Netbook Review UK

Even a year after the introduction of the Asus Eee PC, netbooks are still something of a novelty. Just a couple of weeks ago, while I was sitting one evening in a hotel lounge with a group of professionals, mine was passed around with enthusiastic curiosity — they had heard of its easy portability and were eager for some hands-on time before possibily buying one for themselves.

It was then that I realized my netbook wasn’t just a nicely lightweight tool for out-of-the-office computing — it was a statement of my relationship with technology. (A slightly different statement than, say, a MacBook Air, but still. …) As such, it behooved me to protect my device with something a bit more worthy than the simple black foam sleeve it came with.

But that presented a difficulty — there aren’t that many protective cases out there for notebooks with displays smaller than 12 inches. And you don’t want your new netbook to bounce around in a too-large backpack, or get scratched up by the other devices in your messenger bag. You want something that can really protect it — and show it off at the same time.

What follows is a sampling of six cases that are now available for smaller systems. We’ve arranged them in price order, from about $25 (for sleeves that offer protection and perhaps some space for a couple of accessories, but not much more) to $120 (for bags that offer space for your netbook, your media player, your wallet, your extra drive, your water bottle and whatever else you need to carry along).