Canon Pixma MX700

One of the faster units we've tested to date (though it falls far short of the top engine speed Canon quotes), the Pixma MX700 pushed out text pages at a rate of 9.1 pages per minute; graphics pages averaged a swift 3.2 ppm overall. So far, only the HP OfficeJet Pro L7680 has performed faster.

Text looks nicely black. A slight unevenness to the edges makes closely spaced fonts look mushy, though. Color images have an orange cast. On plain paper, this helps enliven the palette; on photo paper, it can be overpowering, especially with flesh tones. Copy samples we made were quite crisp, while scan samples were reasonably (if not perfectly) accurate for color and precision.

Cost per page is low: 3.2 cents for a half-page of black text, or just 8.8 cents for a page with small amounts of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black. (A full-color photo will use more ink.)

The Pixma MX700's design includes a clearly labeled front control panel with a mostly intuitive layout. Buttons for primary functions adjust what's shown on the small (1.8 -inch), tiltable color LCD, whose menus are navigable using the adjacent arrow buttons. The automatic document feeder, which unfolds from the machine's top, takes a generous 30 sheets of paper. Its media slots take most card types; you'll need a third-party adapter to add xD media.

The dual 150-sheet input trays are a nice bonus. The rear, vertical input takes all accepted media sizes. Use the control panel's toggle button or the printer driver to choose between it and the front input, which takes just letter, A4, and B5. But this front tray is literally overshadowed by the two-part output tray, which guides paper over the front input tray, concealing it entirely. That's more going on in a small space than I'd like. The MFP lacks automatic duplexing, but on-screen prompts step you through the manual process. Dell's 948 AIO and Lexmark's X6570 offer automated duplexing for a lower price (with other tradeoffs). Canon's Pixma MP830 features duplex printing and scanning, but we haven't tested this unit.

Canon bundles its own and third-party software to cover scanning, photo printing, OCR, and even document management. Its well-designed Solutions Menu interface centralizes most of the machine's functions for easy management through your PC. HTML-based guides cover both hardware and software. Canon printers also scored better than average overall in our recent Reliability and Service survey.

Pumpkin-colored people aside, the Pixma MX700 is, overall, one of the strongest multifunction packages I've seen to date. It stuffs a lot of functions into a fairly user-friendly package and offers scads of software to help you along.

Acer Aspire ONE AOD150

I love it when a company sees fit to shake things up a little and cook up some crazy new design. The Acer Aspire One AOD150 is not that netbook. In fact, many of the changes made from the original Aspire One make the AOD150 seem more like everything else on the market. And that isn't necessarily a good thing.

Seem a little harsh? Let me put this in perspective: The original, 8.9-inch screen model packed a huge keyboard onto a fairly tiny frame. That keyboard was practically dripping over the sides and I was genuinely impressed for the effort. Here, with its new 10.1-inch screen (which looks great), I'd expect a little more room to work with. Instead, you get the same still-short-of-full-size keyboard. It's not tiny, but Acer could've made an effort to space out the buttons a little more.

The next big switchup is the touchpad. At first glance, I was ready to dance a jig because the left and right buttons flanking the touchpad surface were gone. Just a single, simple mouse button bar. In and of itself, not necessarily a bad thing. But then I tried using it. Exerting a shaolin monk's concentration, you need to really want to hit that button in order to get it working. With very little give, it's hard to know when you've made contact and the way that it's recessed into the wrist rest makes it a little more difficult to use than the mouse on the first Aspire One. At least the new touchpad has a multitouch functionality, so that scrolling and browsing is a little less headache-inducing.

The only other change for the (slightly) worse is the second-gen Aspire One ditches the original's second SDHC Card slot. Not a major bummer, because this machine has a reasonably large 160GB hard disk drive.

Now, back to that new 10.1-inch display: I really do love this 1024-by-600-pixel screen. It's crisp, with good color reproduction and, quite frankly, it feels like this machine was built around the gorgeous screen. Its dimensions are relatively slim (one thing that hasn't changed too much from the original) measuring 10.2 by 8.0 by 1.31 inches. That makes it slighter than comparable netbooks with a 10.1-inch screen. The Aspire One is also very solidly constructed, ready to get knocked around in a bag.

The second-generation Aspire One's performance is in line with what we'd expect from its components: 1GB of RAM and a 1.6-GHz Intel Atom N270 CPU. It achieved a score of 35 in our PC WorldBench 6 tests, an average score based on what we've seen with this configuration in other netbooks.

