Asus' Eee PCs
As the first netbooks, Asus' Eee PCs tend to be the standard by which others are judged. Much like any conversation about The Dark Knight results in a chorus of "Heath Ledger should win a posthumous Academy Award," any review of a modern netbook invariably mentions the Eee PC.

The original Eee PC (now called the Surf or 700 series) may have fathered the netbook class, but this first effort tends to be divisive. The seven-inch screen's resolution is oftentimes too low, and the Chiclet-sized keys are extraordinarily impractical for proper typing. There was a lot to be said for the concept, though, and the Eee PC line as a whole has matured into the 900 and 1000 series, which feature larger screens and improved keyboards while maintaining the performance and in some cases increasing the battery life of their predecessors.

Unfortunately, I have to use the word "series" to describe many of these Eee PC offshoots. Despite the brand only appearing about a year ago, Asus has already swamped the market with Eee PCs whose similar model designations can often be confusing. Can you name the difference between the 1000H and 1000HD without checking the last page? Didn't think so. Making any sense of the Eee PC lineup shouldn't be so difficult, and since other manufacturers typically only offer one or two models, they don't have the same problem. The Eee PC lineup is further complicated by color options, where one 1000 model may only be available in black or white while another may be available in pastels.

The merciful solution lies in the numerical designators for each series: the 700 series features a 7-inch screen, the 900 series features a larger 8.9-inch screen, and the 1000 series moves up to a 10.2-incher. Even then, though, the 900 and the 901 are entirely different designs, as we noted in our review of the 901.

You can further slim down the Eee PC line by ignoring anything with a Celeron processor—the Atom is here, and while it doesn't feel any snappier than a Celeron, it does consume less power. The shakier seven-inch models are fading into obscurity in favor of larger, more functional designs, as well.

Eee PCs are generally well-built, with all the features one might want in a netbook. But they also boast one of the more awkward keyboard quirks we've seen, putting the up arrow key right where touch-typists would expect to find the right shift key. This curious positioning yields a normal directional pad, but the relocated right shift key gives at least one TR editor fits.

Still, the Eee PC remains the netbook to beat. We're particularly fond of the 1000H for its roomy keyboard, standard 2.5" hard drive, and 6-cell battery. In fact, our own Scott Wasson just bought one for himself.

Acer's Aspire One
Acer's recent entrant into the netbook market, the Aspire One, has been turning heads for good reason: it sports a remarkably stylish chassis and an aggressive price tag that plants it squarely in competition with older seven-inch Eee PCs. The One has also been widely available for some time, and it recently received a generous price cut.

Acer's netbook features the same basic connectivity options and features as its peers, and you can get it with Windows or Linux. The system uniquely features a pair of SDHC slots. While one of these functions as a basic SDHC reader, the other adds the capacity of inserted cards to the system's main storage volume. Despite the limited capacity of 8GB SSD-based One models, the additional SDHC slot allows users to add storage easily and inexpensively.

Acer also offers an Aspire One model that employs a more spacious 120GB mechanical hard drive. This version comes with Windows, making for a more flexible system overall—And one without any keyboard quirks to speak of aside from relatively small keys.

The Aspire One is a solid contender for the netbook crown, particularly because versions can be found online for as little as $325.