Mini-Laptop: Toshiba NB205-N310

Design. The design style of Toshiba NB205-N310 doesn't look or feel cheap at all, with a fingerprint-resistant white, blue, brown, or pink textured lid and a silver keyboard tray. It has boxy chassis design and rounded corner.

Keyboard. The keys of the keyboard are widely separated. The distance of each key is close to what you'll find on full size keyboard. So the keyboard is comfortable and easier to use. The touch pad is more than 3 inches wide (3.1x1.6-inch), the biggest on mini-laptop, make it easy to navigate the desktop. The two dedicated right and left mouse buttons are comfortable.

Screen. The 10.1-inch screen has color reproduction and support 1024x600 pixels. Images look plenty sharp on the screen. The LED display makes the screen thinner and uses less power.

Performance. Score of WorldBench 6's performance test is 36 - it is standard performance score. Like the other mini-laptop, the system offers enough computing power for the basic tasks. Mini-laptop are design for web surfing, working on documents, and some basic multimedia playback. Intel's Atom processor, N280, used in this NB205 slightly faster, particularly in single apps tests. The NB205 boot Windows XP in 1 minute and 25 seconds. According to Laptopmag.com, the boot time is longer than the 55-second mini-laptop average.

Battery life. The six-cell 5800mAh lithium ion battery can last for almost 9 hours, 53 minutes (PC World). Almost the same, Laptopmag.com also test the battery (continuous web surfing over Wi-Fi), it lasted 9 hours and 24 minutes. On Cnet.com's test, the battery run for 6 hours and 14 minutes on video playback battery drain test.

Sound. Its sound quality is not good.

Special Features. The netbook provides an internal accelerometer to protect the hard drive in case of falls (much as the HP Mini 2140 does). The mini-laptop has sleep-and-charge technology. It allows you to charge or power USB devices from one of the three USB ports, even if the laptop is sleeping, hibernating, or off.

SPECS. CPU: 1.66GHz Intel Atom N280;　RAM: 1GB, 533 DDR2;　HDD: 160GB 5,400rpm;　OS: Windows XP Home;Dimension　(WxDxH): 10.4x7.6x1.3 inches;　Weight: 2.9 pounds;　Screen: 10.1 inches;　Audio: speaker, headphone/microphone jacks;　Port/Slot: 3 USB 2.0; SD card reader;　Connectivity: Ethernet, 802.11b/g Wi-Fi, Bluetooth;Webcam: 0.3 megapixel.

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Mini-Laptop: Acer Aspire One D250

Design. Compared to its predecessor - AOD 150, AOD250 is lighter and thinner, because it has a three-cell battery, not a six.

Keyboard. The keyboard is firm and easy to type on. It has a pair of full Shift keys, but it still smaller than full size keyboard. There is an improvement on the touch pad, although it is still tiny (2.0x1.5 inches), but the bottom rocker button is a single bar and more clicky.

Display. The 10.1 wide-screen LED-backlit LCD offers a 1,024x600. Colors are sharp, and text and icons are crisp.

Sound. The stereo speakers are weak, both in volume and sound quality (bass is thin). The speakers located on the underside of the front edge of the chassis. Headphones are almost a must.

Battery. According to battery test conducted by CNet.com, the battery life is lower than average. AOD250 ran for 1 hour and 50 minutes on video playback battery drain test. Three cells battery are generally last 2 to 3 hours, while six cells are thicker and can last in the 5-hour range. But according to LaptopMag.com, the 3-cell battery achieved a runtime of 3 hours and 4 minutes, which is about 15 minutes longer than average.

Performance. PCMark05: 1,492; 3DMark03: 741. Both scores are about 100 points higher than average. (ASUS Eee PC 1008HA achieved PCMark05: 1,584.). Boot time: 49 seconds.

Software. 30-day trial of Microsoft Office 2007, Microsoft Works, Acer GameZone, Google Desktop, Carbonite Online Backup, a 60-day trial of McAfee Security Center, and Acer eRecovery Management application.

Color availability. Black, white, and red.

Price. US$298 at launch time.

