2008 saw the creation of one big consumer electronics category: Netbooks. Starting with the original Eee PC, these netbooks spawned many imitators flooding the market with their little laptops. Now with the holiday season fast approaching, netbooks could definitely make a great gift for a loved one — that is, if you can sort through the dozens of different machines. Rather than rounding up all the different options, we're going to show you some of our favorite netbook choices.

Before we talk about specific models, lets define the highlights of netbooks, the problems with the machines, and which type of computer user is ideal for the mini notebooks.

The biggest highlight of a netbook is simple portability. With the average netbook size starting to stabilize at around 10 inches, their tiny size makes netbooks perfect to slip into a backpack or purse. Since most also feature some sort of flash-based storage (typically solid state drives) instead of spinning hard drives, boot up and wake up times are extremely quick.

Flash based storage also means each netbook isn't necessarily going to come with very much space available, since companies want to keep the cost down. Netbooks also cut costs by having underpowered processors, less RAM than users are typically accustomed to, and sometimes carry extra charges for small upgrades like Bluetooth or Windows XP instead of Linux as the installed operating system.

Despite those downsides, netbooks are perfect for people on the go who'd like to be able to type on a keyboard that's bigger than a smartphone, surf the internet with a "real" browser that includes Adobe Flash (sorry iPhone), and otherwise use a full computer for basic tasks like word processing and email. Netbooks won't fill the gap a normal computer would, so tasks like photo editing, video editing or storing large music collections will be difficult. However, netbooks are definitely a great option to add some extreme portability into circumstances where a regular sized notebook might be overkill for your needs.

Now, on to the favorite picks.

HP Mini 1000

One of this year's biggest shockers was HP's Mini 1000. While we've seen these tiny machines rolling out over the past year, we expected HP's version to more or less be a carbon copy of the original Eee PC from Asus. Instead, when HP unveiled their limited release Mini Note 2133, we saw a new direction for netbooks emerge, and the HP Mini 1000 is an interesting machine that continues its pedigree with some great highlights.

Sporting a nearly full-sized keyboard and an attractive piano black casing, this 10-inch netbook costs $400 bucks and takes the place in the netbook fray as one of our favorite machines. HP took some extra style initiative that isn't normally found with the other razor thin margin mini laptops. While the design is unmistakenly HP, the little touches like a laser etched case and attractive keyboard make an otherwise underpowered netbook seem much more appealing. We also think HP made a good choice to keep a larger trackpad by moving the buttons to the side of the trackpad instead of directly beneath the pointing device. For the extremely fashion-conscious, HP also offers a version of the Mini 1000 customized by fashion designer Vivienne Tam, though the price jumps for little more than additional external style.

On the inside, the netbook is like most others in its class. The Mini 1000 has an Intel 1.6 GHz Atom processor, 1GB of RAM, and WiFi — Bluetooth will cost you an extra $25. The one thing we'd like to have seen is an extended version of the Mini 1000 that supported wireless broadband from cellular providers through EVDO or HSDPA. However, HP opted, in their wisdom, to instead focus on design and affordability, which seems to have paid off nicely.

MSI Wind U100

While we praised the HP Mini 1000 for its style, MSI's Wind U100 is no slouch either. Available in three different hues — white, pink and black — MSI's netbook does a good job of bundling style while keeping the price down.

The Wind U100 features a similar spec set to the Mini 1000, with a 1.6GHz Atom processor and a 10-inch screen, however the Wind's keyboard is smaller than the HP model, though not as tiny as Asus's Eee PC. MSI's machine has an integrated webcam and a 120GB built-in hard drive, making the unit less resilient to drops and slower to boot or wake up, but the extra space means the computer could store some extra media making it a better choice as an extended computer. We've seen the U100 being sold for about $400 around the internet.

MSI has already announced the U120, which should be available before the holidays are over, though the company hasn't specified exactly when the machines will be released. The U120 upgrades the U100's WiFi support from 802.11b/g to 802.11b/g/n, and adds other key spec improvements, but with the update the company says the laptop will be a bit more pricey, weighing in at $552.

Asus Eee PC S101

The progenitor of the netbook trend aught to create a pretty compelling product, and Asus delivers with the Eee PC S101. While quite a bit more expensive than other netbooks, coming in at around $700, the S101 ups the ante by providing an ultra slim form factor at 0.7-inches thick — compared to the MacBook Air's 0.76 thickness at its thickest point. The S101's anemic 1.6GHz Atom processor and one gigabyte of RAM fits the machine firmly in the netbook grouping, though toward the high end of the sub-notebook class. The S101 promises 5.5 hours of battery life, 16GB of solid-state storage and 802.11b/g/n WiFi.

Summary

These three machines are our favorite netbooks of the holiday season. A loving gift giver might think about plunking down $400 on either the HP Mini 1000 or the MSI Wind U100, but make no mistake that the $700 Eee PC S101 is a gift a computer user buys for themselves. Are you thinking of picking up a netbook this holiday season? We've heard some of our friends say they're going netbook instead of notebook, simply because of the rough economic times. Which one strikes your fancy? Sound off in the comments, and be sure to let us know if you've got any more questions about netbooks.