A cute portable for writers

During the last week I have been evaluating an Asus Eee PC for some of our mobile users who need something more than a PDA but less than a laptop. While I'm not sure it will suit our needs at work, anyone looking for a very small, full-fledged PC may wish to check it out. The standard units have 512mg of ram, a 2, 4, or 8 GB flash drive, WiFi and Ethernet. The 7" screen is only 800x480 but is sharp and you can plug an external monitor at it's native resolution.

This thing comes pre-loaded with a stripped-down version of Xandros Linux, Open Office, Firefox, Thunderbird, Pidgin (IM) along with some games and toys. An XP version is planned for spring. The keyboard is a bit small and takes some getting used to. But, plug in a USB keyboard and mouse and a monitor and you have a full size work machine for home.

And you can take it anywhere without lugging a laptop bag. Prices in the US range from $300 to $500 - no other PC can touch that yet.

A couple links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASUS_Eee_PC
http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=3829
http://www.eeeuser.com/

Or google it.

If you are in the market for a good, mobile, writing/surfing/chatting PC, and don't need Windows, this is worth investigating. If you are a geek, check the eeeuser.com forums and wikis for what else you can do with it. A caution: the "Surf" models have a smaller battery.

Jamie