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Four months ago, we published a buyers guide for small, lightweight laptops titled, "How to buy a mini-laptop ."

Mini-laptops are now generally called netbooks — a name coined by Intel — but the devices remain popular for their small size, half to two-thirds the size of a normal laptop and far lighter. With the holidays fast approaching, we decided it was the right time to revisit this product segment and lay out the issues users will want to consider before they make a purchase.

[ For more on products in the hot netbook category, check out our hands-on looks at Asus' Eee PC 901 and 1000 and the N10 netbook, the Cloudbook Max netbook, Elitegroup's G10IL mini-laptop, MSI's Wind low-cost laptop, Giga-byte's M912X mini-laptop, HP's Mini-Note netbook and Acer's Aspire one. ]

Netbooks have caught on because they offer people a mobile, easy way to wirelessly access the Web. And over the past few months a dozen or more new netbooks have hit the market, giving people a wider range of choices.

Most netbooks sport small LCD screens, 8.9-inches to 10-inches, versus an average of 15.4-inches for normal laptops. Netbooks generally weigh around 2.2 lbs (1 kilogram) each, far lighter than most laptops, and carry batteries that last up to 8 hours. They cost between $199 and $799.

For anyone looking to buy now, here are some tips for your first netbook, compiled after reviewing about a dozen of them.

1. Make sure you want a netbook and not a full-fledged laptop computer.
What do you want to use this netbook for? Do you want a lightweight device for easy Internet access? Or are you really looking for a device to carry around that you can edit video on, play games, or use for other applications that test the computing limits of a netbook?

Don't buy a netbook if you're really looking for a laptop, it would be a mistake.

To ensure longer battery life, some key components on a netbook, such as the microprocessor, are less powerful than common laptops. That's why they're good for surfing the Internet, sending e-mails, or doing homework.

Anyone looking to do more should shop for a more powerful laptop, not a netbook.

2. Buy a netbook with an 8.9-inch screen or larger.
I tested an Eee PC with a 7-inch screen, the Surf , and found screen too small. I was not able to view an entire Web page on the cramped display. On a screen that small, you have to scroll left and right as well as up and down to see an entire Web page. Scrolling up and down is normal, but left and right was annoying.

That's less of a problem on the slightly larger-sized screens and, in the 8.9-inch screen size, the weight and size of the netbook is nearly the same as devices with 7-inch screens.

The 10-inch screens are even better, yet add size and weight to the netbook.

3. Make sure you get a 6-cell battery for your netbook, although you may have to pay $50 more and the device will weigh more.
Most companies started out offering netbooks with 3-cell batteries as the standard, but that doesn't offer a whole lot of run time, just 2 to 3 hours. A 6-cell battery doubles that, and in some devices designed around a 6-cell battery, such as Asustek Computer's Eee PC 901 , you can get up to 8 hours.

In a mobile device, battery life is vital. You don't want to always have to look around for outlets, or fight over the last available socket in a coffee shop.

Most vendors are now following Asustek's lead with 6-cell batteries. In fact, the netbooks listed on Amazon.com's bestseller list for the past month nearly all carry 6-cell batteries, Acer's Aspire One, Asustek's Eee PC 1000HA and Samsung Electronics' NC10-14GB .

Micro-Star International's Wind series, which sports a 10-inch screen, is a good example of the difference in weight on the batteries. Wind netbooks with 6-cell batteries weigh 2.6 lbs (1.18 kg), while those with 3-cell batteries weigh 2.3 lbs (1.04 kg).

Vendors generally offer 6-cell batteries for all models. But most devices come standard with a 3-cell or 4-cell battery, so if you want a 6-cell you may have to ask for it, and expect to pay a bit more.

Another benefit of the larger battery is that it props up the back of the device, putting it on a slight angle that makes typing easier. Keyboards on netbooks are smaller than normal keyboards, and comfortable typing was one area I was not willing to compromise on.

4. Try out the keyboard and make sure it's right for you.
None of the devices I tested had a better typing pad than Intel's ClassMate PC, which has a keyboard far smaller than the Eee PC 1000 . Keys on the ClassMate PC's keyboard are raised and there is a lot of space between them, making them easy to find by touch.

By contrast, the Eee PCs, Wind and Elitegroup Computer Systems' G10IL designed their keyboard with flat keys and little or no space between keys because, I was told by Elitegroup staff, it makes them look nice. The trouble is, it also makes typing more difficult.

I really liked the keyboards on Acer's Aspire One, Hewlett-Packard's Mini 1000 and Everex's CloudBook Max , but the best keyboard was on HP's Mini-Note .

5. Software: see what comes preinstalled and consider trying the Linux OS.
There are two lessons on software.

First, some vendors have skimped on including software in their netbooks on the pretense that users can download a lot of free software on the Internet. That's true, but it's a bad excuse for not going the extra distance for customer satisfaction.

Who wants to spend time downloading when many netbook makers have added lots of software so users can play with their new netbook right away?

Asustek included a lot of useful software on its Eee PCs, as has Acer, which also added a nice opening screen that boots up in just 12 seconds.

Second, it may be time to the give the Linux OS a try.

The Acer opening screen I just referred to is based on Linux, and the Aspire One comes with the Linpus Linux Lite OS, which is very user friendly. I've used Windows for most of my life but switching to Linux on the Aspire One was smooth and easy.

Most of the netbooks I tested with Linux booted up far faster than Windows XP or Windows Vista. Which reminds me, don't buy a netbook with Vista — it's just too slow.

There are also free Linux-based word processing programs and spreadsheets available on the Internet such as Open Office , Sun's inexpensive StarOffice and Web-based software such as Google Apps .

Google also offers a nice package of free software, Google Pack , which includes several popular applications such as Adobe Reader, Skype, RealPlayer for music and video, Norton Security Scan, and two browsers, Google's Chrome and Firefox.

Of course, it would be nice to see a Web site devoted to netbooks, with software specifically designed for low-power devices and smaller screens. Netbookdownload.com, anyone?

6. Price: if it costs more than $500, start looking at a regular notebook computer.
Companies have started promoting a wide range of netbooks at ever higher prices, but once you pass $500, netbooks start to compete with laptops, and a laptop will almost always give you more value for your money.

Laptop computers have far more powerful microprocessors and other components than netbooks, and sport DVD drives. There are no DVD drives on netbooks.

