I really want the Asus Eee PC. It’s tiny (a little bigger than a dvd movie case) and runs a custom version of Linux. The cool thing is, it can play DivX and Xvid videos, which means it is perfect as a J-dorama viewer! It’s relatively cheap too, at $399. The specs are pretty modest, but running Linux, it doesn’t have to be so beefy. And with all the storage on flash memory, the thing boots up in 15 seconds.

I will be following the Eee PC community closely to see how people’s upgrades go (memory, OS, etc). Loading Ubuntu on my old laptop has really turned me on to Linux and has shown me what a great alternative to Windows and OS X it really is. If I get one, I am not sure if I would change the OS to Ubuntu or keep the custom preinstalled version of Linux, Xandros. All the apps are there with the default installation, including Firefox, Thunderbird, Pidgin, Skype, and the movie player. I am not sure if you can add more apps with Xandros, which may lead me to installing Ubuntu, but I will let the Eee PC community work out the details!

You know, this thing would make a really nice e-book reader as well. It’s way more versatile than the similarly priced Sony Reader or forthcoming Amazon Kindle. I bet those two companies aren’t too happy about the Eee PC coming out!

In the end, I probably won’t get one (budget!), but it’s fun to do a little wishful thinking.