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It's been a hot year for Netbooks, but not so much for the rest of the portable PC market.

Netbook sales are likely to hit $11.4 billion this year, a 72 percent rise from last year, thanks to a 103 percent leap in shipments, according to a new report from DisplaySearch. But notebook revenue overall will be down around 7 percent from last year.

The latest DisplaySearch Quarterly Notebook PC Shipment and Forecast Report, released Tuesday, found that the surge in Netbook (mini-notebook) sales was not enough to offset declines for ultra-portables and larger laptops. Aside from Netbooks, annual revenue will likely be down in every portable PC category.

Though notebook shipments are expected to grow 5 percent for the year, average selling prices (ASPs) will show a 20 percent drop as vendors have slashed prices throughout the year, DisplaySearch has forecasted . Average prices for Netbooks and 13-inch to 16-inch notebooks will probably be down 15 percent for the year, a significant cut as these two categories make up 85 percent of the overall notebook market.

(Credit: DisplaySearch)

For 2010, notebook shipments will rise by 16 percent, predicts DisplaySearch, thanks to better than average gains in Netbooks and ultra-portables. The CULV (Consumer Ultra-Low Voltage) market will drive growth with an array of new 11.6-inch and 12-inch portables sporting prices under $500. However, sales next year will likely be flat or down for most portable segments, except desktop replacement, which should enjoy growth of 21 percent over 2009.

The popularity of Netbooks may start to fade next year, DisplaySearch said. Shipments could rise 20 percent, but sales will flatten, and then drop in 2011 as prices come down and performance goes up for ultra-portables and larger notebooks.

(Credit: DisplaySearch)

"Our long-term outlook is that the mini-note share of the notebook PC market has stabilized, and will remain at approximately 20 percent through 2011 before starting to erode," said John F. Jacobs, DisplaySearch director of Notebook Market Research, in a statement. "While mini-notes offer lower ASPs and are thinner and lighter than notebook PCs, the performance of larger notebook PCs continues to improve while prices continue to steadily decline, increasing the performance gap while narrowing the price gap."

Outside branding on laptops is relatively rare, with occasional appearances by World of Warcraft or MLB baseball teams turning up in paint jobs, but little in the way of overall product design. A rare exception can be found in the race-car-themed laptops put out by Asus (Lamborghini) and Acer (Ferrari).

These product lines were typically slightly jazzed-up versions of standard laptops, but with inflated price tags and occasionally, branded accessories such as mousepads and cases.

The new Ferrari One 200 from Acer follows this trend, taking a basic 11-inch Netbook shell and decking it out in official Ferrari red, with the automaker's iconic horse logo. The internal components have also gotten a bit of an upgrade, with a dual-core AMD processor and 4GB of RAM giving us a lot more horsepower than a typical Atom-powered Netbook.

Of course, all this comes at a price, and at $599, we'd be tempted to just jump into a thin 13-inch Intel ULV model, such as the 13-inch Toshiba T135. At the right price, we'd be tempted to make this 11-inch Netbook-plus our go-to travel system, but as is, it's a tough sell beyond Ferrari fans only.

In this week's preholiday edition of the Digital City Podcast, we all get ready for our one long break of the year, accompanied by special guest smartphone guru (and new CNET East Coaster) Bonnie Cha.

Scott and Joe have seen James Cameron's "Avatar"; Bonnie and Julie haven't. We also discuss Intel's new Atom Netbooks, 3D Blu-ray on the PS3, holiday smartphones, and upcoming laptops and phones at CES 2010. Best of all, Scott gets a chance to show off his one and only Batjew T-shirt. Watch it on video or you'll miss it.

Plus, don't forget to enter a comment to win a 16GB Zune HD of your very own. Happy holidays!

Related links:
>>3D Blu-ray standard outlined, includes PS3
>>New Atom Netbooks: Strange timing for shoppers?
>>CES 2010 Preview: Cell phones
>>CES 2010 Preview: Desktops and laptops

>>Watch the Digital City live every Monday at 3 p.m. EST on CNET Live!
>>Subscribe to Digital City on iTunes
>>Join the Digital City Facebook fan page
>>Need more? Follow Dan on Twitter! And Scott!

(Credit: Intel)

It's an exciting and interesting morning for Netbook fans, as full official details and even system reviews of new Netbooks bearing Intel's next-generation Atom processors have emerged.

However, does the timing annoy you?

While we've known new Atom Netbooks were around the corner for months now, the announcement hits just three days before Christmas Eve and after the last weekend of holiday shopping. Does the new Atom make you want a new Netbook or regret getting one this holiday? On the other hand, do the modest gains from the new Atoms make you want an ultralow-voltage thin-and-light with a faster processor instead, or a next-gen smartphone/smartbook/tablet that could do HD video just as well?