If size and weight are your main concerns, there are plenty of small, full-featured laptops, including the Sony Vaio TT with an 11.1-inch screen, Lenovo U110-23042BU">Ideapad , also with an 11.1-inch screen, and of course Apple's lightweight MacBook Air .

7. Look around at what's available.
Many new netbooks have come out since I wrote my last netbook buyer's guide. There are a lot of look-alikes since newcomers have copied what the pioneers found to be the most popular configurations. The net effect is to put more good devices out there from a number of competitors. You may be able to pick up a nice machine for a very low price.

PC World has rated several of these new devices based on their specifications, performance, design and price, with Asustek's Eee PC 1000H coming out on top, followed closely by Lenovo's IdeaPad S10, Asus's N10JC, Dell's Inspiron Mini 9, HP's Mini 1000, and MSI's Wind U100.

Darren Gladstone, PC World's netbook reviewer, said he's sticking with HP's Mini 1000 until a newer model comes out, but it's not my favorite. Nor is my favorite netbook among the group PC World rated.

These are all good machines, but it should be noted that the IdeaPad S10, Inspiron Mini 9 and HP Mini 1000 do not currently come with 6-cell batteries, or at least I can't find any. To me, that's a big negative because mobility is so important.

Mobility may not be so important to you, so that's why you need to decide what you want to get out of a netbook (or laptop) before you buy one.

There were a lot of nice netbooks out there worth considering.

Giga-byte Technology's M912 is the netbook with by far the coolest technology with its touchscreen. The screen can also swivel around so you can show someone else what you're working on.

But I was quoted a price of NT$19,900 (US$632) for the device, and since I'm not really sure how much I'd use the touchscreen, I figured it wasn't right for me.

I almost decided on one of the netbooks with the bigger, 10-inch screens. My top choices were Asustek's Eee PC 1000

with the Xandros Linux OS and a 40GB solid state drive (SSD) for storage and 6-cell battery, followed by Micro-Star International's Wind U100 with a 6-cell battery.

Darren rightly pointed out that Asus's Eee PC 1002HA , also with a 10-inch screen, looks like a very nice device, but neither of us have had a chance to try one out.

In any case, the 10-inch screen devices are a little bigger and more expensive than what I was looking for. Size is important to consider in terms of weight. Ten inch screens, hard disk drives (HDDs) and 6-cell batteries add a lot of extra weight to a netbook.

All of the netbooks I tried out include wireless Internet access through Wi-Fi 802.11b/g, but only Asustek's more recent Eee PCs, including the S101, 1002HA, and 1000HA, offered the speedier 802.11b/g/n as of this writing.

Several netbooks are now on sale with built-in 3G modules and mobile phone service providers are offering them with 3G (third generation telecommunications) contracts, so people can access the Internet from anywhere on their mobile phone network.

People can also buy add-on 3G or WiMax cards for any netbook.

8. And finally, the best netbook available (for me) is….
I've tested over a dozen different netbooks and published reviews on most of them, and after trying out some pretty cool devices, I decided to buy the one that's right for me: Acer's Aspire One.

Based on the criteria above, here's why:

I already have a laptop PC, so I don't need a powerful netbook. I just want a small, lightweight device that's easy to carry around so I can surf the Web or write when I'm outside my office.

The Aspire One comes with an 8.9-inch screen and either a 3-cell or 6-cell battery, and of course I will pay a little more for the 6-cell battery. I get stranded in airports sometimes, often take trains, and simply like to sip my coffee very slowly. I need a long lasting battery.

The keyboard on the device is quite comfortable, and the software it comes with is easy to use, especially the Linpus Linux Lite OS.

The price sealed my decision.
Prices have come down for nearly all netbooks because of growing competition. Acer's Aspire One with Windows XP, a 160GB HDD (hard disk drive) and 6-cell battery sells for around $380 on Amazon.com currently, compared to around $430 earlier this year.

I plan to buy the $329 Aspire One that comes with Linpus Linux Lite OS, has an 8.9-inch screen, a 1.6GHz Intel Atom microprocessor, 512M bytes of DRAM and 8G bytes of flash memory storage and a 3-cell battery, standard. I'll add more DRAM and buy an additional flash card, as well as trade up to a 6-cell battery, which will likely raise the price to around $400, in all.

Four months ago, we published a buyers guide for small, lightweight laptops titled, "How to buy a mini-laptop ."

Mini-laptops are now generally called netbooks — a name coined by Intel — but the devices remain popular for their small size, half to two-thirds the size of a normal laptop and far lighter. With the holidays fast approaching, we decided it was the right time to revisit this product segment and lay out the issues users will want to consider before they make a purchase.

[ For more on products in the hot netbook category, check out our hands-on looks at Asus' Eee PC 901 and 1000 and the N10 netbook, the Cloudbook Max netbook, Elitegroup's G10IL mini-laptop, MSI's Wind low-cost laptop, Giga-byte's M912X mini-laptop, HP's Mini-Note netbook and Acer's Aspire one. ]

Netbooks have caught on because they offer people a mobile, easy way to wirelessly access the Web. And over the past few months a dozen or more new netbooks have hit the market, giving people a wider range of choices.

Most netbooks sport small LCD screens, 8.9-inches to 10-inches, versus an average of 15.4-inches for normal laptops. Netbooks generally weigh around 2.2 lbs (1 kilogram) each, far lighter than most laptops, and carry batteries that last up to 8 hours. They cost between $199 and $799.

For anyone looking to buy now, here are some tips for your first netbook, compiled after reviewing about a dozen of them.

1. Make sure you want a netbook and not a full-fledged laptop computer.
What do you want to use this netbook for? Do you want a lightweight device for easy Internet access? Or are you really looking for a device to carry around that you can edit video on, play games, or use for other applications that test the computing limits of a netbook?

Don't buy a netbook if you're really looking for a laptop, it would be a mistake.

To ensure longer battery life, some key components on a netbook, such as the microprocessor, are less powerful than common laptops. That's why they're good for surfing the Internet, sending e-mails, or doing homework.

Anyone looking to do more should shop for a more powerful laptop, not a netbook.

