Underground Media: Reloaded

My favorite little Eee PC is on-sale on Bestbuy.com in 3 DIFFERENT FLAVORS!!! Well, only two of them are manly. I openly reject and oppose the pink. Even though I am color-blind. If Best Buy is selling it... Dude. That's gotta mean something. Too cool, man. Too cool...

So I finally got my hands on one of those Asus Eee PC's today. Weighing in at a whopping 2lbs, with a 6" screen, a solid-state flash drive, low-voltage Celeron processor and 512MB Ram, this thing is a bargain at $299. And did I mention that it runs Linux? I have to admit that I was skeptical about the Eee after watching the Linux fanboy stampede. You could install Linux on a microwave and those guys would go nuts. I figured that with a weak processor and limited memory, it would only be an exercise in frustration. Was I ever wrong! I got to play with the Eee for three hours today and I was really impressed. It's designed to be sort of a small web browsing appliance, not an all-purpose PC. Thus the UI is very basic and task-oriented. You just click a button to "browse the web" or "make a call with Skype". The built-in wi-fi works reliably, the system boots lightning fast, and if you really want to use it as a true linux system with a full KDE ...

Without hesitation I must say that Windows newest OS, the mighty Vista, is a pain in my rear end. To preface this, I will disclose that I am a linux user (Since 2002). It doesn't mean that I hate Windows or Microsoft, it's just that I prefer customizing and controlling my computer, as well as the security benefits inherent to Linux. No anti-spyware, anti-virus, or anti-malware software is necessary. So with that stated, my adventure started when my wife's laptop overheated and literally cracked our glass-top dining-room table in half. It broke off, dropped to the floor and shattered. Along with the laptop. So after a few days of weighing her needs, we decided to get her a super-cheap ($399) laptop from the local Big Box. She only does web browsing, email, some photos, and a bit of genetics work, so the Acer 3610 with the Celeron processor was just fine. Or so I thought. SIMPLY BOOTING INTO WINDOWS VISTA WAS ENOUGH TO BRING THIS COMPUTER TO IT'S KNEES! And this...

The elegant OQO 02 It's the perfect marriage between a handheld and a laptop. No cellphone function, but it also supports a built-in aircard for wireless anywhere. And that also means that you can use skype for calls ANYWHERE. Expensive at $1500, but it's still the coolest. The OQO 01 supported Linux, and the word is that this one will too. Even better...