Heat
After playing a Hulu video at full screen for 15 minutes, the touchpad on the 532h VGP-BPS22A registered 92 degrees Fahrenheit, the space between the G and H keys was 91 degrees, and the middle of the underside reached 97 degrees. While we VGP-BPS13 don’t consider any this heat to be troublesome, the temperature of 110 degrees in the left front corner was a cause for concern.

Design
The 532h is a bit of a departure from Acer’s previous 10.1-inch netbooks, the Aspire One D150 and D250. In fact, it looks more VGP-BPS9/S like Acer’s 11.6-inch netbook, the Aspire One 751h. Instead of a solid color, the lid of the Onyx Blue 532h fades from a dark metallic blue to black. VGP-BPS13A/B Other color options included Garnet Red and Silver Matrix. This treatment makes the netbook look much more refined. However, the glossy VGP-BPS13A/S finish, which is also found beneath the keyboard, picks up fingerprints quickly. There’s now a lot less room at the top of the deck; the keyboard is shoved right up to the top, and the power button is crammed in VGP-BPS9A/B by the left hinge.

If you're going to shell out $399 for a netbook, it has to VGP-BPS9 be special. The Samsung NF310 makes the case for its premium price with a futuristic-chic design, a dual-core Atom processor, and a high-resolution display (1366 x 768) for a 10-inch screen. While this mini laptop doesn't offer the longest battery life, it's VGP-BPS9/B an excellent choice.

Design
The NF310 is a bold departure from your traditional netbook. With the charcoal gray lid VGP-BPS22 closed, you can see the outline of a wave along the sides. Once open, the curve creates a shallow well on the silver deck where the keyboard sits. VGP-BPS8 This bump makes the 1.2-inch thick system a little bulky, but the rounded corners and tapered edges help give the NF310 an air of sleekness. The chunkier back half and slightly jutting battery make the 2.8-pound netbook comfortable to carry one-VGP-BPS8A handed.

The lid gives off a metallic impression, but the plastic coating collects smudges easily and leaves VGP-BPS2 it looking messy. We wish Samsung would offer more color options. Underneath the lid, a glossy plastic bezel with a dotted pattern surrounds the VGP-BPS2A display. The pattern is cool, but the bezel is a bit larger than we'd like.

Keyboard and Touchpad
Instead of a traditional keyboard as on its older netbooks, the 532h has Acer’s FineTip keyboard, which is completely VGP-BPS2B flat on top, and has a slight space between each key. Also, it’s larger than when compared to older netbooks: whereas on the D250 there was approximately half an VGP-BPS2C inch of space on either side of the keyboard, on the 532h there’s less than a quarter of an inch unused. While it looks identical to the layout on the VGP-BPS13A/Q 11.6-inch 751h, the 532’s keyboard is smaller and the keys have a shallow pitch to them, which made typing somewhat more difficult. We much prefer the keyboards on the ASUS Eee PC 1005PE-P (Seashell) and the Toshiba mini NB305, VGP-BPS13A/B which have island-style layouts and more space between the keys.

We’re also pleased to see that the touchpad on the 532h is much larger than on previous VGP-BPS13/B Acer netbooks. At 2.6 x 1.4 inches, it’s positively spacious compared to the previous generation—though still not as large as that on the VGP-BPS13B/B Toshiba mini NB305. The multitouch-enabled touchpad is covered with a number of tiny dots that distinguish it from the glossy deck, making it practically friction-free. While we wish the metallic blue mouse button beneath was split into two, it’s sufficiently VGP-BPS13B/Q large and has a nice response.

Student-focused mini laptops are what started the netbook category back in 2007. The dream VGP-BPS13/Q of low-cost, durable machines for kids in the U.S. as well as emerging markets isn't dead, and HP's newest offering embodies both goals. The VGP-BPS21A/B sub-$300 HP Mini 100e won't be available to consumers in the U.S., only to school systems, but for those lucky students it offers decent performance and long battery life for a good price. Is it a better choice than other student-focused offerings VGP-BPS21/S or inexpensive mass-market models?

Design
This 10.9 x 9.9 x 1.6-inch, 3.4-pound unit is thicker and heavier than the average netbook, VGP-BPS21 though sleek and slim isn't necessarily a virtue in the student-focused netbook arena. The overall design employs rounded curves and a durable, VGP-BPS21A white matte plastic chassis. The lid is plain except for a small, tasteful HP logo and a small LED light near the top that activates when the system is connected to the Internet; this feature helps teachers monitor network usage. Even though it is thick, the 100e VGP-BPS21B doesn't feel bulky or look clunky. HP achieves an attractive and elegant (if plain) aura.

