Mini notebooks combine the power of a regular notebook with portability of a small communication device such as a mobile phone or PDA. The market is flooded with these devices and it is difficult to decide which mini notebook to buy. This article provides an overview of 7 mini notebook PCs, most of which are among the best mini notebooks currently available in the market.

This notebook was essentially designed for casual users. The EEE mini notebook earlier used the Linux operating system, which was later changed to Windows XP. Asus EEE PC 1000H has a 10-inch screen, 1.3 MP camera, Intel CPU and 160 GB hard drive and is powered by a 6-cell battery. The notebook was initially criticized for its small display and keyboard, prompting the company to make ergonomic adjustments. Ironically, the current selling point of the Asus laptop is its small size.

Furthermore, its super hybrid engine enables it to work at 3 different CPU speeds, allowing you to save a lot of battery power. For example, you can set this mini notebook to work at 1.2 GHz when running applications which require less processing power like Microsoft Word. Similarly, the CPU speed can be turned to the maximum while watching a video, which requires higher processing power. This allows the saving of the battery power thereby increasing the battery life to about 6-7 hours. This notebook costs approximately $400 to $600.

This device, previously known as HP 2133 mini notebook pc, is another popular computer in the mini category. It is a 2.6-pound laptop with a clamshell design and consists of an 8.9-inch screen with a resolution of 1280 x 768. Depending on the model version, this mini notebook can run Vista, Windows XP or Linux. The Linux and the Windows versions are available at a price of $499 and $599 respectively. Moreover, it has a sleek and stylish design that makes it more attractive to the college students.

Sony Vaio's P588E version has a screen size of 8 inches and has a resolution of 1600 x 768 pixels. This mini notebook has a battery life of 2.5 hours, which gets reduced to 2 hours when a lot of multimedia applications are used. It runs Windows Vista Home Premium operating system and weighs around 1.4 pounds. It includes integrated mobile broadband connection, Bluetooth and GPS, giving this mini notebook wireless connectivity like no other notebook. Sony Vaio is also known for its stylish designs and has a strong brand value

The Asus N10J is one of the best of Asus mini notebooks and uses Windows Vista or Windows XP as its operating system. It is a light notebook and weighs 3.5 pounds. The unique feature of this device is its 3D graphics chip known as the GeForce 9300. The availability of such high performance graphics chip makes this device one of the preferred mini notebook laptop for the gaming community. It also has Integrated Graphic, which saves a lot of battery life. It has a 160 GB hard drive and an Intel Atom CPU. Its quick launch feature gives access to web browser and media player in a single touch.

This mini notebook runs Windows XP operating system and has a 160 GB hard drive. It has a screen size of 10.2 inches and a 5-hour battery life. It is quiet light, weighing about 2.8 pounds. Samsung NC 10 is powered by Intel Atom N270 processor chip, which runs at 1.6 GHz and uses 1 GB RAM. Unlike other small laptops, Samsung NC 10 has a larger size, which makes it easier to operate.

The HP Pavilion has 12.1-inch screen, 3-hour battery life and weighs 3.8 pounds. It has Windows Vista operating system and uses the Athlon Neo processor instead of Intel Atom. HP Pavilion DV2 has 4 GB RAM and ATI Mobility HD 310 graphics processor. It uses the 64-bit Windows Vista version, is equipped with 320 GB hard disk drive and a 6-cell battery. Moreover, this mini notebook comes with DVD Writer facility.

It also has a good resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels. It has three USB ports, supports Wi-Fi & Ethernet and can be connected to a TV. Surprisingly, the Athlon processor used by this mini notebook is faster than the traditional Intel processor. It is equipped with a 512 MB graphics card, making it a suitable laptop for keen game-lovers. This device is not one of the cheap mini notebooks and costs around $750 to $800.

This laptop has a screen-size of 13.3 inches and battery life of 2.5 hours. It runs on Mac operating system and weighs 4.5 pounds. Unlike many laptops in the category, the Apple MacBook Air has a big and spacious keyboard. It uses the Intel Core 2 Duo processor instead of Atom processor. Due to the spacious keyboard and the big screen, the laptop is relatively less portable than other small laptops. Also, it doesn't have a DVD drive, which is a common feature among other small notebooks. But, it is equipped with an application called 'Remote disk,' which allows the user to share DVDs with other computers.