Pine Trail Showdown: What’s the Best 10-inch Netbook?

Overall Performance

Intel’s Pine Trail update is more about energy efficiency than a boost in overall performance, so we didn’t see much of a jump in scores for such benchmarks as PCMark05 and Geekbench. All of these systems have Intel’s integrated graphics as well, so the low 3DMark06 scores are on par with netbooks from last year. Still, knowing how well a netbook performs in relation to similarly priced competitors can give one machine an edge over another.

Taking into account each netbook’s PCMark05, Geekbench, File Transfer and Boot Time scores, the system with the best scores overall is the ASUS Eee PC 1005PE-P. Though it only got the highest marks for File Transfer speed, it came in close behind the lead scorer on every other test. The HP Mini 5102 gets second place here, much of it owing to the system’s speedy 7,200-rpm hard drive, a feature not found on many netbooks.

PCMark05

File Transfer Test

None of the other netbooks turned in particularly low scores in the tests that measure overall performance. Consumers who opt for the Dell Inspiron Mini 10 or MSI Wind U135 will have to deal with slow boot times, though. We suggest uninstalling some of the trialware that loads on startup.

Winner: ASUS Eee PC 1005PE-P

It’s not blazing, but this netbook’s scores were consistently good throughout all of our tests.

Graphics Performance

The latest Pine Trail netbooks feature Intel’s integrated Graphics Media Accelerator 3150, which does a decent job with standard-definition video playback and handling basic Flash games. However this card is not intended for playing games or high-def video. The 3DMark06 scores were all within a few points of each other, and the Toshiba mini NB305 only beat the second place Mini 10 by 2 marks.

In fact, the Mini 10 was able to handle full-screen Hulu without stuttering. Dell offers a more graphics-friendly configuration of the Inspiron Mini 10 with a Broadcom Crystal HD video accelerator for only $30 more. However, this solution does not offer better gameplay or speed up video encoding, like netbooks equipped with Nivida’s Ion technology.

Winner: Dell Inspiron Mini 10

When it becomes available in February the Mini 10′s Broadcom accelerator option will make this netbook a good choice for full-screen Hulu playback (once Flash rolls out the Beta 3 version of its player).

Battery Life

Along with ergonomic comfort, consumers consistently say that endurance is an important feature to look for in a netbook. It was cause for celebration when the Samsung NC10 reached 6.5 hours of battery life, and when the original mini NB205 lasted for over 9 hours it instantly became one of our favorites. While longer life is better, we consider anything above 7 hours a very good runtime.

The clear leader in this category is the ASUS Eee PC 1005PE-P due to its record-breaking score of 10 hours and 36 minutes. The HP Mini 5102 isn’t far behind: 10 hours and 8 minutes. Going down the line, the Mini 10 is next with 9:03, then Toshiba mini NB305 at 8:37 (unfortunately down from both the original NB205 and the Windows 7 upgrade to that machine), and the Acer aspire One 532h was right behind it with 8:36. All of these times will get most users a full workday or a full day of classes.

Sadly, the MSI Wind U135 falls not only behind the other systems, but even the 6-cell netbook average. It lasted only 5 hours and 35 minutes on the LAPTOP Battery Test.

Winner: Asus Eee PC 1005PE-P

If you want a netbook that will last a transcontinental flight (or two) the Eee PC 1005PE is a long distance champ.

• Intro, Design, & Keyboard
• Touchpad, Heat & Display
• Overall Performance, Graphics Performance & Battery Life
• Software, Warranty, Support, Value & Configurations
• And The Winner Is…