Netbook prices are still, for the most part, floating around the £250-£300 mark. If you're hoping to bag a bargain, though, take a look at Tesco's latest listing of Dell's Inspiron Mini 9.
The netbook itself launched early in September '08 and carried a lofty asking price of £299. Today, it's available from Tesco.com for the tidy sum of £194.76, including delivery - that's £50 less than buying from Dell direct.
It's a fairly basic machine, featuring the usual netbook hardware; a 1.6GHz Intel Atom processor, 1GB of RAM, Intel GMA 950 graphics and an 8.9in screen with a 1,024x600 resolution.
Tesco's offering features an 8GB solid-state drive and Linux Ubuntu in place as the operating system. As is often the case, Tesco's product specification isn't as informative as it could be. Head on over to Dell's official product page, however, and you'll find the Inspiron Mini 9 features a 1.3 megapixel webcam, 802.11g Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and is powered by a four-cell battery. Alongside an internal speaker lie three USB 2.0 ports, Ethernet, VGA out, audio jacks and a three-in-one card reader.
The four-cell battery and limited storage capacity may be of concern, but it's pretty competitively priced at sub-£200.
Link: Tesco Direct