2. Buy a netbook with an 8.9-inch screen or larger.
I tested an Eee PC with a 7-inch screen, the Surf , and found screen too small. I was not able to view an entire Web page on the cramped display. On a screen that small, you have to scroll left and right as well as up and down to see an entire Web page. Scrolling up and down is normal, but left and right was annoying.

That's less of a problem on the slightly larger-sized screens and, in the 8.9-inch screen size, the weight and size of the netbook is nearly the same as devices with 7-inch screens.

The 10-inch screens are even better, yet add size and weight to the netbook.

3. Make sure you get a 6-cell battery for your netbook, although you may have to pay $50 more and the device will weigh more.
Most companies started out offering netbooks with 3-cell batteries as the standard, but that doesn't offer a whole lot of run time, just 2 to 3 hours. A 6-cell battery doubles that, and in some devices designed around a 6-cell battery, such as Asustek Computer's Eee PC 901 , you can get up to 8 hours.

In a mobile device, battery life is vital. You don't want to always have to look around for outlets, or fight over the last available socket in a coffee shop.

Most vendors are now following Asustek's lead with 6-cell batteries. In fact, the netbooks listed on Amazon.com's bestseller list for the past month nearly all carry 6-cell batteries, Acer's Aspire One, Asustek's Eee PC 1000HA and Samsung Electronics' NC10-14GB .

Micro-Star International's Wind series, which sports a 10-inch screen, is a good example of the difference in weight on the batteries. Wind netbooks with 6-cell batteries weigh 2.6 lbs (1.18 kg), while those with 3-cell batteries weigh 2.3 lbs (1.04 kg).

Vendors generally offer 6-cell batteries for all models. But most devices come standard with a 3-cell or 4-cell battery, so if you want a 6-cell you may have to ask for it, and expect to pay a bit more.

Another benefit of the larger battery is that it props up the back of the device, putting it on a slight angle that makes typing easier. Keyboards on netbooks are smaller than normal keyboards, and comfortable typing was one area I was not willing to compromise on.

4. Try out the keyboard and make sure it's right for you.
None of the devices I tested had a better typing pad than Intel's ClassMate PC, which has a keyboard far smaller than the Eee PC 1000 . Keys on the ClassMate PC's keyboard are raised and there is a lot of space between them, making them easy to find by touch.

By contrast, the Eee PCs, Wind and Elitegroup Computer Systems' G10IL designed their keyboard with flat keys and little or no space between keys because, I was told by Elitegroup staff, it makes them look nice. The trouble is, it also makes typing more difficult.

I really liked the keyboards on Acer's Aspire One, Hewlett-Packard's Mini 1000 and Everex's CloudBook Max , but the best keyboard was on HP's Mini-Note .

5. Software: see what comes preinstalled and consider trying the Linux OS.
There are two lessons on software.

First, some vendors have skimped on including software in their netbooks on the pretense that users can download a lot of free software on the Internet. That's true, but it's a bad excuse for not going the extra distance for customer satisfaction.

Who wants to spend time downloading when many netbook makers have added lots of software so users can play with their new netbook right away?

Asustek included a lot of useful software on its Eee PCs, as has Acer, which also added a nice opening screen that boots up in just 12 seconds.

Second, it may be time to the give the Linux OS a try.

The Acer opening screen I just referred to is based on Linux, and the Aspire One comes with the Linpus Linux Lite OS, which is very user friendly. I've used Windows for most of my life but switching to Linux on the Aspire One was smooth and easy.

Most of the netbooks I tested with Linux booted up far faster than Windows XP or Windows Vista. Which reminds me, don't buy a netbook with Vista — it's just too slow.

There are also free Linux-based word processing programs and spreadsheets available on the Internet such as Open Office , Sun's inexpensive StarOffice and Web-based software such as Google Apps .

Google also offers a nice package of free software, Google Pack , which includes several popular applications such as Adobe Reader, Skype, RealPlayer for music and video, Norton Security Scan, and two browsers, Google's Chrome and Firefox.

Of course, it would be nice to see a Web site devoted to netbooks, with software specifically designed for low-power devices and smaller screens. Netbookdownload.com, anyone?

6. Price: if it costs more than $500, start looking at a regular notebook computer.
Companies have started promoting a wide range of netbooks at ever higher prices, but once you pass $500, netbooks start to compete with laptops, and a laptop will almost always give you more value for your money.

Laptop computers have far more powerful microprocessors and other components than netbooks, and sport DVD drives. There are no DVD drives on netbooks.

If size and weight are your main concerns, there are plenty of small, full-featured laptops, including the Sony Vaio TT with an 11.1-inch screen, Lenovo U110-23042BU">Ideapad , also with an 11.1-inch screen, and of course Apple's lightweight MacBook Air .

7. Look around at what's available.
Many new netbooks have come out since I wrote my last netbook buyer's guide. There are a lot of look-alikes since newcomers have copied what the pioneers found to be the most popular configurations. The net effect is to put more good devices out there from a number of competitors. You may be able to pick up a nice machine for a very low price.

PC World has rated several of these new devices based on their specifications, performance, design and price, with Asustek's Eee PC 1000H coming out on top, followed closely by Lenovo's IdeaPad S10, Asus's N10JC, Dell's Inspiron Mini 9, HP's Mini 1000, and MSI's Wind U100.

Darren Gladstone, PC World's netbook reviewer, said he's sticking with HP's Mini 1000 until a newer model comes out, but it's not my favorite. Nor is my favorite netbook among the group PC World rated.

These are all good machines, but it should be noted that the IdeaPad S10, Inspiron Mini 9 and HP Mini 1000 do not currently come with 6-cell batteries, or at least I can't find any. To me, that's a big negative because mobility is so important.

Mobility may not be so important to you, so that's why you need to decide what you want to get out of a netbook (or laptop) before you buy one.

There were a lot of nice netbooks out there worth considering.

Giga-byte Technology's M912 is the netbook with by far the coolest technology with its touchscreen. The screen can also swivel around so you can show someone else what you're working on.

But I was quoted a price of NT$19,900 (US$632) for the device, and since I'm not really sure how much I'd use the touchscreen, I figured it wasn't right for me.

I almost decided on one of the netbooks with the bigger, 10-inch screens. My top choices were Asustek's Eee PC 1000

with the Xandros Linux OS and a 40GB solid state drive (SSD) for storage and 6-cell battery, followed by Micro-Star International's Wind U100 with a 6-cell battery.

