As with its competitors, Dell’s Inspiron Mini 9 is fitted with Intel’s Atom N270 chip. This pint-sized processor has a surprising amount of muscle. Partnered with 1GB of RAM, it gallops through everyday tasks such as email and the web and uses programs such as Microsoft Office. If you’re in the market for a netbook, the Inspiron Mini should be near the top of your list.

A few weeks ago, I reviewed the Acer Aspire One notebook, the variant which came with an Acer-modified version of Linpus Linux. A few days ago, however, I realised Linux wouldn’t be ideal for me on my netbook. Due to pragmatic reasons, I’m now running Windows XP.

To sum up the Acer Aspire One: this is what notebooks should have always been like. Small, portable, light, fast, and cheap. For just EUR 299, you are getting a proper netbook, with all the functionality of its big brothers and sisters. Maybe not as full-featured as the MSI Wind, and not as hyped as the eeePC, but still the better choice.

The Linux version of the Aspire One is easy to use and has a solid-state drive, but the Windows XP version has better memory and storage capacity for only $100 more. Furthermore, Acer will also release versions with built-in 3G modules. It’s really a case of waiting for the new versions to arrive, unless the portability and ease of use of this unit catches your fancy.