Verizon may have “the Network,” but their netbook deal is horrible.  If anyone decides to buy a netbook from Verizon you’ll only discover that you wasted your money, your time and you’ll only end up wishing that you never did it in the first place.
How am I so convinced?

Walt “Old School” Mossberg got his hands on the HP netbook as part of his review in the Wall Street Journal and had the following to say:

The hardware has some notable downsides. The keyboard feels too flexible, and some symbols on the function keys are hard to read. The mouse buttons are awkwardly arrayed on the sides of the touch pad, not below it. And the speaker, while loud, is tinny. Also, the machine has a bunch of craplets, mostly links to H-P Web sites or to companies like eBay and Pandora.

Still, if you travel a lot and like using a cellular modem, the machine’s $200 price is compelling, so long as you can handle the wimpy battery and small hard disk.

I’m not saying that you should abandon the idea.  There’s just no way that you should pay $200 and get a 10 inch netbook with a three cell battery when you have a much better alternative.  For $329, you can buy an MSI Wind U120.  This netbook has a 10.2 inch screen, 1GB of RAM, 6 cell battery, webcam and 160GB hard drive.

AT&T has a selection of USB 3G mobile broadband cards which will allow you to hook up to their network.  They also charge $59.99 for 5GB of data transfer.  You’ll end up paying $129 more dollars, but if you’re going to be using this for two years, the last thing you want to do is have buyers remorse.

1. U135 MSI Wind Netbook Now Available

2. Introducing The MSI Wind U90

3. First Pictures Of The MSI Wind U120

4. Verizon Netbook Will Be Available For $199 With Contract

5. MSI Wind To Get A New Face