Acer Aspire One - bargain at £179 - came third in the Which best buys after 2 which cost around £700. Here's the review:
The Acer Aspire One mini laptop strikes a good balance between cost and performance, and is a good all-rounder.
Despite only having a modest 512MB of Ram, it runs quickly and smoothly, thanks to the Linux operating system that is installed. And it's easy to use, too - don't worry if you're only used to Windows, since the interface is friendly and intuitive.
The Acer Aspire One is one of the first PCs to use Intel's Atom processor, which has been specially designed for use in portable devices such as laptops where battery life is important. We found the battery life acceptable, but not on a par with the best performers.
The keyboard is comfortable to use, and the screen is bright and clear. It is impressively light - weighing less than 1kg - making it extremely comfortable to carry around.
Like most mini-laptops, the built-in speakers aren't great quality - stick in some good headphones if you're planning on using it to listen to music.
The model we tested had 8GB of solid-state storage. This may be more robust than a conventional hard drive, but it offers a lot less space. If you think you'll need more, then you can opt for a 120GB solid-state drive. You can upgrade to 1GB of Ram and the Windows operating system if you want something more familiar.
Pros: Lightweight, easy to use
Cons: Small storage capacity
Mini laptops are put through a different series of tests to full-sized laptops so the results are not directly comparable