I ordered my X100e with 4 GB of RAM, so Excel and Word start up within 3 seconds. Outlook takes about 12-15, but I think that's from loading up all the email addresses along with Norton. I don't watch videos on laptops, so I can't comment on that aspect.

With the upgraded RAM and a 2 year onsite warranty I paid around $750 using an online coupon I found.

As others have noted further down plenty of 11.6" models with CULV processors - no need to go up to 13/13.3 unless someone actually wants the bigger screen. I haven't found a 10" CULV model, and as others have noted, they're not much bigger then

One thing to watch out for with CULV is that some are single core, and not much faster than Atom - I would avoid anything Celeron or Core 2 Solo (wikipedia reports a CULV dual-core 1.2ghz Celeron, but I've never seen anyone selling a machine with it.)

The dual core ones are a very good option. The Acer Timeline 1810 as mentioned above is a great machine, although pretty pricy; the Dell Inspiron 11z is another good option, and rather cheaper ($424 for the cheapest dual-core configuration, last I checked.)

There are also a few dual-core Atom netbooks (also 11.6/12" that I've seen) using the intended-for-nettop [very low cost desktop] 330 or D510 - I'm not sure how these do on battery life, and they're still a bit slower than the CULV processors, but they're out there, and priced comparably to the cheaper CULV models. See the Asus Eee 1201N for an example (based on the older 330) but note that's not a recommendation - for the money, the Inspiron 11z with a dual core chip is probably the better option, and at the > $500, < $700 price point, the Acer Aspire 1810 w/ dual core is a MUCH better option.

Less than. The pointy side is smaller than the open side. so if you want to spend less than $750 you want the open part facing the $750 and the point facing you. @:-)

It took me way too long to figure those out, too.

Funny, I had the same problem when I first encountered these creatures. Their meaning appeared quite arbitrary to me, until I convinced myself that there is a logic. It helped me remember until it became a part of my mental make up. The quantity or the expression on the narrow side is smaller.
Hence, 5<10 and 100>90. ;)

Funny how we conform our thinking to convention.

For $750, OP doesn't even need to think about netbook. $750 buys a lot of laptop.

These labels - netbook, notebook, laptop, ultraportable are somewhat arbitrary. A netbook is a perception. Is it a cheap computer, a small computer, a slow computer? Some/All/none of the above? What do you need? What features matter?

I have a Acer 1810T with a dual core SU7300 processor, running W7 64, with 4GB RAM and 300+ GB HD. Here's how I rate it:

1) small as an ultraportable <3lb
2) a heck of a lot cheaper (I paid $599 when it came out)
3) pretty powerful (hell, I used a Compaq 386 sx16 with a 20MB HD and thought it was great in 1988 and do you remember having a CD30 with thermal paper to dial up connect at 1200 bps if you were lucky and 300bps?)
it's as fast as anything I've had at this weight

This thing is my primary computer and I travel with it (100k+/yr) and I wouldn't spend less for a "full size" laptop. I had an Atom netbook and it was lame. If you plot a dual core SU7300 on price, size and performance, you'll realize that it's off the charts. one might call it a netbook - based on size or price or a laptop based on performance. I just call it the best deal out there.

So, my (hearty/strong) recommendation. Take a good hard look at the SU7300 dual core netbooks - forget the labels and just consider the price, performance, weight, etc. I think if you do, you'll see that they are a GREAT deal.

Data point: this is slightly faster than full-price subnotebooks of the prior generation (ie the Dell D430, etc), and essentially the same processor as the current generation[*], but about 60% of the price. Good value in that sense.

[* the SU9000 series is clocked higher, at 1.4-1.6ghz vs 1.3ghz for the SU7300, but models are otherwise basically identical. ]

It's also only a little faster than the Pentium Dual Core SU4100 (same clock rate, but bigger cache on the SU7300), with the biggest difference being the virtualization feature on the SU7300 being disabled on the SU4100. If you don't know what that is, you probably don't need it. Either one is a good choice.

http://ark.intel.com/Compare.aspx?ids=42791,43568,

I think ASUS UL30A-X5 is a good laptop for travel.

It is Thin and Light 13.3-Inch (12 Hours of Battery Life).

Reason to consider a netbook is not just price. The battery life in good netbooks is way longer than the average laptop. That's why I got my netbook. Hate to be so tired to electric outlets. With a netbook, you can be really portable.

Asus eee PC 1005PE-PU27. Not the PU17 or model. They have identical specs but the newer PU27 does away with the glossy finish, replaced by a matte finish. Screen is still glossy, however. Rated at 14 hours, so you should easily reach 10-12 hours.

I'm still waiting for the ultimate Netbook and have high hopes for various Ion2 models. I want similarly long battery life but with the ability to watch my 720P video full screen. So far with available netbooks you can get one or the other but not both.

I bought a HP Mini at Costco a couple of months ago, and it works for me so far. I just looked up the model in the System folder and it is the 210. I think I paid $300 plus tax.

Not the fastest to boot up, but it seems fine once it's going. I use in the Windows mode and not the little email browser program that it originally started up in.

I like it a lot more than the other netbooks I bought. I think they were Acer, but just had a lot more problems with them.

I get decent speed on it, but only watch video on Netflix and such. At least I can type on the keyboard with ease, and not have to make all the corrections with the smaller keyboard.

When I was in school they taught us to think of it as an alligator's mouth with the alligator always eating the bigger number. :P

Ahh... public schools... but now you will never forget.