New mini notebooks keep hands, air clean

SANTA BARBARA, CALIF. -- If you're like me -- freaked out about germs -- you might be interested in two new subnotebooks that keep things clean for you. One has a keyboard that kills germs on contact. The other creates a bubble of clean air around the system.

One of Samsung's latest "Eee PC killers" -- the new 10.2-inch screen NC10 -- has a "silver nano" antibacterial coating on the keyboard that, like Listerine mouth wash, kills germs on contact. The Samsung NC10 runs XP powered by an Intel Atom microprocessor. It has an 80 GB or 160 GB hard disk, 1.3-megapixel camera, all the wireless trimmings. It also boasts a larger-than-expected keyboard, according to the company. The NC10 ships in the United States in November.

Not to be outdone, ASUS announced a mini-notebook that cleans the air. ASUS's N50 sports an ionizer, which pumps negative ions into the air. The theory is that these icons attach to, and weigh down, airborne dust, dirt and smoke. The N50 is part of the ASUS N series, which includes Super Hybrid Engine power management and the company's SmartLogon facial recognition system. The N50 is higher-end than the Samsung. It's powered by n Intel Core 2 Duo processor, up to 4 GB of RAM and as much as 320 GB hard drive. It also has a 10.2-inch screen and a "multimedia touchpad."

Fellow clean freaks: This is both good news and bad. It's good news, because you never can have enough protection against keyboard germs and dirty air. The bad news is: You've got to choose one or the other.