Latest netbook incarnations are an improvement

The first of the portable computers came to market two years ago, stripped-down laptop computers with narrow screens, cramped keyboards, no-name software, low-powered processors, and low prices - as little as $300.

Consumers have bought them by the millions; the research firm DisplaySearch predicts that netbooks will snare 20 percent of the laptop market this year, twice as much as last year. Yet many netbook owners don’t particularly like them. A survey by the NPD Group found that only 58 percent of netbook owners are very satisfied with their purchases. By contrast, 70 percent of those who bought standard notebooks are happy as clams.

For many consumers, the barely-good-enough features of early netbooks weren’t good enough. Why is it so hard to type? Why is the screen so tiny, and why can’t I use it to watch movies on the airplane?

Most laptop makers aren’t wild about netbooks anyhow. The profit margins are lousy. So they’re happy to upgrade them with more powerful processors, bigger screens, larger keyboards, and beefier batteries - all for a higher price, of course. They’re also rolling out new “ultra-portable’’ laptops designed to fill a niche between netbooks and notebooks.

Hewlett-Packard Co. has lent me one of each: the company’s Mini 110 netbook and its Pavilion DV2 ultra-portable. The base model of the Mini sells for $329 at HP’s online store; the basic DV2 costs $569. But the Mini 110 they sent me is tweaked with upgrades that drove the price closer to $600, while the Pavilion weighs in at about $900.

They’re both fine machines, but for a quick trip to the West Coast, I’d opt for the Mini 110. It’s a lot lighter, for one thing. At just over 2 pounds, the Mini is about half the weight of the Pavilion, a difference that really matters on long trips. And then there’s battery life. HP sent along a six-cell rechargeable battery, a $40 option on the Mini that delivers plenty of power without adding too much weight. I tested battery life by running videos - in this case, two episodes of “Battlestar Galactica.’’ After 96 minutes of interstellar excitement, the Mini’s battery was still 40 percent charged. The six-cell battery in the Pavilion was down to 18 percent after the same test.

That’s probably because the Pavilion is a more powerful computer in every way. The model I tested had a dual-core processor from Advanced Micro Devices Inc., a $75 option that can handle more challenging jobs than the relatively feeble Intel Corp. Atom chip in the Mini. The Pavilion also has a separate video processor with extra memory. That’s why the video playback was smoother and sharper than on the Mini, where images occasionally stuttered a bit. And of course, there’s the Pavilion’s bigger screen, which is 12.1 inches, compared with 10.1 inches for the Mini.

Early netbooks ran versions of the free Linux operating system to hold down the price, but most consumers couldn’t stand it. You can still get a Linux version of the Mini for $279, but unless you’re comfortable with nonstandard software, pay the extra $50 for Microsoft Corp.’s familiar Windows XP. If you insist on running the newer Windows Vista, forget about the Mini, or pretty much any other netbook. They don’t have the horsepower. But all Pavilion DV2s come with Vista as standard equipment.

The first netbooks were hailed for their use of flash memory in place of traditional hard drives. Flash memory chips aren’t harmed by shock or vibration and can deliver data much faster than mechanical drives. But flash costs so much more per gigabyte that flash-based netbooks offer very little storage. The basic Mini comes with a mere 16 gigabytes; a sensible $30 buys an old-fashioned hard drive with a comfortable 160 gigs.

A shrunken, uncomfortable keyboard is a common netbook flaw, but not on the Mini. Its keyboard is almost exactly the same size as that of the larger Pavilion. Both machines feature keys that are a bit flat and slick for my taste, but large enough for comfortable use. Too bad the Mini’s mouse falls short. It’s got the mouse buttons to the left and right of the touchpad, instead of underneath. It’s a space-saving necessity, but still a nuisance.

Neither laptop comes with a built-in optical drive. That makes it tough to play music or movies, or to install new software. You can buy an optional external drive; the Pavilion even supports an external Blu-ray movie player. You can also connect the laptop to another computer with an optical drive, and copy files over the local network. After all, an optical drive is just dead weight on the road.

But then, other traditional laptop features, like comfy keyboards, wide display screens, and Microsoft’s costly Windows software, were also treated as needless luxuries in the first netbooks. They’ve learned their lessons, and the new mini-laptops are better for it.

Hiawatha Bray can be reached at bray@globe.com.