Group test: what's the best netbook?

The best netbook PCs you can buy

By PC Advisor staff | PC Advisor | 02 August 12

We review the best 5 netbooks you can buy in the UK right now.

5. Dell Latitude 2120

Reviewed on: 21 September 11
RRP: From £466 inc VAT and delivery
Rating:

Though available with a higher resolution screen than many netbooks, the Dell Latitude 2120 is still a netbook and suffers all the drawbacks of the breed's small size, while not offering the light weight and low cost that made netbooks popular in the first place. Look instead to Dell's own Vostro V131, Lenovo's X120e, or any of a myriad of other units that offer far more bang for the buck.

4. Acer Aspire One Happy 2

Reviewed on: 28 November 11
RRP: £229 inc. VAT
Rating:

The Acer Aspire One Happy 2 is a well built netbook with an eye pleasing design. It offers standard performance that is expected of a netbook and sells at an attractive price.

3. Samsung NS310

Reviewed on: 21 July 11
RRP: £279 inc VAT
Rating:

If you’re wedded to the notion of a small under-powered netbook, the Samsung NS310 offers all the usual features, but with glitzier casework and shorter battery life.

2. Kogan Agora PRO

Reviewed on: 15 July 11
RRP: £279 inc VAT
Rating:

This Kogan Agora PRO 'ultraportable' is basically a netbook – but a netbook with a difference. It looks smart, feels quite solid and runs the Ubuntu operating system with ease. Battery life really lets it down though. The Agora PRO has good storage, its 500GB hard disk significanty larger than any netbook and even many laptops. At its original advertised price of £229, it would be a bargain; but now it’s been raised to £289 it’s in the same territory as name-brand netbooks with decent battery life. Nevertheless, for its matt screen size with decent resolution, and its great ready-to-go Ubuntu operating system, it’s certainly worth tracking down.

1. Samsung NC110-AM4UK

Reviewed on: 14 September 11
RRP: £240 inc. VAT
Rating:

If you really don’t need to do more than send the odd email and browse the web while you’re on the move, and perhaps open an Office document from time to time, then the Samsung NC110-AM4UK could be the ideal option for you.

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Comments

Davey1000 said: These are not IMHO proper reviews they are just vague opinions Check out Cnets reviews for more in-depth details Allegedly the Toshiba with the AMD processor is the one to have and all for the price of the old BBC Micro that used a 6502 processor Moores Law rocks

Best Laptops 2012 said: I Have the Eee PC 1001HA It has 1GB of Ram and a 160GB HDD Hard drive In terms of style performance and sheer ability the Eee PC is untouchable Possibly the best on the market

Matt Egan said: Not a vibrant category is it Netbooks are good at being cheap and light laptops But they have never been good performers I must confess that mine sits on my desk unused most of the time and when I travel I use my tablet But for those who need a hardware keyboard a good netbook is not to be sniffed at

Andy_uk said: if these are the best five what are the worst

Matt Egan said: An interesting point well made I think its fair to say that a combination of Microsofts locking down of the spec and the rapid rise of mobile and tablet computing has rather taken the wind out of netbook sails and sales Netbooks arent bad but theyre not good at anything but being cheap If you need something small and connected a smartphone will tend to be better And a cheap 13in laptop is often better value I dare say that on some occasions a netbook is still best but I must confess its been a while since Ive wielded mine in anger

Dylan said: How are these the best five when the review slates all 5 machines reviewed Does this mean that there are no good netbooks out there at all

Datasman said: AlexThe answer is yes you can

Alex said: Hi does anyone know if you can use Microsoft office on a netbook please

mike said: how is this a review of the best available in march 2011 as claimed when it is an old review of old machines the only thing with any relevance to march 2011 is the claimed date

Erica Smith said: Hmmmm not sure about the Dell inclusion Mine was pretty good until the power cable slot virtually stopped connecting with the power cable Not an uncommon fault from what I can gather Hope its improved Otherwise helpful review

David Staples said: Price inflation is a common factor this month with the Dell going up by more than 30Surely DEflation is whats keeping Fed chairman Ben Bernanke awake at night How can inflation exist in our low inflation environment

Pete Johnson said: What about Acer Aspire One 533 with N550 processor 329 with 2yr warranty at John Lewis

Peter said: The best netbook is i would say LG x300 or x 120 They are the best ever I have both of them

poor article, guys said: I found this article really badHow can you not have included the Toshiba NB305-N410I mean its about the best in the market right now And price is great too

Datasman said: As I said earlier - some people are confusing best with newestI can read reviews of the latest products in a number of places but what matters most is objective judgements from reviewers I trust I repeat - I found the article helpful and have since bought one of the machines mentioned

Matt Egan - PC Advisor said: Oh and for the record this article and our Top 5 Netbooks chart has been updated twice since Louises comments

Matt Egan - PC Advisor said: Okay we really have no intention to mislead On the contrary were trying to give the best buying advice which doesnt always mean giving prominence to the newest products What should we change our subhead to

VINBAR said: Sorry guys but Louise does have a point The article is entitled The best net books you can buy- so as a new buyer I expected to be given bang up to date information including latest model reviews If this was about cheapestbargain net books then that would be a different article but thats not what the reader was told Im now left still looking for a best buy review that includes the latest models

Datasman said: Louise obviously has trouble distinguishing between the words best and newest and probably wasted more of her time taking a cheap crack at the article than she did reading itI thought the piece was well-researched and well written - just the kind of thing a potential buyer like me needs Many thanks for an informative read

PC Advisor said: Wow No-one could accuse you of not caring Louise For the record not putting a product in the Top 5 does not mean that we havent heard of it PC Advisor chooses which products to recommend on the basis of performance and price in the case of netbooks this means that in our view the most recentexpensive model is not necessarily the best We are of course aware of the Samsung N220 et al but if you should around you will find the N110 for much less than its RRP Given the relatively small spec differential we think that makes it a better deal Sorry you think you wasted your time you may not agree with our editorial judgment but be assured it is not poor research or lack of care

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