There are many great mini laptops to choose from, but I’ll only review four of them in this article: The HP Mini 5101, Asus Eee PC 1005HA, Toshiba Mini NB205-210, and Dell Inspiron Mini 10 are among the top rated Mini Laptops.

The HP Mini 5101 is a business-class netbook, priced at around $425. The rugged design makes it a great travel companion. The chassis is an all-black body and has a bulging battery under the laptop instead of sticking out the back. Weight is about 3 pounds, which is average for minis. The keyboard is 95% full size, making it extremely comfortable to type on. The touchpad is a bit small, but the buttons are below it, which is more comfortable for me to work with. The sound was nice and balanced, and the lyrics were heard at a medium volume. The screen was viewable from horizontal and vertical angles. This netbook is highly rated among consumers and I also recommend it.

The Asus Eee PC 1005HA costs around $400 with an Intel Atom processor, 1GB of RAM, Windows XP, and a 160GB hard drive. The battery life is 9 hours, which is a big plus. The Asus is a bit thick and heavy. With the adapter, the mini weighs 3.4 pounds. I found the keyboard a bit difficult to type on compared to the previous HP. There are no gaps between the keys and the flat design makes it more difficult to type than on raised keyboards. The multi-function mat is very useful. You can zoom pages, scroll, click, all with two fingers. The screen is colorful and bright, but the viewing angles leave a bit to be desired. The speakers were a bit metallic. Although this is not my favorite mini, it is a strong competitor.

The Toshiba Mini NB205-210 is for the budget conscious, priced at $350. You can get the $400 version, but the extra $50 will only give you more aesthetics and not more performance. The battery has the longest battery life with a crushing 9.5 hours. Average weight is 3.4 pounds with the adapter. The design is a bit thick. The keyboard is comfortable to type on and the trackpad is large, which is another plus. The LED-backlit screen is nice and bright with good viewing angles both horizontally and vertically. Audio is where this laptop falls down a bit, lacking both clarity and volume.

Last but not least is the Dell Inspiron Mini 10, which ranges from $300 to $575 for the top model with a TV tuner and hi-res screen. This model has a slim design, weighing an average of 3.4 pounds with the included adapter. The keyboard is 97% full size and comfortable to type on. The touchpad is multifunctional, which is always a plus.