Keyboard and Touchpad
The island-style keys are a good size and should be comfortable for both students good battery and their parents. HP kept the keyboard as similar as possible to traditional netbooks, including key placement along the edges. The Shift, ALT, dell akku CTRL, and Fn keys are all in their normal positions, so kids learning to type won't have to make any strange adjustments when they move to full-size keyboards. We appreciated the small LEDs embedded in the Caps Lock, F11/Volume Mute, and F12/Wi-Fi keys acer akku that indicate when they're active.

Our only issue with the keys is that they sometimes required more deliberate taps apple akku than touch typists are used to. Every now and then a letter or two was dropped while typing at our normal rate. However, this would likely be beneficial to ibm akku students learning to type, as it would encourage accuracy before speed.

The roomy 2.5 x 1.5-inch touchpad employs raised dots reminiscent of ASUS Eee PC Seashell models to help with tracking. hp akku But the surface on the 100e is softer, so while the effect is the same, the tactile sensation isn't as harsh as on the Eee PC. The two discrete mouse sony akku buttons along the bottom could be bigger but are about the right size for small fingers, and they offered snappy return.

What's more important is how well it can stand asus akku up to rigorous use and abuse by kids who perhaps haven't yet learned how to take care of expensive electronics. To that end, HP has included some features to mitigate damage, such as a spill-resistant keyboard and a large carrying handle to lower the risk of dropping it. fujitsu akku Other options include a hard drive accelerometer, which will park the needle if it senses a sudden toshiba akku tumble.

Though the netbook does exude sturdiness, we prefer the overall design of the extra-kid proof acer laptop akku CTL 2go Convertible Classmate PC NL2. The CTL 2go netbook includes rubberized coating on the outside, reinforced edges, a scratch-apple laptop akku resistant display, and an anti-microbial coating on the keyboard and touchpad.

Heat
One benefit of the Atom processor inside the 100e is that it keeps temperatures down. To test this, we played a Hulu clip at imb laptop akku full screen for 15 minutes, then measured three key areas of the netbook. The touchpad reached only 75 degrees Fahrenheit, the space between the G and H hp laptop akku keys measured 84 degrees F, and the middle of the underside stayed a relatively cool 89 degrees. Each of these is at or below the acceptable temperature sony laptop akku zone, so parents won't have to worry about letting kids use these netbooks on their laps for long periods.

Ports and Webcam
Most of the ports found on the 100e are typical for any netbook--VGA, Ethernet, memory card, headphone, and mic--with two asus laptop akku notable differences. First, there are only two USB 2.0 ports, while most systems have three. It leaves room for what many would consider an anachronistic fujitsu laptop akku addition: a modem port. HP included this port for students who may not have Internet or high-speed broadband access at home. This toshiba laptop akku way, they can still connect via a dial-up ISP, or dial in to the school's servers to download assignments. The 100e also includes a lock slot so they can be kept secure in the classroom dell laptop akku environment.

The integrated VGA webcam produced decent images, but they tended to be dark in rooms acer notebook akku with bright fluorescent lights overhead. It captures colors fairly well when the backlight doesn't overwhelm, and we had to move pretty quickly apple notebook akku to start seeing blurriness in video. However, we wish that the 100e employed a swivel for the webcam similar to the CTL 2go PC NL2 so that students had a wider range of shots available to ibm notebook akku them.

The Mini 100e's 10.1-inch, 1024 x 600 matte display has extremely wide horizontal and vertical hp notebook akku viewing angles, so a small group of students should be able to share a screen without encountering distortion or obfuscation. The netbook sony notebook akku handled a 720p trailer for "The Discoverers" without dropping frames. Not only are colors nice and deep, but the netbook handled languid motion and transitions from light to dark asus notebook akku well.

The audio quality isn't powerful, but given the small speakers on the front edge of the system, this is fujitsu notebook akku no surprise. While watching an episode of "The Closer" on TNT.tv (where the audio tends to be softer, just as with Hulu) we had to toshiba notebook akku turn the volume up to 100 percent and still had a hard time hearing softer scenes over the air conditioner on low in the background.

Like other netbook makers, Acer is refreshing its line with the new Intel Atom N450 processor (Pine Trail), which promises dell notebook akku similar performance but greater endurance. Also like its competitors, Acer has tweaked the design, adding a keyboard with the same style as its larger acer battery notebooks and trimming down the chassis. But most significantly, it’s also trimmed the price: though our review model came in at $349, the apple battery Aspire One 532h starts at $299, a hundred bucks less than competing brands. But does price trump all, even in the commodified netbook market?

Like the Toshiba mini NB305-N410, Acer saw fit to change the design of the six-cell battery on the 532h. No longer does it jut ibm battery out the back; it’s now tucked in underneath, shaving three quarters of an inch off the footprint. The area beneath the display and between the hinges has a hp battery sharp edge as opposed to the smoother curves of the D250. At 10.2 x 7.3 x 1.0 inches and 2.8 pounds, the 532h is about the same size, shape, and weight sony battery as most 10-inch netbooks.