Darren rightly pointed out that Asus's Eee PC 1002HA , also with a 10-inch screen, looks like a very nice device, but neither of us have had a chance to try one out.

In any case, the 10-inch screen devices are a little bigger and more expensive than what I was looking for. Size is important to consider in terms of weight. Ten inch screens, hard disk drives (HDDs) and 6-cell batteries add a lot of extra weight to a netbook.

All of the netbooks I tried out include wireless Internet access through Wi-Fi 802.11b/g, but only Asustek's more recent Eee PCs, including the S101, 1002HA, and 1000HA, offered the speedier 802.11b/g/n as of this writing.

Several netbooks are now on sale with built-in 3G modules and mobile phone service providers are offering them with 3G (third generation telecommunications) contracts, so people can access the Internet from anywhere on their mobile phone network.

People can also buy add-on 3G or WiMax cards for any netbook.

8. And finally, the best netbook available (for me) is….
I've tested over a dozen different netbooks and published reviews on most of them, and after trying out some pretty cool devices, I decided to buy the one that's right for me: Acer's Aspire One.

Based on the criteria above, here's why:

I already have a laptop PC, so I don't need a powerful netbook. I just want a small, lightweight device that's easy to carry around so I can surf the Web or write when I'm outside my office.

The Aspire One comes with an 8.9-inch screen and either a 3-cell or 6-cell battery, and of course I will pay a little more for the 6-cell battery. I get stranded in airports sometimes, often take trains, and simply like to sip my coffee very slowly. I need a long lasting battery.

The keyboard on the device is quite comfortable, and the software it comes with is easy to use, especially the Linpus Linux Lite OS.

The price sealed my decision.
Prices have come down for nearly all netbooks because of growing competition. Acer's Aspire One with Windows XP, a 160GB HDD (hard disk drive) and 6-cell battery sells for around $380 on Amazon.com currently, compared to around $430 earlier this year.

I plan to buy the $329 Aspire One that comes with Linpus Linux Lite OS, has an 8.9-inch screen, a 1.6GHz Intel Atom microprocessor, 512M bytes of DRAM and 8G bytes of flash memory storage and a 3-cell battery, standard. I'll add more DRAM and buy an additional flash card, as well as trade up to a 6-cell battery, which will likely raise the price to around $400, in all.

Four months ago, we published a buyers guide for small, lightweight laptops titled, "How to buy a mini-laptop ."

Mini-laptops are now generally called netbooks — a name coined by Intel — but the devices remain popular for their small size, half to two-thirds the size of a normal laptop and far lighter. With the holidays fast approaching, we decided it was the right time to revisit this product segment and lay out the issues users will want to consider before they make a purchase.

[ For more on products in the hot netbook category, check out our hands-on looks at Asus' Eee PC 901 and 1000 and the N10 netbook, the Cloudbook Max netbook, Elitegroup's G10IL mini-laptop, MSI's Wind low-cost laptop, Giga-byte's M912X mini-laptop, HP's Mini-Note netbook and Acer's Aspire one. ]

Netbooks have caught on because they offer people a mobile, easy way to wirelessly access the Web. And over the past few months a dozen or more new netbooks have hit the market, giving people a wider range of choices.

Most netbooks sport small LCD screens, 8.9-inches to 10-inches, versus an average of 15.4-inches for normal laptops. Netbooks generally weigh around 2.2 lbs (1 kilogram) each, far lighter than most laptops, and carry batteries that last up to 8 hours. They cost between $199 and $799.

For anyone looking to buy now, here are some tips for your first netbook, compiled after reviewing about a dozen of them.

1. Make sure you want a netbook and not a full-fledged laptop computer.
What do you want to use this netbook for? Do you want a lightweight device for easy Internet access? Or are you really looking for a device to carry around that you can edit video on, play games, or use for other applications that test the computing limits of a netbook?

Don't buy a netbook if you're really looking for a laptop, it would be a mistake.

To ensure longer battery life, some key components on a netbook, such as the microprocessor, are less powerful than common laptops. That's why they're good for surfing the Internet, sending e-mails, or doing homework.

Anyone looking to do more should shop for a more powerful laptop, not a netbook.

2. Buy a netbook with an 8.9-inch screen or larger.
I tested an Eee PC with a 7-inch screen, the Surf , and found screen too small. I was not able to view an entire Web page on the cramped display. On a screen that small, you have to scroll left and right as well as up and down to see an entire Web page. Scrolling up and down is normal, but left and right was annoying.

That's less of a problem on the slightly larger-sized screens and, in the 8.9-inch screen size, the weight and size of the netbook is nearly the same as devices with 7-inch screens.

The 10-inch screens are even better, yet add size and weight to the netbook.

3. Make sure you get a 6-cell battery for your netbook, although you may have to pay $50 more and the device will weigh more.
Most companies started out offering netbooks with 3-cell batteries as the standard, but that doesn't offer a whole lot of run time, just 2 to 3 hours. A 6-cell battery doubles that, and in some devices designed around a 6-cell battery, such as Asustek Computer's Eee PC 901 , you can get up to 8 hours.

In a mobile device, battery life is vital. You don't want to always have to look around for outlets, or fight over the last available socket in a coffee shop.

Most vendors are now following Asustek's lead with 6-cell batteries. In fact, the netbooks listed on Amazon.com's bestseller list for the past month nearly all carry 6-cell batteries, Acer's Aspire One, Asustek's Eee PC 1000HA and Samsung Electronics' NC10-14GB .

Micro-Star International's Wind series, which sports a 10-inch screen, is a good example of the difference in weight on the batteries. Wind netbooks with 6-cell batteries weigh 2.6 lbs (1.18 kg), while those with 3-cell batteries weigh 2.3 lbs (1.04 kg).

Vendors generally offer 6-cell batteries for all models. But most devices come standard with a 3-cell or 4-cell battery, so if you want a 6-cell you may have to ask for it, and expect to pay a bit more.

Another benefit of the larger battery is that it props up the back of the device, putting it on a slight angle that makes typing easier. Keyboards on netbooks are smaller than normal keyboards, and comfortable typing was one area I was not willing to compromise on.

