harddrive and less battery life at 9 hours. At $344.95, it still comes up short of the ASUS Eee PC 1000HA.
- HP Mini 110 series – These HP Minis have an older N270 processor, 250GB of harddrive, and only 8 hours of battery life. At $379, this netbook is expensive over all others that come with Atom N280 processor.
- Samsung NC10 series – Samsung NC10 also comes short with an N270 processor and a high price of $357.95.
Disclosure: I don’t get paid by ASUS to promote their products, these reviews are based on real-life experiences of using an ASUS netbook and studying various different netbooks. But really, I simply love ASUS netbooks/laptops, they are the best value for what you get.
Overall, I have to be biased with ASUS because they are clearly the best-selling, best-value, best-performance netbooks. Also read my review on the best 13.3″ laptop of the year, which is an ASUS UL30Vt.
