I was looking at netbooks about 2-3 years ago and found that a cheap laptop was actually a better deal. My laptop was only $50 more than the cheapest netbooks but had a more powerful CPU, more RAM, better graphics and a bigger screen. It also had a few more options that the netbooks didn't. Oh, did I mention the netbooks I looked at didn't have a numeric keypad? Not an issue for everyone, but for some people it might be. I honestly think that netbooks are dead because they are being squeezed by tablets from one end and by cheap laptops at the other.

Anything with a 6-cell battery. I think a lot of the differences between brands are negligible because of the tight price range. Therefore, there are lots of similar models in the 250€ range: Packard Bell, Asus, Acer etc.

Battery life will be better on systems with slower, mobile-specific processors and smaller screens. Therefor, avoid:

* Any system with a huge screen.
* Any system with a non-mobile processor.
* Any system that touts graphical capabilities as a selling point.
* Any system that's paper thin. (Yes, I know lighter is better, but once you get below a certain point you start having to cut into the size of the battery to get any lighter, and thus cut into battery life.)

The best thing to do is narrow down the choices to a handful of candidates, then look up reviews of those systems online to find out their TRUE capabilities, like battery life and whatnot.

However, a tablet might be a better choice unless a lot of typing will be necessary. (For taking notes or such.)

I use an Acer One AO752 "netbook". It's actually not a netbook because it uses a dualcore Celeron processor and it's 11.6". It's a lot faster than a netbook too, and the quality is pretty good. I paid about $300 CDN for this 2 years ago. Next year I am thinking to replace it with the current AO756 model which currently sells for the same price. These laptops come in dozens of different configurations with regards to CPU, HDD, RAM (I think AO756 goes up to 8 or 16GB) and CPU. My only regret is that the one I got has a 3 cell battery (because I cheaped out). The 6 cell models shouldn't cost much more. It's not really a big issue for me since I always use mine plugged in.

I have a Dell Inspiron Mini running Windows 7. With the SSD upgrade I did, the battery lasts over 4 hours even under heavy load. For the record, I liked my Acer Aspire One netbook more. It was smaller and cheaper.

Netbooks are great and all but I suggest you find a cheap dual-core laptop, perhaps one generation old. Do a clean OEM install and some tweaking and you'll hardly miss those high-performance PCs. You'll spend about the same amount of money and get much more than the bare minimum.

Thanks for the suggestions, however...

1. She already has got a Laptop.
2. Tablets are out of the equation.

If she's already got a laptop she may be underwhelmed by a netbook unless the laptop is really heavy/old. I couldn't use a netbook seriously as the screen's are just too small. Myself I'd go looking for an 11/12" screen laptop.

An 11.6" laptop is hardly bigger than a netbook, and they weigh about 2 pounds.

Last I heard many companies are calling it quits on netbooks. I think the screen resolution on those things was just too low for them to be useful.

If the laptop is really old, she should get a new laptop that weighs less than the previous one and has a smaller screen.
I would never go the netbook road again (I had a small form factor Vaio when the term netbook didn't yet exist 😉).

low res screens and slow processors is one reason to avoid cheap netbooks

there's better ones out there, but at a price.... at that price, do you want to pay for portability, or a little more for usability?

Her laptop is fairly new and recent but she wants a netbook.

Then she should define why she wants the netbook and not continue using her laptop.

Perhaps she could sell her laptop and get an Ultrabook? It's light, small and a good perfrmer

I just got an Acer V5-131-2629 to replace my AO752.

Ivy Bridge dual core celeron, up to 8GB RAM, matte 11.6" screen, 6 cell battery and wind'ohs 7. I paid $350. Very nice sub 3lb notebook for the price (except for the speakers and trackpad).

I suggest that she avoids ANY thing that has an intel atom for many reasons and second AMD C/E series are fairly weak. Avoid any netbooks that have been reported as having board level problems and ones that are well known to have very fragile screens. Overall if she wants a Decent but very portable small form factor laptop that she will need to dig a little deeper budget wise. On amazon there are a few 11.6 laptops with an i3 but the best that I have used/owned thus far in that segment is an Alienware m11x. Got more than two hours on battery while actually using it (with mechanical hard drive) but one with a ssd will last longer. The M11x has a fantastic keyboard and LED screen but good for gaming on the side.

To look for or consider for 11.6 or smaller laptops/netbooks
Avoid Intel Atoms at all cost (often have board level problems) low end AMD C series but E series can be tweaked with k10stat. Anything that uses an SSD or can be upgraded to an SSD. Metal Body or frame for durability in case if ever dropped and normal wear.