4. Try out the keyboard and make sure it's right for you.
None of the devices I tested had a better typing pad than Intel's ClassMate PC, which has a keyboard far smaller than the Eee PC 1000 . Keys on the ClassMate PC's keyboard are raised and there is a lot of space between them, making them easy to find by touch.

By contrast, the Eee PCs, Wind and Elitegroup Computer Systems' G10IL designed their keyboard with flat keys and little or no space between keys because, I was told by Elitegroup staff, it makes them look nice. The trouble is, it also makes typing more difficult.

I really liked the keyboards on Acer's Aspire One, Hewlett-Packard's Mini 1000 and Everex's CloudBook Max , but the best keyboard was on HP's Mini-Note .

5. Software: see what comes preinstalled and consider trying the Linux OS.
There are two lessons on software.

First, some vendors have skimped on including software in their netbooks on the pretense that users can download a lot of free software on the Internet. That's true, but it's a bad excuse for not going the extra distance for customer satisfaction.

Who wants to spend time downloading when many netbook makers have added lots of software so users can play with their new netbook right away?

Asustek included a lot of useful software on its Eee PCs, as has Acer, which also added a nice opening screen that boots up in just 12 seconds.

Second, it may be time to the give the Linux OS a try.

The Acer opening screen I just referred to is based on Linux, and the Aspire One comes with the Linpus Linux Lite OS, which is very user friendly. I've used Windows for most of my life but switching to Linux on the Aspire One was smooth and easy.

Most of the netbooks I tested with Linux booted up far faster than Windows XP or Windows Vista. Which reminds me, don't buy a netbook with Vista — it's just too slow.

There are also free Linux-based word processing programs and spreadsheets available on the Internet such as Open Office , Sun's inexpensive StarOffice and Web-based software such as Google Apps .

Google also offers a nice package of free software, Google Pack , which includes several popular applications such as Adobe Reader, Skype, RealPlayer for music and video, Norton Security Scan, and two browsers, Google's Chrome and Firefox.

Of course, it would be nice to see a Web site devoted to netbooks, with software specifically designed for low-power devices and smaller screens. Netbookdownload.com, anyone?

6. Price: if it costs more than $500, start looking at a regular notebook computer.
Companies have started promoting a wide range of netbooks at ever higher prices, but once you pass $500, netbooks start to compete with laptops, and a laptop will almost always give you more value for your money.

Laptop computers have far more powerful microprocessors and other components than netbooks, and sport DVD drives. There are no DVD drives on netbooks.

If size and weight are your main concerns, there are plenty of small, full-featured laptops, including the Sony Vaio TT with an 11.1-inch screen, Lenovo U110-23042BU">Ideapad , also with an 11.1-inch screen, and of course Apple's lightweight MacBook Air .

7. Look around at what's available.
Many new netbooks have come out since I wrote my last netbook buyer's guide. There are a lot of look-alikes since newcomers have copied what the pioneers found to be the most popular configurations. The net effect is to put more good devices out there from a number of competitors. You may be able to pick up a nice machine for a very low price.

PC World has rated several of these new devices based on their specifications, performance, design and price, with Asustek's Eee PC 1000H coming out on top, followed closely by Lenovo's IdeaPad S10, Asus's N10JC, Dell's Inspiron Mini 9, HP's Mini 1000, and MSI's Wind U100.

Darren Gladstone, PC World's netbook reviewer, said he's sticking with HP's Mini 1000 until a newer model comes out, but it's not my favorite. Nor is my favorite netbook among the group PC World rated.

These are all good machines, but it should be noted that the IdeaPad S10, Inspiron Mini 9 and HP Mini 1000 do not currently come with 6-cell batteries, or at least I can't find any. To me, that's a big negative because mobility is so important.

Mobility may not be so important to you, so that's why you need to decide what you want to get out of a netbook (or laptop) before you buy one.

There were a lot of nice netbooks out there worth considering.

Giga-byte Technology's M912 is the netbook with by far the coolest technology with its touchscreen. The screen can also swivel around so you can show someone else what you're working on.

But I was quoted a price of NT$19,900 (US$632) for the device, and since I'm not really sure how much I'd use the touchscreen, I figured it wasn't right for me.

I almost decided on one of the netbooks with the bigger, 10-inch screens. My top choices were Asustek's Eee PC 1000

with the Xandros Linux OS and a 40GB solid state drive (SSD) for storage and 6-cell battery, followed by Micro-Star International's Wind U100 with a 6-cell battery.

Darren rightly pointed out that Asus's Eee PC 1002HA , also with a 10-inch screen, looks like a very nice device, but neither of us have had a chance to try one out.

In any case, the 10-inch screen devices are a little bigger and more expensive than what I was looking for. Size is important to consider in terms of weight. Ten inch screens, hard disk drives (HDDs) and 6-cell batteries add a lot of extra weight to a netbook.

All of the netbooks I tried out include wireless Internet access through Wi-Fi 802.11b/g, but only Asustek's more recent Eee PCs, including the S101, 1002HA, and 1000HA, offered the speedier 802.11b/g/n as of this writing.

Several netbooks are now on sale with built-in 3G modules and mobile phone service providers are offering them with 3G (third generation telecommunications) contracts, so people can access the Internet from anywhere on their mobile phone network.

People can also buy add-on 3G or WiMax cards for any netbook.

8. And finally, the best netbook available (for me) is….
I've tested over a dozen different netbooks and published reviews on most of them, and after trying out some pretty cool devices, I decided to buy the one that's right for me: Acer's Aspire One.

Based on the criteria above, here's why:

I already have a laptop PC, so I don't need a powerful netbook. I just want a small, lightweight device that's easy to carry around so I can surf the Web or write when I'm outside my office.

The Aspire One comes with an 8.9-inch screen and either a 3-cell or 6-cell battery, and of course I will pay a little more for the 6-cell battery. I get stranded in airports sometimes, often take trains, and simply like to sip my coffee very slowly. I need a long lasting battery.

The keyboard on the device is quite comfortable, and the software it comes with is easy to use, especially the Linpus Linux Lite OS.

The price sealed my decision.
Prices have come down for nearly all netbooks because of growing competition. Acer's Aspire One with Windows XP, a 160GB HDD (hard disk drive) and 6-cell battery sells for around $380 on Amazon.com currently, compared to around $430 earlier this year.

