Top 5 Netbooks with impressive battery life

Netbooks are not laptops, period. Granted they can run Windows XP and, in some cases, Vista. But the performance you get from these machines will be not sufficient for use as your primary device. Emailing and Internet surfing are fine, though from our experience, high-bitrate videos and even flash-heavy Web sites are too much for the ubiquitous Atom chipset.

But in return, this category offers a low-cost machine that is not only portable, it also sports good battery life. While some Netbook models come bundled with anemic two- or even three-cell batteries that provide unimpressive uptimes, several vendors offer high-capacity batteries and optimize their machines on the software level to increase unplugged time.

We've rounded up five of the longest-lasting minilaptops in the market today. For this list, we are considering only the battery life of bundled cells and ignoring high-capacity options which add to the cost of the Netbook. The uptimes are tested by looping a video file on the machine at half screen brightness.

Click here for a feature comparison table.

	1.	Asus Eee PC 1101HA (Intel Atom Z520 Processor 1.33GHz, 1GB RAM)   CNET Asia rating: 7.9 out of 10 The good: Bigger 11-inch, high-resolution screen; overclockable CPU; great battery life. The bad: Slightly slower, more expensive than standard Netbooks. The bottom line: Swelling the ranks of 11.6-inch Netbooks, the Asus Eee PC 1101HA impresses with its design and battery. But having to overclock a slower version of Intel's Atom CPU is a dodgy workaround. Battery life: 8 hours 50 minutes Review | See full specs | Rate this
	2.	Asus Eee PC 1005HA (Intel Atom N280 Processor 1.66GHz, 1GB RAM)       CNET Asia rating: 8.4 out of 10 The good: Sleek, attractive design; lower price; amazing battery. The bad: Thicker and heavier than the previous model; still near the upper end of the Netbook price range. The bottom line: Asus hits nearly all the marks in the 1005HA, the latest version of its iconic Eee PC, highlighted by a 6-hour plus battery life. Battery life: 6 hours 51 minutes Review | See full specs | Rate this
	3.	Samsung N310 (Intel Atom N280 processor 1.66GHz, 1GB RAM)   CNET Asia rating: 7.5 out of 10 The good: Unique, rugged design; excellent battery life. The bad: High-end Netbook price without high-end extras. The bottom line: Samsung brings a different look to a generic Netbook build with the N310, but is there any good reason this costs almost S$900 (US$662.63)? Battery life: 5 hours 51 minutes Review | See full specs | Rate this
	4.	BenQ JoyBook Lite U121 Eco (Intel Atom Z530 Processor 1.6GHz, 1GB RAM)   CNET Asia rating: 7.8 out of 10 The good: Comfortable keyboard; excellent battery life; sleek design; affordable for an 11.6-inch Netbook; optional HSDPA radio; quick charge mode provides up to 6 hours of uptime with 1-hour charge. The bad: No dedicated buttons or switches; trackpad not multitouch enabled. The bottom line: One of the more affordable 11.6-inch Netbooks in the market, the JoyBook Lite U121 Eco impresses with an excellent battery life and comfortable keyboard despite its no-frills design. Battery life: 5 hours 32 minutes Review | See full specs | Rate this
	5.	Gigabyte M1022M Booktop (Intel Atom N280 processor 1.66GHz; 1GB RAM)   CNET Asia rating: 7.7 out of 10 The good: Comfortable keyboard; ExpressCard slot; optional HSDPA connectivity; good battery life; Draft-N Wi-Fi radio; bundled docking station converts Netbook into a Nettop. The bad: Included docking station increases price but does not add new ports like HDMI. The bottom line: The Booktop may be on the costly side, thanks to the bundled docking station, but its excellent battery life and ability to switch from a deskbound PC to a portable minilaptop captured our attention. Battery life: 5 hours 2 minutes Review | See full specs | Rate this