Netbooks

Eee PC/Netbooks

The promise: In case you've been living under a rock for the last year, the Eee PC kick-started a frenzy of small laptops designed with basic Web browsing and little else in mind. The cheap tiny computers -- part of a growing category called "Net Books" -- are designed with simplicity and basic tasks in mind and received a nice boost from geeky consumers eager to see anything with Linux installed on it succeed in the market place. eeePC-like competitors are now coming out from Acer, Dell, Everex, and others.

Why it's overrated: It's too slow for most computing task beyond e-mailing and word-processing. The original Eee, which came out earlier this year, featured a painfully slow, Celeron processor from Intel from 2004, but Asus still charged the unsuspecting public a $299 minimum for the luxury of using it. Even newer versions with the much-hyped Atom chip inside haven't greatly improved performance, and battery life is still nowhere near the "all day" operation promised. Most clock in with an average of three hours, less than many full-featured laptops.

To make matters worse, newer Netbooks have completely turned their backs on their Linus-based roots. Windows XP is becoming an increasingly popular option to Linux, even though XP-based netbooks tend to run significantly slower, and prices on these mini laptops have skyrocketed. The HP Mini-Note starts at $500 and the newest Eees weigh in at up to $600. Better equipped full-sized notebooks like the Dell Inspiron 1525 can be had for the same price.

Bottom line: If prices come down and battery life gets longer, netbooks may turn out to be a decent proposition, but until then, you're just paying good money for old software on old hardware.