Two years ago, no one knew what a Netbook was. Not because it was an underground type of hardware, but because the concept itself didn't really exist. Then, without warning, some companies that were not traditionally looked at as major players in the notebook field (like ASUS and Acer) started hitting the market with attractive, cheap, small laptops. It ws a revolution. The appeal of a go-anywhere PC with gobs of battery life became obvious overnight.
Now, the market has become flooded with Netbooks. Some are from familiar names like HP, while others come from smaller companies like MSI, which usually only dabble in components such as motherboards. Making sense of all the Netbooks, with their myriad titles and model numbers, can be difficult, but there are some clear winners.
About a month ago, I gave the Aspire One honors as one of the best looking laptops available. Indeed, it isn't difficult to look at. Although the too-bright glare of cheapish materials remains an issue, the Aspire One's two-tone screen and body is easy to live with, and the several different available colors remains a cheesy, but enjoyable option. There is also a generally solid look to the unit which is difficult to define, but obvious when seen in person. Given the low prices in this segment, high build quality is a rare treat.
With a weight of just over 2 pounds and a screen of 8.9 inches, the Acer Aspire One's dimensions are firmly in Netbook territory. In fact, everything about the Aspire One is firmly in Netbook territory, from its keyboard to its low-energy Atom-based heart. Being firmly set in this territory, the Aspire One is not much of a performer. 512mb of stock RAM and 8 GB of hard drive space guarantee that no one will be using this as a primary computer. But despite that, it has plenty of juice for surfing the Internet, swapping emails, and writing a few pages of text. The only serious problem is that the Aspire One's battery life, at about 2 and a half hours, isn't remarkable. However, battery upgrades are available which allow the Aspire One to last twice as long on a charge.
The best part, however, is the price, which is low even by Netbook standards. The basic model of the Aspire One can be had for an astonishing $299.99. Think about it - for a price lower than a decked-out iPod Touch or a Playstation 3 console, you can have a small, fully-functioning computer. It blurs the boundary between accessories and personal computers, and that makes it an excellent little Netbook.