1. Cost – It’s at the top of everyones list when they look to purchase anything, not just a laptop. While price is often related to quality, some companies do offer superior products at a low cost, it’s just about putting in the time to find them. There average cost is around $250-$400 dollars.
2. OS – The operating system is almost as important as the hardware or brand that you choose. I won’t make you research or struggle through for this one. Get Windows XP. Windows Vista and Windows 7 look awesome, but require much better hardware to run efficiently. Windows XP does a great job and running quickly and without problem on these mini notebooks.
3. Processor – You don’t have a lot of choices when it comes to the processor on the mini notebook. You’ve got the tried and true Atom processor. Lately however the companies have been working on a new Atom processor called the Ion. If you can find a model with the new Ion processor it’s definitely worth spending a bit more to get it.
4. RAM – It’s best to get as much RAM as possible, especially with the decent decline in cost of RAM. Unfortunately most mini notebooks only allow for a maximum of 2GB’s of RAM so if you purchase a model with less, make sure you purchase some extra RAM and install it.
5. Hard Drive – You’ve got two choices for hard drives. A solid state drive or a standard laptop hard drive. You’re really looking at size versus durability. Pick the SSD if you want durability and pick the standard laptop hard drive if you need size.
6. Battery – All mini notebooks have a decent battery life, but some models, specifically the Asus 1005HA offer amazing battery life. Over 10 hours in fact. That lets you go almost an entire day before you need to search for a wall outlet to keep your laptop running.
7. Screen - You’ve got two big choices just like with the hard drive and it’s a pretty clear cut case. You’ve got a 9 and 10 inch screen to choose from. Go with the 10 inch screen. After owning both models it’s an easy choice, pick the 10 inch model.  It also might be worth looking into a touch tablet style screen.  Some of the newer Asus models have them and I was really impressed after using one.
8. Keyboard – The keyboard is directly attached to the screen size. The larger screen allows for a larger keyboard and the 10 inch keyboard is much better to type on than the 9 inch. The 10 inch screen and 10 inch keyboard go hand in hand in being to best choice for the ideal mini notebook.
9. Weight – Weight isn’t really a concern when choosing what mini notebook you want, mainly because they are all so small that they all fall into the light category. None of them exceed anywhere near 3 pounds.
10. Wireless – I don’t think you could find a mini notebook computer without wireless such as wifi, but I suppose they do exist. Instead look for the latest 802.11n models which offer a much faster and updated wireless experience compared to the now standard 802.11g which is what comes standard on most notebooks.

There you have it, ten tips to help you find the perfect mini notebook. If you find something that fits these requirements you’ll definitely be happy with your final purchase. Just remember to take your time and find the perfect model for you.

• Very Portable – Their small size makes mini notebooks very easy to carry around with you.
• Cost Effective – They are very cheap to purchase and the cost has been dropping even more with increased competition.
• Great Battery Life – Mini laptops have great battery life, my Asus mini notebook battery lasts over 5 hours.

Mini Notebook Cons

• No CD-ROM – I wrote a post talking about some solutions to this problem: Mini Notebooks Don’t Have CD-ROM’s.
• Small Keyboard – The keyboards are very small which makes typing semi long documents a pain.
• Multi-tasking – The processors in mini laptops aren’t as nice as what you’d find in a normal laptop so if you end up with to many windows open you’ll see an overall lag to the computer.
• Video Playback – Most videos playback just fine on my mini notebook, but it struggles a bit to play back full HD video.

This is just a few of the mini notebook pros and cons.  I personally think all of the cons can easily be overcome and the pros heavily outweigh any negatives.  After personally owning several different mini laptop computers I can say they’ve all been amazing and after having one I can’t imagine living life without one.

I’m also excited to finally post a mini notebook buyers guide that will help give a quick run down on the features that are important and also the places to get the best prices on them. This will be a page that I update quite a bit when I find a better deal on a particular mini laptop. I’m really hoping to get some of the users involved and have them post where they got their mini laptop and what where people are currently finding the best deals.

That’s all for now, keep an eye out for these updates just before Thanksgiving, just in time for the black Friday sales!