One thing that isn't quite standard is the battery that came with our machine. Our test unit arrived with a 5800mAH battery. Don't get too excited, though: This battery will not be a standard config in any of the units here in the U.S., and Acer doesn't even know when this longer-life battery will be available separately. The standard configuration usually comes with a 6-cell 4400mAH battery. Usually.

Here's where it gets goofy: According to a spokesperson, in the hurry to get units to store shelves, some of the machines shipped with higher-powered batteries, instead of the standard. It's like some kind of Willy Wonka move, but instead of a golden ticket, you have a chance you'll get a better battery and not get charged for it.

If you get lucky, you'll be thrilled: In the PC World Test Center's battery life test, the Aspire One lasted an amazing 8 hours, 34 minutes with the supercharged battery. Since the odds are more likely you'll get the 4400mAH power, though, we are scoring this machine based upon the reasonably impressive 6 hours, 38 minutes. It's funny -- last time around the Aspire One got dinged for its poor battery life and celebrated for its large keyboard. This time around it's almost the reverse. Am I in Bizzaro world?

The software on the machine is fairly minimal. The only things of note here are a 30-day trial for an online backup solution (my advice, Acer: check out what Asus is doing -- its netbook comes with 10GB of free online storage for 18 months) and eSobi, a news and RSS feed reader.

Not much else has changed, though, between the two Aspire One models. The ports are the same: Three USB 2.0 ports, VGA out, ethernet jack, webcam and microphone . . . it even has the same $350 price tag. And honestly, I think a good chunk of that money went into the screen. It shows. But at the end of the day, I feel like the Aspire One moved on, but I'm not 100 percent sold that the developers have taken these guys in the right direction.

The new Acer Aspire One has some strong points, but even better netbooks are on the market now, and more are on the way. If you want in on the battery lottery for the long-life battery, then go for it, but even the included battery will give you solid day-long performance, That said, I'd still recommend that you take a peek at what Asus offers with the Eee PC 1000HE. I'm digging that netbook a whole lot more and it only costs a few dollars more.

Samsung N110

Samsung has made an interesting decision to switch from the matte screen on the NC10 to the glossy side of the force. It doesn't matter all that much: The 10.1-inch, 1024-by-600-pixel panel works reasonably in all sorts of lighting conditions. What's notable is that, in a side-by-side comparison, the glossy finish didn't really make the screen on the N110 pop that much more--but it did introduce a bit of glare. I'd almost prefer sticking with the matte screen of the NC10.

Thank goodness Samsung has addressed the troublesome touchpad buttons of its older netbook. On that machine you have to push the button down below the surface in order for the action to register. As a result, if you press the left side of the single-button bar, the right side of the bar juts up. On the N110, the company has fixed the problem quickly and easily by changing the molding on the casing. Even though the dimensions haven't changed from those of the NC10 (10.3 by 7.3 by 1.5 inches), the N110 feels a little more slender. And since Samsung built this mouse button into the curved bottom, it hits the hands more naturally. Generally it seems more secure.

What hasn't changed a whole lot is the keyboard. The buttons satisfy, and the firm, solid keys give a little as you press down. The feel is reminiscent of what you find on the Lenovo IdeaPad S10. Lacking any extra shortcut buttons (like the S10), the N110 comes across as a semi-stylish but bland netbook on the surface. Of course, it all comes down to personal taste. For instance, I think the HP Mini 1000 makes better use of that same amount of space with its wide, flat keyboard.

Otherwise, you're getting the standard-issue layout for a netbook: an SD card reader, three USB 2.0 ports, VGA, ethernet, 802.11b/g Wi-Fi, headphone and microphone jacks, and a Webcam. And don't forget the tinny speakers--the curse of most netbooks.

If you're familiar with netbooks at all, you know not to expect them to be speed demons. No exception here: The 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 CPU and 1GB of RAM in the N110 motored through our WorldBench 6 tests with the same verve we saw from the initial pack of netbooks using the same processor. It scored a hair higher than Samsung's previous model, earning a middle-of-the-road mark of 36. Also unremarkable is the fact that the machine comes with a 160GB hard drive. Where it does shine, though, is in the battery-life department: The N110 ran for a staggering 8 hours, 23 minutes. That's long by any stretch--and by netbook standards, it outdoes the competition without having to use an overly meaty battery. The system weighs only 2.7 pounds.

