Netbooks: Which is right for me?

Since the beginning of the mobile computing age, there has always been a premium on portability. Ultraportables tend to cost more than larger machines, yet offer limited performance and feature sets.

But with the dawn of the Netbook era, things are starting to look very different. Consumers who demand mobility and are willing to accept some performance compromises now have a range of cheap yet light laptops. Though UMPCs refer to both Mobile Internet Devices (MID) and Netbooks, the latter do not possess a touchscreen and stick with the tried-and-tested clamshell design. While MID are mainly content consumption devices, Netbooks offer limited content creation capabilities while still remaining exceptionally portable.

With more choices heading our way, choosing an appropriate Netbook can easily be a painful exercise. Some models come with solid state drives, which are faster and hardier but offer limited storage space. Others even include standout features such as built-in underclocking/overclocking and DVI output. Hopefully, this roundup of past, present and future models will help in your decision.

ACER

ASUS

Axioo

BenQ

Dell

Fujitsu

HP

Lenovo

LG

MSI

NEC

Packard Bell

Raon Digital

Toshiba

Twinhead