Purchase Lenovo Ideapad S10 10.2-Inch Netbook (1.6 GHz Intel Atom N270 Processor, 1 GB RAM, 160 GB Hard Drive, XP Home) White

I had an HP ZD8000 laptop that I suffered through for 3 Years. It was everything the Lenovo isn't. The HP was big, Heavy, noisy, hot to the touch, hard on the eyes, and unreliable. After the HP developed the "jailhouse bars" vertical lines on it's display and HP customer service blew it off, it was time to look for something better. Firstly NO HP PRODUCT, EVER.

The Lenovo came the closest to what I wanted. The 10 inch display is more usable than the dim fuzzy 17 incher on the HP. The keyboard is very comfortable for long sessions.

The S10 weighs in around 3 pounds. The 3 cell battery handles my portable needs. For the semifixed needs a Targus AC/DC/car power converter does the trick. The Targus powers it in the car, where I mate the S10 with a Delorme USB GPS receiver and navigate with Street Atlas.

My main use is genealogy. The S10 runs all the programs just fine. The Master Genealogist requires setting the display for more pixels than it has and bumping up and down with the cursor.

Scanning is with a Canon LIDE 35 (replaced by LIDE 100) which weighs 3.5 lbs and is a little bigger than the S10. It powers over the USB. It scans pictures and documents. It lives in the bag with the S10.

Printing is with an ancient Canon BJC-80. It is small enough to take along, when needed.

Windows XP is a real plus. I fought with Vista on my wife's new Toshiba laptop. Windows 7 will no doubt be worse. XP rules!

Broadband connection is by an ATT Ultra Express modem. A USB modem would probably be the way to go today.

I have used the S10 for close to 2 years. The new smart books might replace it. The S10 and a cell phone are more user friendly.

The S10 and scanner take up less room and weigh less than the HP 17 inch by itself. It goes everywhere. A real portable office.

The only improvement that would make the S10 better is lower cost. It is already a bargain.Get more detail about Lenovo Ideapad S10 10.2-Inch Netbook (1.6 GHz Intel Atom N270 Processor, 1 GB RAM, 160 GB Hard Drive, XP Home) White.

Samsung NC10-14GW 10.2-Inch Netbook (1.6 GHz Intel Atom Processor, 1 GB RAM, 160 GB Hard Drive, 6 Cell Battery, XP Home) White Buy Now

I got this almost a year ago, use it only on my home wireless network, and have had no real problems. A few minor issues were resolved by googling, reading the forums at [...], and just getting reacquainted with my router. From others' experiences, I guess I'm lucky not to need Samsung support.Get more detail about Samsung NC10-14GW 10.2-Inch Netbook (1.6 GHz Intel Atom Processor, 1 GB RAM, 160 GB Hard Drive, 6 Cell Battery, XP Home) White.

Buy Samsung NC10-14GW 10.2-Inch Netbook (1.6 GHz Intel Atom Processor, 1 GB RAM, 160 GB Hard Drive, 6 Cell Battery, XP Home) White

After doing my online research, I determined this is what I wanted based on reports and reviews. It was on a bit of a sale when I bought it, so that didn't hurt either.

I use this netbook as my primary work computer as a software engineer. It gets a lot of daily use, including typing and internet browsing (man pages aren't for me).

Pros:

* Great battery life. I've had it report up to 10 hours remaining at times, although it was with networking off and screen dimmed. With screen at max, on network, I can reliably get 5 hours.

* Nice screen. Even at minimum brightness, if you're not in sunlight, you can easily see and read the screen.

* Resolution. 1024x600 gives you a pretty good view of most web sites. It's even enough to play your favorite video games like starcraft, diablo, etc...

* 93% keyboard. Apparently that's how big the keyboard is compared to a standard one. It's not too bad to type on. I use it for 8 hours a day, every day, and haven't encountered any more typos than usual.

* SD card reader. This is a nice addition, I always have an SD card for quick little backups.

* Blue. It's a really nice color.

Cons:

* Cramped keyboard = bad shortcuts. Unfortunately for me, I use the home/end keys literally hundreds of times a day. These keys are situated on the arrow keys, requiring me to press Fn+Up to go home. When I want to highlight an entire line of text (Fn+Shift+Up), it's pretty inconvenient. Most people don't even know where their home key is though, so it depends on how you'd be using it how this would affect you.

* Ubuntu Karmic Koala. I have this installed, and in order to use some functions (such as adjusting screen brightness), it was necessary for me to flash my BIOS. This may or may not bother you.

Get more detail about Samsung NC10-14GW 10.2-Inch Netbook (1.6 GHz Intel Atom Processor, 1 GB RAM, 160 GB Hard Drive, 6 Cell Battery, XP Home) White.