New Generation of Writer's Computers?

I thought some of you tech-heads might find this interesting. A new generation of sub-notebook computers is coming out. Tiny, lightweight, flash-memory based (which means faster boot-up times and no extra space for distracting games and whatnot) and best of all, unlike the Sony Vaio's and Panasonic Lifebooks, these new subnotebooks are dirt cheap! In the $200-$500 range, these things are cheaper than some of the new Alphasmarts. It seems that they are all offshoots of the One Laptop Per Child project.

They are typically under two pounds, and tiny. Less than 10 inches with 7 inch screens, but full-size or close keyboards. A couple of examples are the

Asus EEPC 701, which should be like $200


The Nanobook, a little more expensive but with longer battery life and some sort of weird slot to the right of the screen that lets you put different modules in...

Perfect for Nanowrimo?

And the Packard Bell Easynote XS


And there are strong rumors that Mac will be jumping on this bandwagon.

And as a writer, I'm glad! I was getting concerned about the prevelance of thumb-keyboards in ultra-mobile PC's. I bought an old Mobilepro 790 for portable writing, but I'm worried about it failing. These new subnotebooks seem great.

Thoughts? If you guys could have the perfect writing computer (tongue-in-cheek jokes about pen-and-paper and typewriters aside...) what would it contain? I'm thinking for me that these subnotebooks look pretty close...

Is anyone else as excited as me, or did I waste a thread?

All of which brings up an interesting point. What do you folks like to write with when you're on the go?

Some people like pen and paper, and I envy them, but I need a keyboard. And not just a thumb keyboard, but a full QWERTY touch-typable one. The keyboard on the old Mobilepro's is very comfortable for me at about 90% of full size.

I liked these subnotebooks because they are small and lightweight but have a full keyboard. I am often away from home for 14-16 hours a day, so having something I can tote in a messenger bag or backpack with the rest of my stuff is a must. I also like clamshell as opposed to PDA/external keyboard because I want to be able to write on a trainor a bus or wherever. Not that I actually do, but I like the option.

Other people like to write at home, but for those of you who do like to write on the go, and who like to type, what's your solution? Alphasmart? Mobilepro? Something else? I know there has been threads on this in the past, but tech gets better every year...

Yeah, I don't really know anything about the batteries. I have read the 3-5 hour range. But it does not make any sense that one would be unable to purchase spare batteries.

If you can do it, God bless you and more power to you. If I'm forced to write longhand then all sense of flow goes out the window, and I never catch up with my ideas.

If I were trying to write a very sparse story, or one very rich in imagery and word choice, but nevertheless very short, it might be an interesting exercise to go pen-and-paper. That's the only way I can write song lyrics or poetry.