Or does it simply not matter to you? Early reviews indicate that the new Atom N450's gains are mild, and mainly assist the battery life of Netbooks to go even longer between charges than they already do.

Sound off--we'd love to hear your thoughts as consumers.

The newest version of Asus' popular Netbook, the $379 Eee PC 1005PE, is the first system to reach our labs with Intel's new Atom N450 processor--the long-awaited sequel to the Atom N270 and N280 CPUs found in nearly every other Netbook.

This new 1005 model, thanks to the re-engineered Atom platform, is extremely efficient, and ran for more than 8 hours on our grueling battery drain test. That's extremely impressive, although the N450 was more of a mixed bag in our performance tests, beating other Netbooks in some categories, but matching or falling slightly behind in others.

The Eee PC 1005PE definitely scores points for being the first laptop out of the gate with the new N450 CPU, and its battery life is nothing short of amazing--making this a very useful system for serious road warriors. But we would have liked to see a 1005 that was more fully upgraded across the board.

Read the full review here.

The first Netbook we've seen with the Atom N450 is the Asus Eee PC 1005PE.

Intel has officially announced the next generation of its popular Atom CPUs for Netbooks. While probably the worst-kept secret in personal computing, unveiling the Atom N450 (previously codenamed "Pinetrail") weeks before the upcoming CES trade show means Intel doesn't want this key announcement to get lost amid the thousands of new products set to debut in January.

One of the brightest spots in the consumer electronics industry over the past two years has been the growth of Netbooks. These small, low-power, low-cost laptops are popular with almost every segment of the computer-buying public, from students, to business travelers, to seniors.

But, these machines had became largely commodity products, with identical components and features, driving prices down to $299 (or less, with subsidized deals from mobile phone providers). More recently, PC makers have attempted to create new tiers in the Netbook market with high-def displays and improved Nvidia Ion graphics, or even competing CPUs from AMD and Via. ... Read more

With its attractive deep-red finish and roomy 10-inch screen, this Asus Netbook is a tough bargain to beat.

Update (10:55 a.m. PT): Sorry, folks, looks like the Netbook's already sold out. Stay tuned for a new deal later today! (In the meantime, the two backup deals below are still good.)

When it comes to super bargains, I have to confess I rarely think of Best Buy. But the store's been rocking some pretty solid deals of late.

For example, today only (and while supplies last), Best Buy has the 10-inch Asus Eee PC 1005HAB Netbook for $229.99. That's not including sales tax or shipping (the latter will run you $11.50).

This isn't your average, boring, black Netbook: the sale model has a stylish "deep red" lid and wrist rest.

Other than that, however, the specs are pretty standard: Intel Atom N270 processor, 1GB of RAM, 160GB hard drive, and the aforementioned 10.1-inch screen. The OS: Windows XP Home, not Windows 7.

That's the only real ... Read more

On this week's Digital City, we discuss Google's rumored new phone; get to the bottom of the current iMac shipping delays, and go over the best games you can play on a Netbook (all after Dan had to get up at 5am to shoot a local news TV segment on his favorite holiday games).

Then, things take a turn for the weird with a solid gold PlayStation 3, rumored to be under Jay-Z's Xmas tree; and a surprising NYC find -- a Mario-themed pizza place that is calling out for a visit from the ghost of intellectual property lawyers past (see below).

Related links:
>>Is Google making a phone?
>>Top 20 Netbook games
>>Top 5 Holiday Game Picks (CW11 morning News)

>>Watch the Digital City live every Monday at 3pm EST on CNET Live!
>>Subscribe to Digital City on iTunes
>>Join the Digital City Facebook fan page
>>Need more? Follow Dan on Twitter! And Scott!

Not so long ago, buying a laptop was as simple as deciding whether you wanted a Netbook (11 inches or smaller) or not (12 inches and larger). Suddenly, however, it's getting to be a fairly confusing time to be in the market for an 11-inch laptop. Why do we say that? Simply put, this size used to be considered a "Netbook" category, mainly populated by Intel Atom processors. With the rise of ULV (ultra low-voltage) processors, however, a number of small-screened laptops--anywhere from 11 to 15 inches in size--have emerged, all thin and light, generally lacking optical drives, and running one of a variety of single- or dual-core ULV processors.

You need to know that the laptop you choose can have a greatly varying performance depending on the type of ULV processor it has. Take, for instance, the Toshiba Satellite T115-S1105. With an 11.6-inch screen, it's roughly the same size as the Nvidia Ion-toting HP Mini 311 ... Read more