Netbook Winner:

Sony VAIO P (83.7)

Runners-Up
Second Place: ASUS Eee PC 1008HA (68.5)
Third Place: HP Mini 2140 (55.2)
Fourth Place: MSI U123 (54)

The winner in this category is a little unusual, owing to the unique nature of the Sony VAIO P. Its screen is smaller than the other netbooks in the category, and it’s specifically tailored to use very little power.

Battery and Charging Results
Although it might not be evident at first—the VAIO P had the least battery life and the second longest recharging time—it used less than half the amount of energy as the next closest system, the ASUS Eee PC 1008HA. Among the more traditional netbooks in the category, the Eee PC 1008HA came in first, using only 3777.9 watts while recharging—much less than the HP Mini 2140 and the MSI U123.

Power Consumption During Use
The VAIO P swept the netbook category when it came to average power usage during our benchmark tests, including PCMark05 (8.3 watts), our Web-surfing test (7.1 watts), playing a movie (9.3 watts), and when idle (6.2 watts). The Eee PC 1008HA, also an energy miser, used the second least amount of power on all of our tests, whereas the HP Mini 2140 and the MSI U123 were about equal when it came to these tasks.

Third-Party Ratings
The VAIO P stands out in this category, not only for its EPEAT rating (20 is just below the cutoff for EPEAT Gold), but Sony’s Greenpeace rating of 5.5, while far from stellar, is second only to Samsung’s 6.9 rating among laptops in this roundup.