for chucking into a bag and running out the door with.

Connectivity

It's strictly the basics here. Usually you'll find three USB ports, a VGA-out jack, ethernet, an SD Card reader, a Webcam, and headphone and mic jacks. We're starting to see mobile networks offering subsidised netbooks for sale, too. The promise of a £100 netbook with Wireless WAN access sounds good; but the category is only one generation old, and it's bound to improve again soon. Do you want to be stuck with your netbook until your contract runs out in two years? Didn't think so.

Our Netbook Picks

If you're on a tight budget, look at the Asus Eee PC 1000HE or Eee PC 1008HA. Both are stylish standouts that offer great battery life and good-size keyboards for around £300. I also recommend the HP Pavilion dv2 often. Neither a true netbook nor a full notebook, it offers you a little more juice while you're on the go, plus an external optical drive and a discrete GPU to play games like Left 4 Dead.