The search for the perfect light laptop that you can carry around anywhere goes on and on. When I reviewed the extremely cost-effective £199 Asus computer in last week's Guardian Technology I was intending to focus on the newly released PC 900 version but it got delayed in the post and didn't arrive until a a day after we went to press. Which was a shame because the 900 is a big improvement in terms of use-ability . OK, it is slightly bigger, a little bit heavier and, yes, quite a bit more expensive at around £330/£340 on the web but the advantages - a bigger and much more user-friendly 8.9 inch screen, a much better touch mouse pad, better screen resolution and a 1.3 megapixel web camera justify the extra cost. As with the basic Asus PC 2G at £199 it includes a stunning array of (open source) business, educational and recreational software including Open Office, spreadsheets, painting, typewriting, Skype, internet radio, WiFi etc) and remains stunning value for money. But if you are intending to use it intensively then it is worth paying the extra for the 900 model.
There are only three serious downsides. Battery life of only two or three hours (depending on how you use it) means who can't leave the house without a charger, which adds to the weight. Second, the keyboard on the whole range is a fraction too small for effortless typing: which is another way of saying I made even more typos than I do usually - but practice makes it better. Third, all of the three models I tested had moody WiFi connections. Most of the time it was OK but too often it simply wouldn't connect despite repeatedly going through the procedures. This won't be much of a problem for geeks but to the extent that these models are aimed at the 30% of households that are still broadband-less it could be a problem.
The PC 900 I tested came with a keyboard that was loose on the right hand side. If it hadn't been a press trial it would have been a bore sending it back. Otherwise this is -- subject to the caveats -- the machine I have been looking for that I can carry around without being too aware of the weight knowing I can lift up the lid and carry on working at the nearest (free) public or private WiFi hot-spot: the most satisfying small computer since the Psion series of fond memory. It looks like we are in for a whole new generation of cheap light-weight laptops (see news of the new version of the pioneering OLPC below) which can only be good news.
