Asus Eee PC S101 review (black)

Where the S101 really shines is in battery life. We've seen impressive battery scores from other Asus Netbooks, such as the Eee PC 901 and Eee PC 1000, and this new model gave us 4 hours and 5 minutes on our video playback battery test. Dell's Mini 9 came close, at 3 hours and 21 minutes. Since a Netbook is so portable and likely to spend long stretches away from a wall outlet, we recommend a battery that lasts at least 3 hours.

Asus covers its laptops with a standard, one-year parts-and-labor warranty, and it offers online Web-based help and a toll-free phone number. The company's support Web site includes the expected driver downloads and a brief FAQ, but lacks useful features, such as user forums or the chance to chat in real time with a technician.

Asus Eee PC S101
Windows XP Home Edition SP3; 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270; 2048MB DDR2 SDRAM 533MHz; 128MB Mobile Intel 945 GSE; 32GB Solid State Drive

HP Mini 1000
Windows XP Home Edition SP3; 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270; 1024MB DDR2 SDRAM 533MHz; 128MB Mobile Intel 945GM; 60GB Toshiba 4200rpm

MSI Wind U100-002LA
Windows XP Home Edition SP3; 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270; 1024MB DDR2 SDRAM 400MHz; 128MB Mobile Intel 945 Express; 80GB Western Digital 5400rpm

Lenovo Ideapad S10
Windows XP Home Edition SP3; 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270; 1024MB DDR2 SDRAM 533MHz; 64MB Mobile Intel 945 Express; 160GB Western Digital 5400rpm

Dell Inspiron Mini 9
Windows XP Home Edition SP3; 1.6GHz Intel Atom; 1024MB DDR2 SDRAM 533MHz; 64MB Mobile Intel 945 Express; STEC 16GB SSD

Acer Aspire One
Linpus Linux Lite v1.0.2.E; 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270; 512MB DDR2 SDRAM 533MHz; Mobile Intel 945GME Express; 8GB Solid State Drive