Top 5 Netbooks 2012

1. Disk Drive: A desktop computer's hard drive has many moving parts. This isn't great for netbooks as these drives tend to break when you drop them. The best solution for a netbook is a solid state drive like the ones you get in a usb pen drive.

2. Memory: Get a netbook with at least 1 Gig of RAM memory.

3. CPU: The most popular chip for netbooks is currently Intel's 1.6 GHz Atom chip. These Intel netbook chips consume far less electricity than the chips they use in laptops.

4. megabit Lan and Wi-Fi are standard with most netbooks. With newer mini laptops you should get LAN, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

5. Ports: A netbook should have 2 or more USB ports and a VGA port to connect it to an alternative screen.

6. Operating System: You get netbooks with Windows XP or Windows 7. Vista was never very good with netbooks as it's a little too resource hungry. With the newer netbooks I recommend going with Windows 7.

7. Battery Life: With their small screens and more energy efficient chips netbooks' batteries tend to last longer between recharges than those of laptops. Make sure your netbook can last at least 3 hours between charges.

8. Size and button spacing of the keyboard: A standard netbook keyboard is about 80% the size of a laptop keyboard. That can make it a little awkward for some. If you have large hands have a close look at the keyboard size and spacing of the netbook you end up buying.

9. Weight and size: Both of these vary quite a bit between models. Weight tends to be between 2 and 4 pounds. When buying remember that you will be carrying this device around with you.

Vital Statistics:
Processor -- Intel Atom N570 Dual Core Processor 1.66Ghz
Hard drive -- 250GB SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM) + 500GB Free Web Storage
Memory -- 1GB, 800 MHz DDR2
Chipset -- Intel GMA 3150
Operating System -- Windows 7 Starter
Graphics -- Mobile Intel GMA 3150 (integrated)
Dimensions (WD) -- 10.3 x 7.0 inches
Height -- 1.0 - 1.4 inches
System weight -- 2.76 pounds
Screen size (diagonal) -- 10.1 inches

ASUS has been the company at the head of netbook development from it's very beginning. As the company credited with practically inventing the netbook it's no surprise that Asus currently makes the best selling mini notebook around. Their netbook has become so popular because they combine low (but not the lowest) prices with great battery life and good overall design.

The ASUS uses the newest Intel netbook chipt the Atom N450 replacing the older N280. In different test it either performed somewhat better or the same as the old chip. What's really impressive about the new chip is how much less power it uses than the older one. That means you can use your netbook for longer periods without recharging it. On average the speed improvement is around 10%.

Being a very compact device this netbook only has 250 GB of disk space and you can't upgrade that. So ASUS gives you an additional 500 GB of online storage included in the deal. This makes sense for storing files that you don't use regularly. 250 GB is quite a bit I don't use all of that, so I use the online storage to backup my files.

These netbooks come with a number of applications installed on them. You should uninstall any of those applications that you don't intend to use. Netbooks have limited system resources and you can't afford to waste them.

Processor -- 1.83GHz Intel Atom N455
Hard drive -- 250GB 5,400rpm
Memory -- 1GB 200-Pin DDR2 SO-DIMM Memory
Operating System -- Windows 7 Starter
Graphics -- Intel Graphics Media Accelerator GMA3150
Dimensions (WD) -- 8.3 x 10.4 x 1.3 inches
Weight -- 2.9 pounds
Screen size (diagonal) -- 10.1 inches

Initially the Mini had issues with the battery sticking out of the netbook. This problem has however now been resolved.

There are a number of hardware similarities between the Toshiba Mini and the ASUS the CPU, GPU and RAM memory is essentially the same.

The biggest difference is that the Mini is around $50 cheaper. The Toshiba has a similar sized 250 GB hard drive, but you don't get the online storage. Much of a netbooks weight comes from the battery. The Toshiba mini is lighter with a smaller battery, that carries a charge for 8 hours 20 minutes compared to the ASUS's 10 hours.

The Toshiba's dependability has push it to the top of every top 10 netbooks 2012 list out there.