I go this little beastaround 6 months ago, the model has upgraded slightly in the interim but I am still loving this little thing. A little over $ 300 and you get a full powered Windows XP computer that can do virtually anything you want except high powered gaming and possibly some super heavy lifting stuff. I kicked it up to 2 gigs RAM, dropped in a 500 gig drive and added bluetooth just for fun, but performance was perfectly acceptable even before I did that. I especially like the 5-6 hour (real world) battery life with the 6 cell battery.
One of the most interesting revelations to me was the portability issue. I’m a big guy and a 10-12 lb 17 inch notebook is not that much to lift. The fact that this weight around 2 lbs is nice but inconsequential, the *real *portability issue is simply the tiny form factor. Anyone can grab these with one hand in a neoprene sleeve throw it in the car and off you go. It can fit on any table or desk or bar top you want to use. The missing optical drive is of almost no consequence to me as all my media files are on my hard drive including movies, and I really only use optical drives for software loading these days. If I need CD-DVD access I can easily attach a portable CD-DVD or share one off the network attached to a desktop for the rare instances I need optical access.
Seconded. I’ve been using an EeePC 900 for exactly a year now, and it’s handled everything I’ve asked it to. Making small laptops inexpensive is one of the best things that ever happened to computers.
I am. I have an Acer Aspire One with Linpus Linux. I totally love it.
It’s not my main computer, of course, but it sits near the TV when I’m home, ready to do a quick IMDb lookup or anything else I need. It goes in my briefcase when I go to work, or my backpack if I’m off to anywhere else.
It only has a Solid State Drive, which isn’t that big, but that’s okay. I keep all my files “in the cloud” (on Google Docs) so they are always accessible, and I don’t have to worry about the potential fragility of a spinning disk.
And it’s nice to NEVER have to worry about a virus…TRM
I, too, have an Acer Aspire. Mine’s the bottom of the line white one, half a gig of RAM and 6G SSD. I got it from the grocery store. I love the portability, love the durability, hate the Linpus. A couple weeks ago I loaded Ubuntu Netbook Remix. Puts the Linpus to shame. Much better looking, much smoother running, oh-so-much-easier software installs.
Tim R. Mortiss, the extra-life battery is excellent. I can run many hours away from an outlet. I don’t even bring the regular battery with me anymore.
I have an Eee 900A that I picked up new for around $160 a few months ago. It’s been absolutely great.
Shortly after receiving it, I installed Easy Peasy, and haven’t regretted it. It’s much slicker than the Linux distribution that comes pre-installed, and everything Just Works.
I love being able to just throw my Eee in the car console, in a bag, or just about anywhere. And I worry about it a lot less than I would an $800 laptop. It’s an amazing value, and one of the better discretionary purchases I’ve made lately.
I got an Acer Aspire One in April. I’m using it right now. It’s so great for traveling; I hate lugging a full-size laptop around.
I was pleasantly surprised about the battery life. I just use the original battery that came with the machine, but it actually lasts longer (a little under 4 hours) than my full-size laptop’s battery.
And it’s small enough to fit in my tiny backpack. I love it.
I have an Acer Aspire 1 running XP, fairly bottom of the line model, the $299 one from BJs Club…
It performs exactly as I need it, a box to check email and light surfing, and I have an 8 gig SD microchip in a USB adaptor that I have a selection of books, music and videos on, that I put together for when I am staying in hospital next month. I have a good selection of music in a playlist for sleeping, and all 3 of the Dr Mabeuse movies by Fritz Lang, From Hell and 2 audiobooks I havent listened to yet [a new copy of Suetonius Lives of the 12 Caesars and Bujold’s Sharing Knife 4]
I have a much zippier laptop that I can game on, if I feel like lugging it around. I also dont carry my kindle around because I read ebooks on my cell phone.
I could surf the net on my cell phone, but the screen is microscopic, and it is easier to check maps and such on the netbook. We named it Narcissus after one of teh secretaries of Claudius =)
