There's no doubt that netbooks and ultraportables have become hot property in the laptop market over the past couple of years. They are small, light and great for accessing your web and emails on the go, so you're more than likely considering purchasing one right now.
There's plenty to choose from but before you open your wallet, check out our list of the nine most hotly anticipated netbooks and ultraportable PCs, all of which are set to go on sale later this year. It may make you consider waiting just a bit longer before taking the plunge.
MSI Wind U115
Price: Less than $US700
Release date: Unknown
OS: Windows XP or Vista Basic
Screen size: 10in
Weight: Just over 1kg
Why you'll love it: The MSI Wind U115 is touted as the world's first hybrid-storage laptop. It comes with a 160GB hard disk but also includes a solid-state drive (8GB or possibly 16GB) to run the operating system and programs.
An SSD is more durable and faster than a standard hard drive; it also uses less laptop battery power, keeping your system running longer between recharges. When you're on the go, just switch off the power-sucking disk-based drive, and you'll still have access to your computer's normal functions.
MSI says the machine will last from 12 to 20 hours with a six- or nine-cell battery, respectively. Intel's Atom Z530 1.6GHz processor powers the U115; the system also supports up to 2GB of RAM and has three USB ports, a webcam, two-channel stereo speakers, a microphone, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and a four-in-one card reader (SD Card, MultiMediaCard, Memory Stick, and Memory Stick Pro).
Asus Eee Keyboard PC
Price: Rumoured to be $400 to $600
Release date: Summer 2009
OS: Windows XP Home Edition
Screen size: 5in
Weight: Under 1Kg
Why you'll love it: Asus takes the all-in-one concept literally with an entire computer packed into a wireless keyboard. A Commodore 64 it's not though: the Eee Keyboard PC comes with a 5.5in touchscreen with 800x480 resolution on the right side.
The Keyboard PC packs in an Intel Atom N270 1.6GHz processor, 1GB of RAM, 16GB or 32GB of solid-state storage, three USB ports, VGA output, wideband wireless HDMI, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.0, and an internal battery.
The machine is optimised for web surfing or for controlling your wireless home network right from your sofa with wireless HDMI. (Sorry, Commodore lovers, but it doesn't support Datasette.)