I plan to buy the $329 Aspire One that comes with Linpus Linux Lite OS, has an 8.9-inch screen, a 1.6GHz Intel Atom microprocessor, 512M bytes of DRAM and 8G bytes of flash memory storage and a 3-cell battery, standard. I'll add more DRAM and buy an additional flash card, as well as trade up to a 6-cell battery, which will likely raise the price to around $400, in all.

It's remembered as the "Mother of All Demos," and 40 years later, it got another standing ovation.

The man who gave the demo, Douglas Engelbart, was in the audience this time, on Tuesday at Stanford University's Memorial Auditorium, watching a video replay of his Dec. 9, 1968, Fall Joint Computer Conference demonstration of a futuristic computing system, called NLS, or the Online System.

[ Related: A tribute to computer industry pioneer Doug Engelbart and his concept of "collective intelligence" | Keep up on the latest tech news headlines at InfoWorld News , or subscribe to the Today's Headlines newsletter . ]

Best remembered as the demo that introduced the world to the computer mouse, it was actually a moment when Engelbart and his team of researchers unveiled a whole new way of computing — one that looked more like what we do in 2008 than like the punch-card-driven work that was standard back in the 60s.

The mother of all demos, which today feels like a too-long scene in a classic science fiction movie, marked the debut of both hypertext links and on-screen text editing, and it even married computing with video teleconferencing.

Engelbart used video monitors and cameras to mix video with computer-generated images, creating an interface that seems both vintage and futuristic to viewers today. With their faces superimposed over the computer display, team members in San Francisco and Menlo Park talk to each and share files, clicking on words instead of windows. The user interface looks like a primitive version of DOS that somehow works with a mouse.

Those who saw the original demo and understood Engelbart's vision were blown away. "My heart was in my mouth the whole time," remembers Tom Hagan, CEO of Actioneer. Two years later, the company he worked for had bought Computer Displays Inc. (CDI), the company that sold the first mouse, as part of its ARDS (Advanced Remote Display System) computer.

Hagan had the world's first commercially produced mouse on hand and was showing it to all comers during a break at the Stanford event. Beige and clunky, with three ergonomically unfriendly buttons, it was about the size of five iPhones. On the back: CDI Serial Number 001.

Logitec co-founder Daniel Borel was on hand to commemorate his company's sale of its 1 billionth mouse.

In the video from 1968, before starting his demo Engelbart briefly describes his vision of computing. "If, in your office, you, as an intellectual worker, were supplied with a computer display backed up by a computer that was alive for you all day and was instantly … responsive to every action that you had, how much value could you derive from that?" he asks.

After gamely sitting though the 25-minute video, the Stanford audience gave Engelbart a standing ovation. Later, Engelbart, surrounded by well-wishers and hugging his granddaughter Emily Mangan, said it felt "strange" to be reliving his demo after 40 years.

In a way, it's stranger still that he was even allowed to do the demo, which was costly, technically challenging and not understood by all of Engelbart's peers.

Engelbart's work was funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Department of Defense, but not everyone bought into his vision of computing, panelists said. "One of the things that Doug really gets credit for is persisting in spite of the fact that 90 percent of the people thought he was a crackpot," said Bill Paxton, a researcher with the University of California, Santa Barbara, who was on the 1968 demo team.

Another audience member for the 1968 demo said that the computer industry, with its incompatible file formats, will probably never manage to achieve the vision laid out by Engelbart. "This vision hasn't really been realized in today's environment," said Andries van Dam, a Brown University professor of computer science, speaking at the Tuesday event. "We can do a lot of the individual things that are done in this system better … but they don't work together."

Even the anarchic, highly collaborative world of Web 2.0 probably won't measure up, he added. "I think the architecture that was defined by these wizards, and the head wizard especially, beats any amount of bottom-up tinkering and mashing up," he said. "It's that lack of principled architecture that I really regret at this point."

It's remembered as the "Mother of All Demos," and 40 years later, it got another standing ovation.

The man who gave the demo, Douglas Engelbart, was in the audience this time, on Tuesday at Stanford University's Memorial Auditorium, watching a video replay of his Dec. 9, 1968, Fall Joint Computer Conference demonstration of a futuristic computing system, called NLS, or the Online System.

[ Related: A tribute to computer industry pioneer Doug Engelbart and his concept of "collective intelligence" | Keep up on the latest tech news headlines at InfoWorld News , or subscribe to the Today's Headlines newsletter . ]

Best remembered as the demo that introduced the world to the computer mouse, it was actually a moment when Engelbart and his team of researchers unveiled a whole new way of computing — one that looked more like what we do in 2008 than like the punch-card-driven work that was standard back in the 60s.

The mother of all demos, which today feels like a too-long scene in a classic science fiction movie, marked the debut of both hypertext links and on-screen text editing, and it even married computing with video teleconferencing.

Engelbart used video monitors and cameras to mix video with computer-generated images, creating an interface that seems both vintage and futuristic to viewers today. With their faces superimposed over the computer display, team members in San Francisco and Menlo Park talk to each and share files, clicking on words instead of windows. The user interface looks like a primitive version of DOS that somehow works with a mouse.

Those who saw the original demo and understood Engelbart's vision were blown away. "My heart was in my mouth the whole time," remembers Tom Hagan, CEO of Actioneer. Two years later, the company he worked for had bought Computer Displays Inc. (CDI), the company that sold the first mouse, as part of its ARDS (Advanced Remote Display System) computer.

Hagan had the world's first commercially produced mouse on hand and was showing it to all comers during a break at the Stanford event. Beige and clunky, with three ergonomically unfriendly buttons, it was about the size of five iPhones. On the back: CDI Serial Number 001.

Logitec co-founder Daniel Borel was on hand to commemorate his company's sale of its 1 billionth mouse.

In the video from 1968, before starting his demo Engelbart briefly describes his vision of computing. "If, in your office, you, as an intellectual worker, were supplied with a computer display backed up by a computer that was alive for you all day and was instantly … responsive to every action that you had, how much value could you derive from that?" he asks.

After gamely sitting though the 25-minute video, the Stanford audience gave Engelbart a standing ovation. Later, Engelbart, surrounded by well-wishers and hugging his granddaughter Emily Mangan, said it felt "strange" to be reliving his demo after 40 years.

In a way, it's stranger still that he was even allowed to do the demo, which was costly, technically challenging and not understood by all of Engelbart's peers.

