By Carl Laron on October 18, 2009 in
Lightweight and low priced, the netbook phenomenon shows few signs of ending anytime soon. Most netbooks can't really compete performance-wise with full-sized laptops -- even cheap laptops. But if you need an easy-to-tote companion for checking email, browsing the web or low-demand computing tasks like basic word processing, a netbook can deliver the goods.
Still, as our research discovers, some laptops are better choices -- and values -- than others. That includes subsidized netbooks, which offer a cheap upfront price with one hand and a costly long-term cell-phone service plan with the other. And what of Windows 7, and how will that affect netbook performance, and prices? For the lowdown on all that and more, see our just updated report on netbooks.