There's hope, however. In the October issue of PC Authority we have tested 25 of the current crop of affordable netbooks, and several dare to plumb such bargain-priced depths: Kogan's Agora, for example.
Kogan's attempt, though, hamstrung by naff ergonomics and crippled by mediocre battery life, proves that Asus' success is no mean feat. With the netbook pioneer still leading the charge for new form factors and new designs, we can only hope that it won't be long before other brands follow suit.
It isn't that the new premium breed of netbook doesn't have its benefits. Looks, for one, have improved dramatically in the upper echelons of netbook society. Take Asus' Eee PC 1008HA, for example. Its figure pays testament to some MacBook Air-esque compromises - its captive battery earns it a glaring minus point - but, again, just like Apple's ultraportable curio, it bolsters its appeal thanks to an enviably lithe set of curves. Stop salivating long enough to catch a glimpse of the price tag, however, and no matter how many things it does right, there's little question that it's overpriced.
 |
| The Asus Eee PC 1008HA: proof that netbooks don't have to look dumpy |
That may put off a few potential admirers, but if the future of netbooks is more slick ultraportable than dumpy speak'n'spell, you certainly won't find anybody at PC Authority complaining.
And particularly not as it's brought us a netbook that improves on our favourite netbook of all time, the much-vaunted Samsung NC10. Evolution brings us the Samsung N110, a model that takes what its predecessor did well and does it better. Build quality, looks, display quality and even the speakers are all impressive. And 11 hours away from the mains gets a hearty thumbs up, too.
Even with the 25 netbooks we've tested, there were yet more that didn't make it to the labs on time. Acer has just announced the relaunch of the Gateway brand in Australia, and the Gateway LT netbook looks set to shake things up a little. We'll review one as soon as we can get our hands on it, to see how it compares with the winners in this month's labs. We also asked for, but didn't receive, netbooks from Fujitsu and Gigabyte - if they arrive, we'll test them too.
So, while we'd love to see a return to the netbook's original promise of ultra-cheap portable computing for all, we're cautiously optimistic. The new breed delivers better features, build and battery life - and with all that coming in a sleeker, sexier package, netbooks are on the up.