Back-to-school netbook buyer's guide

The netbook is a modern curiosity, a new class of notebook barely a year old and still going through its growing pains as manufacturers try to balance their designs properly. A netbook is characterized by low-end, power-efficient hardware, an exceptionally small and light chassis with a screen size topping out at around ten inches, and just enough horsepower for word processing and Internet usage. By paring down features and performance, manufacturers have been able to produce these small computers cheaply, pricing them well below their ultraportable forebears like Sony's T series. In fact, netbooks often cost less than full-sized "budget" notebooks. It's this blend of form, function, and value that has made netbooks so popular.