Give me a cheap laptop with wifi. Just for typing text, checking e-mail, reading. I do not need 200 gigabytes for storage (I have seperate harddisks), I do not need fancy programs. I want a text-editor and long battery-life.

With the current trends — like the 100-dollar laptop — it seems that finally the market is catering to my desire…

But then for once, behave accordingly… you think. (Except for books I hardly ever buy unnecessary things. I do not need a new computer).

L. said: ¨Why don you buy one of those mini-laptops? You can even install OSX on them. Take mobile internet, that’s also just 20 euro’s a month now. It’s just what you need¨

Yesterday I bought an Asus EEE PC. The smallest one. I am writing this post on it.

It’s incredible. It’s ridiculous. F. said: “But it’s a toy!”

It feels like a cheap toy. But the cheap toy is so powerful that it just delivers all you need, fast internet, listening to internetradio, watching television, all the websites. Everything is there. Weighs less than a kilo.

I am sure it is much more powerful than I now realize. It has a full Linux-installation and KDE. It’s a while since I used Linux, and the ASUS-launcher that is built on top of it is yes easy to use. Yet it closes off clear access to everything else. (Actually just somewhere on the last page of the manual there a sentence that tells you how to open a terminal from the launcher). So I haven’t figured out how to install new software, and even haven figured out yet where the simple texteditor lives. The computer has OpenOffice, but I prefer a simpler editor for typing. Because I tried out pico in the terminal, and saved a text, and then opened that text by clicking the icon the simpler editor started – but it’s not part of the Asus-gui. No idea where it is.

Of course I checked out how to install OSX. I must say I am a bit daunted by it. It’s something for people who like to spend an evening or two tinkering. I will leave it. Linux is also fine.

There is another reason for not installing OSX.

I thought this Eee Pecee would be for typing, and for on the road. (That will be so good. No spinning harddisk, just all cheap stuff, light and small, not luxurious at all. It means carrying it around without any worries).

But actually, this computer foremost ressembles a portable transistor radio. When cooking you take it to the kitchen to have a bit of music. Or you sit down to watch the news in between. (It’s a radio with television and internet-capabilities). Or to Skype. (It’s a telephone too).

It’s like a radio because the wireless connection is the center of this machine.

So no OSX because a lot of the ‘internet television’ works so much smoother under Linux compared to on a Mac. And the screen is actually quite nice to watch clips fullscreen.

A-and, typing on the small keyboard is okay for me (I have small fingers).