Best Netbooks for Traveling

Netbooks seem to be the new rage in tech gear these days (especially for all the flashpackers and tech loving travelers out there). But, what are netbooks and how are they different from notebooks? (at least that’s what I asked myself).

Netbooks are light-weight, low-cost, energy-efficient and highly portable and compact little laptops. While these mini computers have fewer features and less processing power than more conventional laptops, they are perfect for browsing the web, doing word processing and performing other general purpose applications.

Netbooks exploded onto the market recently when Asus released their Eee PC in 2007–a 2 pound computer with a 7 inch screen and intel Celeron processor. Since then, many other companies have been developing their own netbooks, incorporating hard disk drives, bigger screens and keyboards and other features—all while aiming to keep these little computer compact, light-weight and low-cost while making them highly functioning and easy to use.

Following the release of the Asus netbbok, competing companies like Everex, HP, Sony, and MSI also released their own version of the netbook and with sales projected to rise up to 50 million by 2012 and sales up from 400,000 in 2007 to 11.4 million in 2008, it looks like netbooks are the new wave in the future of portable, wireless devices.

With these compact, lightweight, low-cost (most netbooks range between $300-$800) and perfect travel computers flying off shelves (maybe the suffering economy is giving these low-cost alternatives a boost?).

Plus, in the two years since Asus revealed their first netbook, the company now has over 10 models of the little mini-computer. Other netbook manufacturers have also released updated models of their traveling computers, consisntently upgrading and making them smaller, faster, and sometimes even cheaper.

Here are some rundowns of some of the best netbooks out there on the market right now:

• ASUS Eee PC 1000 buy
• 10.2-inch screen
• 2.43 lbs.
• 1.6 Ghz Operating system
• 40 GB solid state drive or 160GB hard drive
• 5 hour battery life
• 92% full-sized keyboard
• Asus Eee 1008 — (buy)
• New sleeker design that comes in white, black, pink, blue, ruby red and sapphire blue
• Intel Atom N280 CPU
• 1 GB Memory
• 160 GB storage
• Additional 10 GB online Asus storage
• 10.1 inch screen
• LED backlight screen
• 1024 x 600 resolution screen
• Super slim, measures just 262 x 178 x 26mm
• Lightweight, weighs 2.4 pounds
• Asus Eee 1101 — (buy)
• Intel Atom Z520 CPU
• 1 GB Memory
• 160 GB Storage
• 10 GB online Eee storage available
• 11.6 inch LED high-definition screen
• 1.3 Megapixel camera
• 3.1 pounds, 1.38 KG
• Bluetooth
• 9.5-11 hour battery life
• 6 cell 48 Wh li-ion battery or 6 cell 63 Wh li-ion battery
• HP 2133 Mini-Note PC (buy)
• 8.9 inch screen
• 3-cell battery
• 1 year warranty
• 2.6 pounds
• 92% full-sized keyboard
• 60 GB memory
• MSI Wind (buy)
• 10 inch screen
• full-sized keyboard
• 6-cell battery
• 2.6 pounds
• 160 GB Hard Drive
• Acer Aspire One (buy)
• 1.6GHz N270 Intel Atom Processor
• 1GB DDR2 533MHz
• Windows XP
• 8.9″ 1024 x 600 WSVGA glossy LED backlit display
• 120GB HD
• 802.11b/g Atheros Wireless
• 6-Cell battery
• Size: 9.75″ x 6.625″ x 1.28″
• Weight: 2lb 5.0oz
• Dell Inspiron Mini 9 (buy)
• 8.9 inch screen
• 1.6GHz Intel Atom Processor
• 1.3 megapixel webcam
• 4-in-1 media card reader
• Weight: 2.5 lbs.
• 4-cell li-ion battery
• Lenovo IdeaPad S10 (buy)
• 1.6GHz N270 Intel Atom Processor
• 1GB PC2-5300 DDR2 SDRAM 667MHz
• Windows XP Home Edition (SP3)
• 10.2″ WSVGA AntiGlare TFT with integrated camera 1024×600
• 160GB 5400rpm hard drive
• Intel GMA 950 Integrated Graphics
• Broadcom 11b/g Wi-Fi wireless and Bluetooth
• 4-in-1 Media card reader and ExpressCard slot
• 3-Cell Li-ion battery
• Size: 9.8″ x 7.2″ x 1.2″
• Samsung NC10 (buy)
• Dimensions: 10.3 x 7.3 x 1.2 inches
• Weight: 2.8 pounds
• Display: 10.2″ TFT Display at 1024 x 600 pixels
• Processor: 1.6-GHz Intel Atom N270
• RAM: 1 GB DDR2 RAM
• Integrated Graphics: Intel GMA 950 64 MB VRAM
• Hard Drive: 120 GB HDD, 5400 RPM
• Wireless: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g, Bluetooth 2.0 with EDR
• Operating System: Microsoft Windows XP Home
• Ports: 3 USB 2.0, Ethernet, Headphone, Microphone, VGA, 3 in 1, SD Card Reader
• Toshiba NB100 Netbook (buy)
• Dimensions (WxDxH) 8.9 in x 7.5 in x 1.3 in
• Weight 2.3 lbs
• Processor Intel Atom N270 / 1.6 GHz
• RAM 1 GB (installed) / 1 GB (max) - DDR2 SDRAM - 533 MHz ( 1 x 1 GB )
• Card Reader 5 in 1
• Hard Drive 160 GB - Serial ATA-150 - 5400 rpm
• Display 8.9″
• Networking Network adapter - Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g, Bluetooth 2.1 EDR
• Notebook Camera Integrated - 1.3 Megapixel
• 4-cell Lithium ion
• Operating System Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
• Sony P-Series Vaio Netbook (buy)
• Processor: 1.3GHz Intel Atom Intel Z520
• Memory: 2GB, 533MHz DDR2
• Hard drive: 64GB SSD
• Chipset Mobile Intel 945GSE Graphics Intel GMA 500 (integrated)
• Operating System: Windows Vista
• Dimensions 9.6 inches wide by 4.8 inches high
• Height: 0.8 inches
• Screen size: (diagonal) 8.0 inches
• System weight / Weight with AC adapter: 1.4/1.7 pounds
• 
  HP 2140 Mini-Note PC (Buy)
• Ultra-portable light-weight design starting at 2.6 lb and 1.05 in thick at front
• 10.1-inch diagonal 16:9 HP LED scratch-resistant display
• Intel® Atom™ processor
• 92% full-size keyboard
• Optional 802.11 a/b/g/n draft wireless LAN and Bluetooth
• Drive or up to 160 GB 7200 rpm hard drive with HP 3D DriveGuard (supported on Windows models only)
• Integrated VGA Webcam
• ExpressCard/54 slot
• Secure Digital slot for HCSD and MMC media cards
• Flexible battery solutions for lightest weight or all-day computing
• Upgradeable up to 2GB of DDR2 SDRAM