Ultimately, Ubuntu Netbook Remix 9.10 did the best, and openSUSE 11.2 also did well. But Chrome OS performance was far from spectacular. That shouldn’t be a huge surprise, though. It’s not slated to ship for like a year, and its performance should pick up as builds continue. The main surprise looks to be Moblin 2.1’s comparatively slower speed, despite Intel’s efforts to optimise it for netbooks. It looks pretty, though.

All distros were tested with default configurations/packages, except for Chrome OS. They “needed to remount the root file-system in a read-write mode and add in the standard Ubuntu Karmic package repositories for which Google’s operating system is based.”

The Phoronix test suite included H.264 video playback, OpenArena, LZMA and 7-Zip file compression, IOzone, PostMark, WAV to OGG audio and H.264 video encoding. Full test results at: [Phoronix via Slashdot]

1. First and foremost, do you “get” what Google is trying do do here? Does it make sense? Is it a good idea?

2. Google OS will be available first on netbooks and ONLY on netbooks starting in a year. Do you think netbooks will even be relevant a year from now?

3. Google also mentions that the first generation of the Chrome OS will focus on secondary machines. Do you even have a need for a secondary machine, or is one computer with a traditional OS enough?

4. Google notes that web browsing is the most important function of a computer . Without it, many of us probably wouldn’t use a computer in the first place. So my question is, how much of your time spent on a computer is completely offline?

The T91MT has an 8.9-inch 1024×600 screen with a 256-level pressure sensor, runs on an Atom Z520 processor with 1GB RAM, a 32GB SSD and all the standard wireless and connectivity. It weighs 960 grams with the battery, which is pretty sweet, and comes preloaded with Windows 7 Home Premium.

Multitouch does come at a bit of a premium though, with the T91MT set to set you back $999.

[Asus]

Should we consider $US500 a good deal?

Yes and no. The formfactor is thin and quite small — 3cm thick and just 1.45kg. That’s great. It’s a big-screen netbook… which I guess is a small laptop.

I mean, I’m not arguing that this is probably the most promising netbook of all time. But remember when we were getting Core 2 Duo computers like this from Dell/HP/etc for the same price? Yeah, they were chunky machines. But what happened to those computers? Where did they go?

I know I’m not hallucinating here.

Yes, the 1201N looks like a very cool little laptop, and I’m pumped to use an Eee that can handle HD video on a beautiful screen and through tempting HDMI-out. I’m not really upset about the Eee itself. I’m upset that the budget, jack-of-all trades laptop has virtually died as we’ve seen this artificial performance cap put on the budget laptop market. Then again, maybe Ions have enough power that none of us will mourn the loss of cheaper, fatter Core 2 Duos. When reviews hit and the dust settles, we’ll know for sure.

Until then, read Laptop’s impressions: [Laptop via Netbook Choice via Engadget]

I say almost, because there was still some noticeable frame dropping. But still, I could actually watch HD flash video (windowed and full-screen) without it stuttering like a slideshow. One issue with YouTube: the CPU pretty much went into overload once the video was playing, and on the third viewing I had to Force Quit Firefox to wrestle back control.

But this is good news for hackintoshes, and netbooks in general. In my post earlier today about AnandTech’s Flash 10.1 CPU-utilisation tests, some Giz readers with netbooks reported that they’ve noticed a difference, too. Let’s post those comments here so other readers can see what sort of netbook you have, and if Flash 10.1 is worth trying.

For the record, my MSI Wind U100 has 2GB of memory, a 1.6GHz Atom N270 processor and integrated Intel 945 graphics. (Pic above is of the Dell Mini 9).

They say that sub-$400 netbooks are 20 per cent more likely to fail in the first year. But no real surprises there.

SquareTrade says it randomly selected over 30,000 laptops and netbooks covered by its warranty plans for the study. Brands with a minimum of 1000 laptops included Acer, Apple, Asus, Dell, Gateway, HP, Lenovo, Sony and Toshiba. Accidental damage and software issues handled by the retailer were not included in the numbers.

Summary below, while the full report can be found at: [SquareTrade]

• Over 31 percent of laptops will fail in the first three years of ownership.
• Of these failures, two-thirds came from hardware malfunctions (20.4 percent) and one-third (10.6 percent) was reported as accidental damage.
• Asus and Toshiba were the most reliable manufacturers, with fewer than 16 percent having a hardware malfunction over three years.
• Netbooks are projected to have a 20 percent higher failure rate from hardware malfunctions than more expensive laptop computers.
• Manufacturers proved to be a more reliable determinant of reliability than the type of laptop and should be a greater factor in making a purchase decision.

On top of those thermal issues, testing done by computer builder Haleron revealed that the N330 was also a killer on batteries in comparison to the, now used, two-chip N270 processor. Guess that explains why resellers have been trying to get rid of the N330 as quickly as possible. [Newswireless]

It varies from netbook to netbook — Toshiba’s NB205 withstood Windows 7’s power greediness better than HP’s Mini 311. It’s somewhat expected though, with features like the fancier Aero user interface to name one probable cause. Personally, I’ll take Windows 7 and the dead battery. [Laptop]

AU: We’re still waiting on a local release date… _-EH

Price

$US300 with two-year AT&T contract, $US600 à la carte

Verdict

Nokia has built a great netbook, but they’ve done nothing to redefine the genre. Their 10-inch Booklet 3G has your typical 1.6GHz Atom, 120GB hard drive and 1GB of RAM. Running Windows 7, that means the performance is just passable. I’d be this close to pounding my head against the wall when a program would begin installing or a video would load.

That’s typical.

What’s ever so less typical is the sharp, 1.3kg unibody-esque construction (complete with sweet MacBook-like under-hatch battery and a hinge that bends nearly 180 degrees), HDMI output (not that you can really playback HD videos smoothly on an Atom) and of course, solid integrated 3G and integrated GPS (though Nokia’s bundled Ovi software apparently requires a phone or PC to activate, and after 30 minutes of fiddling I honestly gave up on mapping.)

The battery life is impressive, too. In non-stop 3G browsing and app-running with the screen at 80 per cent brightness, the machine’s svelte 16-cell battery ran for a bit over six hours and 30 minutes. That was a strenuous test, and dimming the screen and/or browsing through Wi-Fi should truly be enough to get you through the workday sans-recharge. (For instance, CrunchGear’s John Biggs reported a pretty remarkable 10 hours of movie playback.)

But alas, even for a nice netbook, the Booklet’s price is a bit too opulent for what you’re really getting: an ever-so gussied up version of the same machine you could buy from Acer, Asus, HP, etc, for half the price (before subsidies). Meanwhile, there are plenty of ULV systems in the $US700 range with bigger screens, better performance and portable-minded design (of course, they’ll mostly require 3G dongles).

Give me some rhinestones and a bit more power, then we’ll talk. Or just hand me back my iPhone.

Quality build

Long battery life

Plastic monitor back makes whole thing feel cheaper

It’s still a $US600 netbook