Affordable Netbooks

Just for a quick reference. For those of you who wants to buy a netbook, you might want to choose from those below:

Dell Mini 10v - This is one of the new range of Mini 10 netbooks by Dell. The price range for the Mini 10v is very affordable. It could start with £199 including delivery and it may increase to £289 with the maximum upgrades (CPU: 10.1" screen,Atom N270, 1GB memory, Intel GMA 950 graphics card, 6-cell battery,160GB HDD,802.11b/g wi-fi and 1.3MP video camera). It comes with standard 1 year return to base support). I feel that the £289 price tag is very affordable. Once again,you need to understand that it does NOT come with bluetooth or any memory card reader which are featured in many of the netbooks around.

HP dv2-1030EA- This is a splendid netbook offered by HP. It features AMD's Neo cpu on the new 'Yukon' platform. It is equipped with an AMD Neo MV-40 cpu (1.6Ghz), 2GB memory (upgradeable to 4GB), 320GB Hard Drive, ATI Radeon HD 3410,1.3MP digital camera, 3x usb 2.0,bluetooth 2.0, wi-fi,supplied dvd-rw external optical drive, 12.1" screen and it is only a mere 1.6kgs with 5-in-1 memory card reader. This netbook provides smooth HD video playbank and it comes with a large hard disk and a good keyboard but it is expensive. It is known that its battery life is also bad. The best deal which you can get on the internet is through ebay. There is one going out for £450 with free shipping.

Samsung NC10 - It is shipped with an Intel Atom N270 (1.6Ghz, 512KB L2 cache), 1GB DDR2 memory (upgradeable to 2GB), 3-in-1 memory card reader, Intel integrated graphics (GMA 950), 3x usb 2.0,1.3MP digital camera, good keyboard, superb battery life, 10.1" widescreen and comes with 160GB Hard Disk. It does not come with an external optical drive so you would have to buy an external optical drive. Without the external optical drive, the best price is £285.00 on Amazon UK. The machine includes bluetooth 2.0 and wi-fi.

Dell Mini 12 - Specification: 12.1" widescreen, 1GB DDR2 memory (not upgradeable), Intel Atom N520/N530 cpu, Intel GMA 500 graphics card, 4-in-1 memory card reader, bluetooth, 1.3MP video camera, 3x usb 2.0, very nice keyboard BUT... the performance of the laptop is below par... The Dell Mini 12 is no longer for sale on Dell's website but you can still get a brand new kit from ebay or amazon UK.

Samsung NC20 - Specification: 12.1" widescreen, 1GB DDR2 memory (upgradeable to 2GB), VIA U2250 cpu, VIA Chrome 9 graphics card, 3-in-1 memory card reader, 3x usb 2.0, good keyboard, superb battery life and comes with 160GB Hard Disk. It does not come with an external optical drive. Without the external optical drive, the machine cost £370 including postage on ebay. This is the most affordable 12.1" netbook in the market and it is the best choice for a 12.1" netbook.

Gateway LT3103u - Technically it is not a 'netbook' as it has a 11.6" screen size. Having said that, the machine incorporates an AMD cpu, rather than the more traditional Intel Atom. I have to stress that the AMD Athlon™ 64 L110 is a single core cpu, just like the Intel's Atom and also VIA's Nano. It does not support hyperthreading so it tends to be slower than Intel's Atom during multitasking operations.

The machine's cpu runs on a 1.2Ghz frequency, 800mhz FSB with 512KB L2 cache. There is no L3 cache over here and the Gateway LT3103u is more of a hybrid between HP's DV2 and Samsung's NC20. The reason why am I saying this is because the machine runs on AMD cpu; ATI's integrated graphics card (X1270 chipset); as beautiful as the Samsung NC20; supports 5-in-1 memory cards including xD cards (just like the DV2); it has 3x usb 2.0 ports; HD audio including Dolby Surround for headphones; 0.3MP webcam; wi-fi (802.11b/g); 6-cell battery and weights 1.38kg. Isn't it nice?

The best part is that it comes with a 250GB hard drive and equipped with 2GB DDR2 533mhz memory and comes with a price tag of just US$399.99 when it is available for Best Buy. Stay tuned!!!

Acer Aspire One 751

The Acer Aspire One 751 was heavy advertised on the internet for its superiority but the machine is underpowered. It is equipped with an Intel Atom Z520. The graphics (Intel GMA 500) could not handle HD content although the 11.6" screen is brilliant. It comes with 1GB DDR2 533mhz memory and 160GB HDD. It has a 5-in-1 memory card reader, HD audio, bluetooth and wi-fi.The keyboard is good and the machine itself is of good build but the machine is slow...That is why Acer has decided to offer discount for the netbook and now it is selling for £374 brand new. I think I'll go for the Samsung NC20 instead...