The feature attractions, in my humble opinion, lie in the bundled software package. Samsung Recovery Solution III is a handy backup and system-restore program that even throws in a couple of suggestions regarding the possible causes of your machine's problems, giving you a recommended course of backup action to resolve the matter. Easy Network Manager lets you quickly and effortlessly connect to networks; it's a superfluous bit of software for anyone remotely savvy enough, but it puts a pretty face on the standard Windows XP option. I even like the well-annotated and easily navigable digital user guide. I'm not kidding--I wish every netbook came this well prepared for battle.

Offering an improved mouse button and impressive battery life, the Samsung N110 would make a great choice for your next road trip. At $470, it isn't by any means the cheapest netbook on the block, but it certainly is a handsome, functional one. While I salute Samsung for correcting design flaws present in the NC10, I'd have preferred to see this the first time around.

Asus EEE PC 1000HE

The streamlined and redesigned Asus Eee PC 1000HE takes no prisoners. While the previous Asus Eee PC 1000 offered a solid netbook, Acer's Aspire One stole all the attention with its lean and incredibly affordable approach. With the latest incarnation of the Eee PC 1000, the "HE" might as well stand for "Holy Enhancement!" This model bears only a passing resemblance to last year's Eee PC, and improves upon just about everything from the keyboard to the CPU. Better yet, in addition to losing some unsightly girth, Asus also trimmed the price to $400.

Let's take a quick tour around the machine to kick this off. The first, most obvious thing you'll spot is the cut-out keyboard. Just like you'd find on an Apple MacBook Air or on Sony VAIO laptops, the keys poke through the plastic, creating a wide gap between buttons. In that respect, this feels and looks great, and is generally more usable. The trackpad is just spacious enough -- I particularly like its metal framing and the few multitouch functions incorporated into the design. However, I found the pad slightly twitchy to control. No deal-breaker, but I noticed.

You also get a couple handy shortcut buttons hovering along the top of the unit. They do everything from give the CPU a speed boost (more on that below) and user-definable shortcuts to a screen resolution adapter. That is, you can view 1024-by-768 resolutions even though the native resolution of the 1000HE is 1024 by 600 -- it's a special compression mode that Lenovo employs in the IdeaPad S10 as well, and represents a convenience given that some applications default to a 1024-by-768-pixel resolution and won't work otherwise.

This unit's 10.1-inch backlit LED display is bright and capable of good color reproduction; its glossy coating helps the image pop a little more than you usually see on netbooks. However, the highly polished bezel that keeps the screen in place can get a little distracting at times.

A number of aerodynamic nips and tucks make this 10.3-by-7.4-by-1.4-inch netbook just a hair thinner than the older, clunkier Eee PC 1000 we reviewed last year. It's also a little on the "heavy" side for a netbook, weighing 3.2 pounds. That's the price of strapping an 8700mAH battery to the bottom of this thing; Asus promises that the 1000HE will deliver 9.5 hours of performance (but we got a solid seven hours, nine minutes in our tests).In short, netbooks in this generation are finally packing the battery power required for marathon computing sessions.

Speaking of performance, the Asus Eee PC 1000HE sports Intel's 1.66-GHz Atom N280 CPU. For the sake of comparison, most of the netbooks that came out late last year used the N270 CPU, which runs at a lower frequency (1.6-GHz) and a slower frontside bus speed (533MHz as compared with 667 MHz in the N280). The difference, however, was minimal. Our test unit got a 35 in WorldBench: an average score for what you'll find in netbooks.

The Asus comes with 1GB of RAM, a 160GB hard disk drive, and 802.11b/g/n /Bluetooth wireless. Around the perimeter of chassis lies a fairly standard set of three USB 2.0 inputs.

The audio, as on the Eee PC 1000, sounds surprisingly strong for its size. But it lacks a good subwoofer, so don't expect to rock a house party with this thing. Other notable features thrown into the mix: InterVideo WinDVD (which seems to be a little bit of overkill, I'd recommend you try out KMPlayer), and 18 months of 10GB of free online storage.

In the end, this is a fairly solid -- and sizable -- jump over what's come out just a few months earlier. In fact, I'd dare say that amongst the netbook pack, this is one of my current favorites and something that I'd highly recommend that you check out. Considering that its selling in some places for as little as $380, you could do worse.