First off, you should know that later versions of WoW, such as wrath of the lich king have been optimized for multicore computers. The graphics are still run pretty easily by a modest graphics card. If he insists on getting a netbook (which I wouldn't for any type of gaming), then I would steer him toward one the newer ones with an AMD dual core. Single core will not work well for WoW.
Looking at the options, it looks like a netbook approaching gaming levels of performance will be in the $400-500 range. At which point, he would be better off getting an entry level 15" lappy as you would gain CPU performance in exchange for size.
Netbooks are neat little devices, but nobody games on them. They are meant for long battery life and...