Engelbart's work was funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Department of Defense, but not everyone bought into his vision of computing, panelists said. "One of the things that Doug really gets credit for is persisting in spite of the fact that 90 percent of the people thought he was a crackpot," said Bill Paxton, a researcher with the University of California, Santa Barbara, who was on the 1968 demo team.

Another audience member for the 1968 demo said that the computer industry, with its incompatible file formats, will probably never manage to achieve the vision laid out by Engelbart. "This vision hasn't really been realized in today's environment," said Andries van Dam, a Brown University professor of computer science, speaking at the Tuesday event. "We can do a lot of the individual things that are done in this system better … but they don't work together."

Even the anarchic, highly collaborative world of Web 2.0 probably won't measure up, he added. "I think the architecture that was defined by these wizards, and the head wizard especially, beats any amount of bottom-up tinkering and mashing up," he said. "It's that lack of principled architecture that I really regret at this point."

It's remembered as the "Mother of All Demos," and 40 years later, it got another standing ovation.

The man who gave the demo, Douglas Engelbart, was in the audience this time, on Tuesday at Stanford University's Memorial Auditorium, watching a video replay of his Dec. 9, 1968, Fall Joint Computer Conference demonstration of a futuristic computing system, called NLS, or the Online System.

[ Related: A tribute to computer industry pioneer Doug Engelbart and his concept of "collective intelligence" | Keep up on the latest tech news headlines at InfoWorld News , or subscribe to the Today's Headlines newsletter . ]

Best remembered as the demo that introduced the world to the computer mouse, it was actually a moment when Engelbart and his team of researchers unveiled a whole new way of computing — one that looked more like what we do in 2008 than like the punch-card-driven work that was standard back in the 60s.

The mother of all demos, which today feels like a too-long scene in a classic science fiction movie, marked the debut of both hypertext links and on-screen text editing, and it even married computing with video teleconferencing.

Engelbart used video monitors and cameras to mix video with computer-generated images, creating an interface that seems both vintage and futuristic to viewers today. With their faces superimposed over the computer display, team members in San Francisco and Menlo Park talk to each and share files, clicking on words instead of windows. The user interface looks like a primitive version of DOS that somehow works with a mouse.

Those who saw the original demo and understood Engelbart's vision were blown away. "My heart was in my mouth the whole time," remembers Tom Hagan, CEO of Actioneer. Two years later, the company he worked for had bought Computer Displays Inc. (CDI), the company that sold the first mouse, as part of its ARDS (Advanced Remote Display System) computer.

Hagan had the world's first commercially produced mouse on hand and was showing it to all comers during a break at the Stanford event. Beige and clunky, with three ergonomically unfriendly buttons, it was about the size of five iPhones. On the back: CDI Serial Number 001.

Logitec co-founder Daniel Borel was on hand to commemorate his company's sale of its 1 billionth mouse.

In the video from 1968, before starting his demo Engelbart briefly describes his vision of computing. "If, in your office, you, as an intellectual worker, were supplied with a computer display backed up by a computer that was alive for you all day and was instantly … responsive to every action that you had, how much value could you derive from that?" he asks.

After gamely sitting though the 25-minute video, the Stanford audience gave Engelbart a standing ovation. Later, Engelbart, surrounded by well-wishers and hugging his granddaughter Emily Mangan, said it felt "strange" to be reliving his demo after 40 years.

In a way, it's stranger still that he was even allowed to do the demo, which was costly, technically challenging and not understood by all of Engelbart's peers.

Engelbart's work was funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Department of Defense, but not everyone bought into his vision of computing, panelists said. "One of the things that Doug really gets credit for is persisting in spite of the fact that 90 percent of the people thought he was a crackpot," said Bill Paxton, a researcher with the University of California, Santa Barbara, who was on the 1968 demo team.

Another audience member for the 1968 demo said that the computer industry, with its incompatible file formats, will probably never manage to achieve the vision laid out by Engelbart. "This vision hasn't really been realized in today's environment," said Andries van Dam, a Brown University professor of computer science, speaking at the Tuesday event. "We can do a lot of the individual things that are done in this system better … but they don't work together."

Even the anarchic, highly collaborative world of Web 2.0 probably won't measure up, he added. "I think the architecture that was defined by these wizards, and the head wizard especially, beats any amount of bottom-up tinkering and mashing up," he said. "It's that lack of principled architecture that I really regret at this point."

If you install the beta of Windows Vista Service Pack 2 (SP2) expecting to see visible changes to your version of Vista, you'll be sorely disappointed. At least in this initial beta, all the changes are under the hood, and even they are far from earth-shaking.

Microsoft says that it has fixed compatibility problems with the third-party Spy Sweeper and ZoneAlarm security applications, enhanced hardware support for Direct X, improved Wi-Fi connections after a system resumes from sleep, improved Windows Search, added support for the newest Bluetooth specification (2.1), and rolled up all previous Vista updates.

[ Related: "Microsoft puts Vista SP2 beta on Windows Update." ]

In addition, Microsoft says that the RSS gadget now uses fewer resources, that it has added support for burning Blu-ray discs, and that a new feature called Windows Connect Now (WCN) makes it simpler to configure Wi-Fi networks.

But in reality, what's really new in SP2 is somewhat murky. For example, support for Bluetooth 2.1 and WCN have been available since July, via what Microsoft calls the Windows Vista Feature Pack for Wireless. That feature pack was available only to system manufacturers, not users, so perhaps Microsoft means that with SP2 these wireless features are now directly available to consumers for the first time. But anyone who has a Vista PC purchased from a system manufacturer that includes the Windows Vista Feature Pack for Wireless already has WCN and support for Bluetooth 2.1.

Installation a snap — with a few caveats
You have several choices for installing Vista SP2, including via Windows Update, as a stand-alone installer or by downloading an .iso image file, which you can then burn to a DVD and install from the DVD.

Initially, the beta was available only on MSDN and TechNet before public release, and at that point was available only as an .iso image. I downloaded the image, but had troubles with installation. The first .iso image burner I used, the free ImgBurn application, said it could not handle that particular .iso image. I had used this software to install .iso images before during the original Vista installation cycle, so this was odd.