SPECS. CPU: 1.66GHz Intel Atom N270; RAM: 1GB, 533 DDR2; HDD: 160GB 5,400rpm; OS: Windows XP Home SP3; Dimension (WxDxH): 10.17x7.24x1 inches; Weight: 2.2 pounds; Screen: 10.1 inches; Audio: stereo speakers, headphone/microphone jacks; Port/Slot: 3 USB 2.0; SD card reader; Connectivity: Ethernet, 802.11b/g Wi-Fi, Bluetooth; Webcam: 0.3 megapixel.

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Asus Eee PC 1005HA

The most amazing of the Asus Eee PC 1005HA is its six-cell battery life. According to battery test conducted by Cnet.com, the 1005HA got an impressive 6 hours and 51 minutes in video playback battery drain test.

Compared to its predecessor, the 1008HA with three-cell battery, the new model slightly thicker and heavier. There is a standard 160GB HDD inside and augmented by a free 10GB online data storage subscription for backing up files to a remote server.

The 10.1 inch LED display offers standard resolution for a mini-laptop, 1,024x600, but the higher-end systems are starting to add 1,366x768 display options. LED display uses less power than traditional LCD display.

The 1005HA offers a fairly standard set of ports and connections. With Intel N280 Atom processor, the performance is the same as the average current mini-laptops. For basic tasks such as word processing, web surfing, and e-mail, the Atom mini-laptops are more than adequate.

SPECS. CPU: 1.66GHz Intel Atom N280; RAM: 1GB, 533 DDR2; HDD: 160GB 5,400rpm; OS: Windows XP; Dimension (WxDxH): 10.3x7.1x(1.1-1.4) inches; Weight: 2.9 pounds; Screen: 10.1 inches; Audio: stereo speakers, headphone/microphone jacks; Port/Slot: 3 USB 2.0; SD card reader; Connectivity: Ethernet, 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth.

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By The End 2009, 33 Million Units Shipment of Mini-Laptop

According to study conducted by DisplaySearch, mini-laptop or netbook sales are growing very well. The sales are projected to account for 20% of all notebooks sold worldwide by the end of 2009. It is believed, the mini-laptop shipment will be 33 million units by the end of the year.

Because of the global economic recession lately, people prefer buy the less expensive mini-laptop. This is why the mini-laptop sales are increasing rapidly.

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BYON Chameleon N610 XPGA-A

BYON Chameleon N610 XPGA-A has some fatures that is superior compared to the other mini-laptops. It's price is the lowest than competitors, only Rp 3.8 million. What makes the Chameleon get Platinum Reward from InfoKomputer magazine? Here are some of them:

• Lowest price but with high storage capacity: 160GB; and 2GB DDR2 RAM
• Battery capacity is higher than its competitors, 4400 mAh
• It also features Bluetooth and dial-up modem
• With Intel Atom N270, the Chameleon combines good performance, features, and price.

Chameleon N610 XPGA-A run Windows XP Home Edition. Or you can also run FOS Recovery - a Linux based operating system (included in the package). The OS can be run on USB flash disk. In the package, you will also find Kapersky antivirus and Microsoft Works ("lite" version of Microsoft Office).

SPECS. Processor: Intel Atom N270 1.60GHz; RAM: DDR2 2GB; HDD: 160GB; Screen: 10.2 inch 102x768; Dimension: 25x18.2x(2.5-4.7) cm; Weight: 1.33 kg; Features: LAN, WiFi 802.11a/g, Bluetooth, card reader, 3 USB ports, webcam 1.3 megapixels, modem; OS: Windows XP Home.

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The Next Netbooks' Pocessor: Intel Atom N450

Intel has announced the successor of current Intel Atom N270 for mini-laptops or netbooks. Codenamed Pine Trail, the new processor, Intel Atom N450, will be more power efficient. Its speed also be increased, but as not high as we hope. Intel Atom N450 is single-core CPU and will be clocked at 1.66 GHz.

But many mini-laptop vendors are not so antusiast in responding to the announcement. It is due to the global recession, left many vendors with high inventory volumes. Mini-laptop demand in the first half of 2009 were far from many vendors expectations.

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