Asus Eee PC 900

We'd recommend leaving it as is - the whole point of the Eee was to be a stripped down and cheap version of a full laptop, and the gradually upward-creeping price is purely down to people clamouring for the more advanced features of their existing laptops. Linux will do everything this laptop is intended for.

But we understand many users will want the flexibility that Windows XP brings, and it won't cost you any extra if you opt for it to be pre-installed on the Eee PC 900. Instead, the Windows version makes up its licensing costs by replacing the 16GB secondary hard disk with an 8GB model - if you have a copy of XP SP2 lying around you could buy the superior Linux model and simply install Windows yourself.

We've no doubt that many people are going to hail the Asus Eee 900 as another rip-roaring success and, at least in some ways, we'd tend to agree. But before you rush out and buy one, bear in mind that it's not without its issues: battery life is pretty poor by ultraportable standards; there's still not that much storage space; and chubby-fingered users are well advised to try before they regret their buy.

Finally, although that price tag initially looks very reasonable, and especially so given the various upgrades, it's beginning to tread on the toes of the cheapest fully-fledged Windows laptops.

But, frankly, for all its deficiencies, it really hasn't got much competition. The larger screen makes a monumental difference to its usability, and we think the additional cost is worth paying for that - just. We wouldn't buy it as your main laptop, but as a featherweight yet robust supplement to an existing laptop or desktop PC, it's still a bit of a steal.

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Author: Sasha Muller