Eee PC supertest: which netbook is best?

Call them sub-notebooks, netbooks, Mobile Internet Devices (if you're Intel); call them what you want.

What you simply must do though, is see these wonderful compact, yet versatile devices in action - they're incredible. Don't worry if you're feeling a little left behind though - the second wave of ultra-affordable machines is on its way.

Asus is no longer the sole purveyor of these ultra-portable marvels, and with the likes of Acer, MSI and HP wading into these bountiful waters, you can expect things to liven up pretty quickly here.

Take the Acer Aspire One for instance, a machine that boasts the same core specification of the latest Eee PC, the 901, but at the same price tag as the original 701.

Meanwhile HP has entered the fray with its 2133 Mini-Note, a stylish machine that boasts a quality specification. MSI's Wind meanwhile offers a bigger screen than its rivals, and a tad more space for the keyboard too.

Core to this latest slew of machines is Intel's recently released Atom processor - a price- and power-conscious CPU that has been built with these very machines in mind.

How do these devices stack up against each other and to the original Eee PC? It's time to find out...

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There are plenty of ways to use these machines, and it could well be that your primary intention is to only ever take your sub-notebook of choice for a tour round your home.

Even there though, battery life is important, as you're not always going to want to be anchored to a power point.

And of course the value of battery life increases the further you plan on travelling with it, peaking at those long journeys where you demand entertainment en-route.

The core specification for each of these machines is defined by power efficiency, but this is offset by the space available for the batteries. This is why so many of the base models boast a relatively modest 2200mAh 3 cell battery pack as standard.

A 6 cell pack is worth investing in as you buy though, and will extend the usefulness of the machines linearly - they'll last twice as long.

In real terms, how much you get out of each machine is defined by what you are actually doing with it. Playing videos while typing the odd note will net a little over an hour and a half out of the MSI's, HP's and Acer's 3 cell battery but whole lot more from the Eee PC 901.

This is because Asus has supplied our test machine with a 6600mAh battery pack, which clocked in five hours of continued use.

More realistic use, with screen brightness turned down, and simple typing and sporadic surfing, will more than double these times.

If you're looking for a commuting companion though, it's hard to knock the Eee PC 901's raw off the shelf stamina.

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Operating Systems

As an advertisement for Linux, this latest slew of sub-notebooks has done a sterling job, proving that genuinely useful and usable applications can be squeezed into a tiny space and don't need a huge corporate behind them to make sure that they work.

At the same time though, these machines do highlight some failings of Linux, such as their ability to competently handle NTFS drives (as used in Windows XP and Vista among others) and how difficult it can be install new applications.

MSI's decision to release its Windows XP machine first is a brave one, but makes sense given the inclusion of a large hard drive (as opposed to a SSD).