[tweakmonkey]

I ordered an eeePC last week because I needed a cheap laptop (I have none) and thought it'd be a fun hackable toy.

It hasn't arrived yet (UPS tracking says: "THE PACKAGE IS DELAYED DUE TO A TRAIN DERAILMENT")

But check this out from Engadget:
Asus rolls out Eee PC in Japan, Windows XP standard - Engadget

For $68 more, Japan's version has another 4 GB of storage *and* includes Windows XP, standard. Pretty neat, really. I plan to put either OSX 10.5 or Windows XP on mine as soon as it arrives... assuming the train derailment didn't damage it.

[jake]

Make sure to write up a detailed review. I am looking for a small laptop that I can huck in a backpack when I go traveling or snowboarding for a weekend.

EDIT: If you throw XP or OSX on it you are gonna be tight for space.

[ThatHideousStrength]

Please let me know how 10.5 works out if you do. I want to get this and install it in my car as a carpc.

[tweakmonkey]

Originally Posted by jake

Make sure to write up a detailed review. I am looking for a small laptop that I can huck in a backpack when I go traveling or snowboarding for a weekend.

EDIT: If you throw XP or OSX on it you are gonna be tight for space.

There are lite versions of Windows XP that are as small as 350 MB (maybe smaller), so I don't think space will be too big of a concern even with the 4 GB.

The best things about this notebook are it's very lightweight and durable. I imagine it's the perfect type for the sort of adventures you're talking about. Any normal notebook risks hard drive damage from that type of abuse.

Also it supposedly has a ~3.5 hour battery life which should help a bit.

I plan to do a lot of writing about it once it's arrived.

Originally Posted by ThatHideousStrength

Please let me know how 10.5 works out if you do. I want to get this and install it in my car as a carpc.

The only reason I'm shying away from OSX is because I don't want to pay for more memory. I'll probably at least put Windows on initially.

[Wedge_]

I installed XP on my eeePC, it's very easy, especially if you have a USB CD/DVD drive. Thanks to nLite my install ended up well under 1GB, and it could have been significantly smaller if had removed all the non-essential stuff instead of just most of it. The manual actually included XP install instructions and even a basic "tweaking" guide, plus it had a full set of XP drivers on the CD. Can't argue with that kind of support

[smirnoff]

I was so tempted to get a EEE, but I just can't pull the trigger for some reason.

I look forward to hearing you're thoughts about it.