Verizon to Offer Netbooks May 17th?

Verizon Wireless is said to be jumping on the netbook bandwagon later this month, offering the HP Mini 1151NR netbook at a cost of $199 with a two-year contract (at $40-60 per month). The netbook is rumored to be available on May 17th.

This makes sense for Verizon…after all, AT&T already sells netbooks from Acer and Dell. However, the netbooks available at AT&T are priced lower (as low as $50) than the HP model Verizon will be offering. Maybe Verizon will decide to lower the initial price of the netbook… they end up making a killing on the monthly data charges anyway, right?

May 17th also happens to be the date that Verizon's MiFi portable hotspot router will be available. And guess what? We just happen to have a review unit. Stay tuned for a hands-on review.