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For Me? The Best Holiday Gifts From You to Yourself

Just being you may be gift enough, but surely there are times when it isn't as easy as it looks. So show your appreciation during the gift-giving season by surprising yourself with one of these great presents. Remember, when you're buying for yourself, the thought isn't what counts!

HP Mini 1000 Netbook 5 of 9

The HP Mini 1000 Netbook is HP's second-generation foray into the netbook arena. This model has a couple of advantages over its predecessor, the HP 2133, which we reviewed back in early April.

Gone is the Via C-7M processor; gone, too, is the pipe dream that any current netbook could handle Windows Vista. The Mini 1000 that we received for testing runs Windows XP, and packs Intel's 1.6-GHz Atom processor, 1GB of RAM, and a 4200-rpm, 60GB PATA hard drive. With that configuration, it falls in with the rest of the current mini-notebook pack.

With the Mini 1000, HP does a good job keeping most of the things that worked on the 2133, while upping the performance and managing to cut prices in the process (well, not counting the beautiful, fashionista-oriented Vivienne Tam edition).

Thankfully still present in this model is the fantastic keyboard. The oversized, square keys look like they belong on a full-size laptop. In fact, the main QWERTY and number buttons are large enough to fit your entire finger. No need to carefully hunt-and-peck on this keyboard.

I found the audio impressive, and it matched my experiences with the earlier model. The ingenious top-mounted speaker also serves as a sturdy hinge for the device; this design saves space. And while I'm not one to say that you could use the Mini 1000 as some incredibly dorky boombox, it does get decent audio without turning into a crackly mess.

For more on netbooks, see our ranked "Top 5 Netbooks" chart.

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