Next, I tried Nero 7 to burn an image. It had trouble as well — when the burning was complete, the only file on my DVD was an .ini file and nothing else, so I couldn't install the beta. I never found out the source of the problem. Given that the .iso file is now in public beta and no outcry has been heard, the problem, if any, has most likely been fixed.

When the beta became public, I used the stand-alone installer, which was a 397MB download. Installation went smoothly, albeit slowly. After creating a System Restore point, the entire installation took an hour and required only a single reboot. It proceeded unattended. It was as simple an update as you could ask for.

If you install the service pack via Windows Update, the download is considerably smaller — about 41MB.

Some weird anomalies
When you install SP2, you won't notice any changes to Windows Vista. It alerts you that the upgrade is complete. Just to make sure, you can also go to Control Panel –> System and Maintenance –> System, and at the top of the screen, you get a confirmation message. Other than that, though, don't expect to see anything new.

But although I found nothing new in Vista SP2, I did find several odd anomalies. The first had to do with power settings on my laptop. Normally, when I run my laptop, an icon runs in the System Tray, notifying me if I'm using battery power, showing me how much power is left, and letting me change my power plan among Power Saver, Balanced, and High Performance. Right after installation, that power-saving applet seemed to have disappeared. However, after I rebooted, it appeared again.

Equally odd was that when Vista SP2 launched, it showed me that one of the updates available was Windows Search 4.0, even though Windows Search 4.0 is supposed to be part of SP2. Again, though, the reboot fixed the difficulty.

However, the reboot also caused a problem — Vista no longer recognized my wireless adapter. But when I rebooted yet one more time, Vista recognized the adapter without a problem. The moral of the story: This is beta software, so beware.

The bottom line
Should you install this service pack now? Unless you have some need to do it because you're a systems administrator — or if you're one of those people who has a burning desire to test new software, no matter its usefulness — there's no need to try it out now. In fact, you shouldn't try it, because you may run into problems, as I did, with your wireless adapter. You'll be better off to wait until the expected April ship date when it's supposed to be fully baked.

Note: For a list of the most important changes in SP2, see Microsoft's "Notable Changes in Windows Server 2008 SP2 Beta and Windows Vista SP2 Beta." You can also find a list of included hotfixes and security updates.

Computerworld is an InfoWorld affiliate.

If you install the beta of Windows Vista Service Pack 2 (SP2) expecting to see visible changes to your version of Vista, you'll be sorely disappointed. At least in this initial beta, all the changes are under the hood, and even they are far from earth-shaking.

Microsoft says that it has fixed compatibility problems with the third-party Spy Sweeper and ZoneAlarm security applications, enhanced hardware support for Direct X, improved Wi-Fi connections after a system resumes from sleep, improved Windows Search, added support for the newest Bluetooth specification (2.1), and rolled up all previous Vista updates.

[ Related: "Microsoft puts Vista SP2 beta on Windows Update." ]

In addition, Microsoft says that the RSS gadget now uses fewer resources, that it has added support for burning Blu-ray discs, and that a new feature called Windows Connect Now (WCN) makes it simpler to configure Wi-Fi networks.

But in reality, what's really new in SP2 is somewhat murky. For example, support for Bluetooth 2.1 and WCN have been available since July, via what Microsoft calls the Windows Vista Feature Pack for Wireless. That feature pack was available only to system manufacturers, not users, so perhaps Microsoft means that with SP2 these wireless features are now directly available to consumers for the first time. But anyone who has a Vista PC purchased from a system manufacturer that includes the Windows Vista Feature Pack for Wireless already has WCN and support for Bluetooth 2.1.

Installation a snap — with a few caveats
You have several choices for installing Vista SP2, including via Windows Update, as a stand-alone installer or by downloading an .iso image file, which you can then burn to a DVD and install from the DVD.

Initially, the beta was available only on MSDN and TechNet before public release, and at that point was available only as an .iso image. I downloaded the image, but had troubles with installation. The first .iso image burner I used, the free ImgBurn application, said it could not handle that particular .iso image. I had used this software to install .iso images before during the original Vista installation cycle, so this was odd.

Next, I tried Nero 7 to burn an image. It had trouble as well — when the burning was complete, the only file on my DVD was an .ini file and nothing else, so I couldn't install the beta. I never found out the source of the problem. Given that the .iso file is now in public beta and no outcry has been heard, the problem, if any, has most likely been fixed.

When the beta became public, I used the stand-alone installer, which was a 397MB download. Installation went smoothly, albeit slowly. After creating a System Restore point, the entire installation took an hour and required only a single reboot. It proceeded unattended. It was as simple an update as you could ask for.

If you install the service pack via Windows Update, the download is considerably smaller — about 41MB.

Some weird anomalies
When you install SP2, you won't notice any changes to Windows Vista. It alerts you that the upgrade is complete. Just to make sure, you can also go to Control Panel –> System and Maintenance –> System, and at the top of the screen, you get a confirmation message. Other than that, though, don't expect to see anything new.

But although I found nothing new in Vista SP2, I did find several odd anomalies. The first had to do with power settings on my laptop. Normally, when I run my laptop, an icon runs in the System Tray, notifying me if I'm using battery power, showing me how much power is left, and letting me change my power plan among Power Saver, Balanced, and High Performance. Right after installation, that power-saving applet seemed to have disappeared. However, after I rebooted, it appeared again.

Equally odd was that when Vista SP2 launched, it showed me that one of the updates available was Windows Search 4.0, even though Windows Search 4.0 is supposed to be part of SP2. Again, though, the reboot fixed the difficulty.

However, the reboot also caused a problem — Vista no longer recognized my wireless adapter. But when I rebooted yet one more time, Vista recognized the adapter without a problem. The moral of the story: This is beta software, so beware.

The bottom line
Should you install this service pack now? Unless you have some need to do it because you're a systems administrator — or if you're one of those people who has a burning desire to test new software, no matter its usefulness — there's no need to try it out now. In fact, you shouldn't try it, because you may run into problems, as I did, with your wireless adapter. You'll be better off to wait until the expected April ship date when it's supposed to be fully baked.

Note: For a list of the most important changes in SP2, see Microsoft's "Notable Changes in Windows Server 2008 SP2 Beta and Windows Vista SP2 Beta." You can also find a list of included hotfixes and security updates.

Computerworld is an InfoWorld affiliate.