Acer's Aspire One was among the first few netbooks to be released in the UK, and it has since gone on to become the UK's best-selling netbook. It is now joined by the larger Aspire One D150 with a 10.1-inch Super-TFT screen with a 1024 x 600-pixel resolution backed with an Intel Atom and an Intel GMA950 integrated graphics card making images are sharp and clear.

The compact chassis is constructed from plastic and designed to look like brushed aluminium. The keyboard has benefited from being upscaled, and is fantastic to type on. The keys feel solid under the fingers and we found typing to be as intuitive as on a full-sized keyboard.

The touchpad is disappointingly small and slightly unreactive. Fortunately, Acer has altered the layout of the mouse buttons from the previous model. Instead of being positioned either side of the touchpad, they have been moved below it. However, on our review model they were a little stiff and required quite a bit of force to register a click.

Improved battery

Our review sample featured the optional 6-cell battery, which resulted in an overall weight of 1.3kg. The battery life of 408 minutes is significantly longer than the standard issue 3-cell battery. However, if mobility is a key factor, the extra £80 that the battery costs will be cash well spent.

The Intel Atom N270 processor and GMA 950 graphics card are staples of the netbook world, and with Windows XP in place, performance is good. The 160GB hard drive also provides plenty of storage space for music and video, so you need never be bored on the train again.

The 10/100 Ethernet port and 802.11n Wi-Fi are fairly standard, so getting connected is easy. The three USB ports also mean you can easily connect a range of peripherals to enhance usability.

Overall, the Acer Aspire One D150 is a very nice piece of kit. The screen size and great keyboard have benefited usability, resulting in a well-rounded netbook to satisfy most demands.