Fujitsu and Toshiba on Tuesday made their debut in the U.S. netbook market with mini-laptops that are unlikely to stand out among the many rivals already competing for consumers' wallets.

The Toshiba NB205 and the Fujitsu M2010 have 10.1-inch screens that have become a standard among netbooks. The Toshiba, however, packs a full-size keyboard in its system, as Lenovo has done with its S12.

Both have Intel Atom processors, which are in the majority of netbooks shipping today. However, Toshiba takes a wee step forward with the slightly faster 1.66-GHz Atom N280 versus the 1.6-GHz N270. But the speed bump is unlikely to be noticed by users.

Both systems come with Windows XP Home edition, which is in more than 90% of netbooks, and 1 GB of system memory, which can be expanded to 2 GB in the Fujitsu machine. The mini-laptops also come with 160-GB hard drives and Bluetooth and Wi-Fi wireless support.

The Toshiba NB205 appears a bit more mobile friendly. The system comes with a six-cell battery that the company claims delivers nine hours of power. However, the mini-laptop is slightly heavier than the Fujitsu model, 2.9 pounds versus 2.5 pounds.

The Toshiba system also has an impact sensor that protects the hard drive when the mini-laptop is jostled on the road. In addition, one of the computer's three USB ports includes "sleep-and-charge," a functionality that enables users to charge a device connected to the portable while it's turned off.

Both systems include a Webcam, microphone, and speakers, but the Toshiba machine is more stylized, with a choice of colors and a textured finish. The Fujitsu system is only available in a glossy ruby red.

The Fujitsu M2010 is also more expensive, starting at $449. The Toshiba NB205 starts at $349.

Netbook sales have been growing rapidly since their debut in 2007 with the Asustek Eee PC. Today, netbooks are the fastest growing PC category, having seen double-digit growth rates despite the economic downturn. In the United States, Acer, Asustek, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Lenovo, and others sell netbooks.

In entering the market, Toshiba and Fujitsu are already behind the latest trends. Netbooks are getting larger, with Acer offering an 11.6-inch model and Lenovo getting ready to launch a 12-inch system. In addition, Lenovo recently announced the option of having an Nvidia Ion graphics processor for high-definition content, and Dell offers HDMI ports for playing Web video on a digital TV.

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