Since the release of the Eee PC 701, the 'Notebook' has dominated. Easy to use, cheap and able to be left on the coffee table next to the remote, Notebooks are true appliance computing. The choice of which one to buy comes down to personal preference, but it's hard not to prefer those with the best usability. Our rundown of your options covers their performance, battery life, and design.

The HP Mini 1001TU lid has a silver spiraling pattern across the piano black surface, making it the most attractive netbook we’ve seen.

The HP Mini 2140 injects a little prestige back into netbooks, blending style with decent performance and respectable specs.

This attractive netbook is not only stylish, but extremely good value for money at $589 (US$407) including a generous 6-cell battery and LED screen.