HP Mini 5101 FM978UT

Great construction quality and a tough metal housing help the 10.1-inch HP Mini 5101 netbook withstand the rigors of travel better than most other netbooks, experts say. Several versions of this netbook are available, but reviewers prefer the FM978UT, which includes a six-cell battery that can keep on going for up to eight hours between charges. A version with a less robust three-cell battery -- the FM955UT (*Est. $400) -- is also available. Features are typical for top netbooks -- including an Intel Atom N280 processor, 160 GB hard drive and 1 GB of RAM -- but the Mini 5101's Wireless-N radio delivers faster throughput than Wireless-G rivals, including the Toshiba mini NB205-N310 (*Est. $400), though the Toshiba laptop offers better battery life and a slightly nicer keyboard and touchpad. For an added cost, you can upgrade the HP Mini 5101 to 2 GB of memory, a hard drive up to 320 GB, a 128 GB solid-state drive and built-in wireless broadband -- even a high-def screen -- though doing so can also push the total cost past $600.

Laptop Magazine, PCMag.com and CNET conduct complete tests of the HP Mini 5101 and rate it alongside other netbooks. Wi-FiPlanet.com doesn't rank netbooks against each other, but its tests are just as good. The report at About.com compares features, but does not appear to be testing based. User feedback on the HP Mini 5101 is limited, but Amazon.com does list a few owner reviews.