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.

Mini Notebook Pros

• 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!

• Heat – Moving parts create more heat that ones that don’t.  The typical hard drive has little platters inside that spin as data is written to the drive where as the SSD drive just writes the data in a similar way to a USB flash drive.  Needles to say the SSD provides very little heat compared to the typical drive.

• Size – When the mini notebooks first came out the SSD drives came in 2GB and 4GB sizes which were very small, but after a few months it became more common to see anywhere from 16GB – 32GB in size.  32GB is a great size for a small netbook, but if you decide to go with the typical hard drive you’ll jump all the way to a 160GB drive.  Make sure you take this into account when you are picking out your mini notebook.  If you plan on storing music or a lot of photos on your netbook then the typical hard drive might be a better choice.

• Power – This one is highly debated and I wouldn’t make your decision on which style drive you get based on the power consumption of each.  I’m calling this one a wash.  There have been tests that prove each is better.  I have bad both and didn’t’ notice any difference in the battery life.

• Cost – Another factor that comes up is cost when picking their hard drive style.  Again this one shouldn’t be a determining factor.  I haven’t seen any large differences in the cost between the SSD and standard hard drive.

The biggest factor here is how much disk space you need.  I personally went with the 160GB standard drive and after having it for 3 months I really was wishing I would of got the SSD drive instead.  I wasn’t using anywhere near the space and the heat actually bothered me quite a bit.   Check out any of your local Target, Best Buy or any other local electronics store and you should be able to feel the heat difference after using the mini notebook for a bit.

• Buy an external CD-ROM – An external CD-ROM drive is the exact same drive you would have in a desktop computer or regular laptop, but it’s put inside an external enclosure and connects to your mini computer with a USB cable.  They range in price from $30.00 – $60.00 depending on if you want it to play DVD’s, burn CD’s, etc.  It’s a small investment when you consider the convenience of having one, but along with that convenience comes the annoyance of having to carry around one more thing in your bag.  Remember we are going for portability here.  So what is your other option?

• USB Flash Drive – Now I know you are thinking; how is a flash drive going to play CD’s?  Well it’s obviously not going to, but it’s going to be an amazing substitute.  90% of the software you are going to install on your mini notebook will be downloaded from the internet.  Even Microsoft Office comes preinstalled; you just need to purchase the key.  The few times you need to install something from a CD what you can do is put the CD is any computer and plug in your flash drive, then copy the CD over quick.  Flash drives are very cheap and it can double as a backup drive.  I know it sounds like a lot of extra work, but it’s worth it to maintain the portability and save a few bucks.  In my case specifically I’m always around another computer the few times I’ve purchased something that has a CD to install so there is another computer that is very accessible.

You do always have the option of buying the external CD ROM drive and just leaving it at home because that’s when you’ll most likely need it.  That’s all there is to it!  Not having a CD ROM really isn’t that big of a problem.  It’s just something you need to be aware of so it doesn’t catch you off guard when you buy your first mini notebook.

9-inch Mini Notebook Pro’s

• Smaller – Making it much easier to throw in your bag and carry around.  1-inch doesn’t seem like a lot, but it’s 1-inch bigger, which gives a larger footprint and more weight to carry around.  If you are looking for the smallest possible netbook, then the 9-inch is for you.
• Cheaper – Since the introduction of so many new 10-inch netbooks the price in the 9 inch ones has dropped.

9-inch Mini Notebook Con’s

• Keyboard Size – The keyboard on the 9-inch mini notebooks is very hard to type on.  I purchased a 9-inch when they first came out and learned to deal with the very small keyboard.  It wasn’t until I typed on a 10-inch that I really say how nice it was.
• Screen Size – The resolution is the same on both the 9 and 10-inch mini notebook computers, but the extra inch really is nice when viewing things on the 10-inch.  For those of you who are curious about resolution here is a quick visual.  Both screen sizes have a 1024×600 resolution, but the 10-inch has the extra inch to show the same exact size, which means everything will be larger in size and easier to read.

10-inch Mini Notebook Pro’s

• Keyboard – Most 10-inch netbooks now have a 92% keyboard.  That means it’s only slightly smaller that your average laptop.  I want to say the 9-inch that I have has a 83% keyboard and it’s horrible to type on.  For reference I’m 5’7” and 150lbs so I’m not a big guy and the keyboard is cramped even for me.
• Screen Size – After owning and using both the 9 and 10-inch I can honestly say that the extra 1-inch really does make a difference in the screen size.

10-inch Mini Notebook Con’s

• Price – There isn’t much getting around it, you are going to pay more for the 10-inch.  If money is really tight this is a place to save some.
• A Little Larger – While still being extremely portable, the 10-inch is a little bigger and doesn’t quite fit in those amazingly small spaces like the 9-inch can.

Hopefully this gave you some good insight into the key differences between the 9 and 10-inch netbook.  It really comes down to preference and mine ended up being the 10-inch.  Mainly because of how much easier I could type on the keyboard.   All of the  mini laptops have positives and negatives you have to personally weigh out.

Image: http://www.zieak.com/

• Window XP – Higher cost and more susceptible to virus’s, but also more like what they’ll use when they get older.
• Linux – A Linux laptop is cheaper, simple, and has almost no chance of getting a virus, but most likely not the operating system they’ll use when they get older.

Overall netbooks are a great choice for a child’s first laptop.  Like any piece of electronics they do require a certain level of maturity to have and the exact age your child will be ready for one depends on several factors that are outside the scope of this article.  I would suggest one of the Asus netbooks for your child’s first laptop.  You can purchase them from many online retailers and even your local Target.  Otherwise a few companies like Dell offer the mini notebook in a variety of colors which the kids will love.