A buyer's guide to the top 10 netbooks

The CPU is a 2.66GHz Atom N280, which is a touch faster than most Atom netbooks, but otherwise it's standard specs. We'd highly recommend going for the extended battery, which lasted for over nine hours in our light use tests.

HP Mini 5101 325 ex. VAT

hp 5101

If cost is no option, the HP Mini 5101 comes in as one of our favourite netbooks, as it offers all the qualities and convenience of a high-end laptop, but in netbook form.

We're talking a high quality black premium finish, and all the specs you need - Wi-Fi n, Gigabit Ethernet, LED backlit screen, webcam and a decent sized hard disk.

At this price, you're looking at the Suse Linux version so you'll have to pay more for Windows and for an extended battery and for integrated 3G.

This makes it potentially the most expensive netbook on the market, but if you're high enough up the corporate tree this is the netbook you'll want.

Nokia Booklet 3G 450 ex. VAT

nokia_booklet

The HP Mini 5101 goes super expensive when you rack up the options but the Nokia Booklet 3G is inherently pricey.

Nokia probably won't want it even in this list as it claims that this is not a netbook.

It is powered by Intel's Atom processor but aside from that it really stands out from the crowd. Its high quality MacBook-like chassis is lightweight and equipped with integrated 3G, as you'd expect from Nokia, as well as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. It will run Windows 7, and Nokia is promising a record breaking 12 hours battery life when it finally appears. While we're still waiting for it to ship, a successor has already been confirmed.

Benny Har-Even

Benny Har-Even is a twenty-year stalwart of technology journalism who is passionate about all areas of the industry, but telecoms and mobile and home entertainment are among his chief interests. He has written for many of the leading tech publications in the UK, such as PC Pro and Wired, and previously held the position of technology editor at ITPro before regularly contributing as a freelancer.

Known affectionately as a ‘geek’ to his friends, his passion has seen him land opportunities to speak about technology on BBC television broadcasts, as well as a number of speaking engagements at industry events.