The On Switch

Light, bright and right: the netbook is ready to go

NETBOOKS are a rapidly growing sector of the computer market. As the name suggests, they provide mobile internet access with the emphasis on portability.

Asus's Eee range attempts to combine much of the functionality of a PC with something the size of a hardback novel. We road tested one of its 900 series netbooks. The dinky machines achieve their small size, light weight and relatively low price tag by dispensing with the CD drive and even with the traditional hard drive for storage. Are these fatal flaws? Well, that depends on what you need a PC for.

The jewel in the Eee's crown is its built-in wireless broadband connection. That means you can download and update much of the software you need rather than popping in a disc. And it means you can live without a CD drive. And that means both the size and cost can be kept to a minimum.

Instead of a traditional hard drive that takes up lots of space, the Asus uses built-in memory chips. The downside of this is that storage is limited to 12GB (roughly three DVDs-worth). To make up for that, the machine has plenty of slots for plugging in memory cards. One benefit of this approach is the near-silent operation of the machine.

The Eee looks and feels very solid and well made. The nine-inch LCD screen is great: sharp, vivid colours and big enough to display web pages clearly.

When it comes to the operating system, you have the choice of Windows XP or Linux. XP runs fine on the Eee with the added advantage of being able to run thousands of existing programs. But if you're comfortable with Linux, you'll get an extra 8GB memory on most models.

No one is claiming the Eee is a computing powerhouse: it won't play the latest first-person shooter and it won't render high-definition video.

But that's not the point. It delivers broadband internet with a winning combination of mobility and functionality. The web is available on smaller devices, including mobile phones, but the compromise in speed and the display size takes away a lot of the pleasure. Probably the best example of the Eee's successful approach is the BBC's iPlayer, which works perfectly and is fun to watch. And because of its diminutive size, the Eee can be used easily in a broad range of situations from the bus to the beach.

This article is, for example, being typed on the Eee. The keyboard is obviously cramped – and you wouldn't want to type out War and Peace on it – but it's fine for the kind of writing most people do.

The downside? Battery life definitely needs to be improved. The 900 model gave between an hour and 90 minutes, not enough for most users.

Asus, aware of this issue, is about to bring out several new models that promise to address this problem. New, more powerful batteries – combined with lower power consumption – should add at least an extra hour between recharges.

Older models of the Eee can be picked up for around £200 new, while the fresh batch of machines retail for £300 upwards. Conventional laptops, including DVD writers and big hard drives, can already be bought for this price, but anyone who places a premium on affordable portability will want to give these machines a look.