ASUS Eee PC as my e-Book Device

Having no luck in owning a Kindle, I thought I'll just go ahead to get myself an ASUS Eee PC - which not only suits my budget but is of the perfect size and weight. Costing less than USD400 and weighing just about 2 LBS, I have been able to bring it any where I want! The 7" screen is not too small and surfing the web is just so convenient. The screen resolution could be changed from 800x480 to 800x600 with just a click. When reading ebooks, I would switch the wireless off to save battery power.

There are many books in the .PRC (Mobipocket format) and since I have converted my Eee PC into an XP, I have many ebook readers to choose from - and will test them out in the future. After optimizing the PC, I downloaded the free word processor ABIWORD and also a financial software BUDDI, both Open Source FREE programs. While I have several notebook PCs, they have never left the table because of their weight - but Eee PC goes in my bag all the time!

Now I might be getting my second Eee PC because the original came with the LINUX OS and have 40 pre-loaded programs which makes playing and working easy. One of the pre-loaded programs is an ebook reader. It also comes with the Open Office suite which can open, read and save documents compatible with Microsoft Office.

Currently my child uses a MacBook for school but it is too heavy. Eee PC would be ideal as it is robustly built with a solid-state memory FLASH drive!

Technical details:
Product Features
Ultra-compact notebook with full QWERTY keyboard and 7-inch display
Powered by 900 MHz Intel Mobile CPU and pre-installed Linux operating system (compatible with Windows XP)
- Over 40 built-in applications for learn, work and play
- 4 GB solid-state flash memory drive; 512 MB RAM; 10/100 Fast Ethernet; 54g Wi-Fi (802.11b/g)
- Connectivity: three USB 2.0; VGA output; microphone and headphone; Secure Digital card reader

Kindle: I can only DREAM to own one

I have been following the ebook device trend since way back in 2002 and dreamt of owning a good device one day. My very first ebook reading device was the first generation Cybook - and still occasionally use it. To me, Cytale Cybook was more like a tablet PC. I have yet to get hold of their 3rd generation device which seems more powerful. I would love to have that because of its ability to display PDF files which I use extensively for work. So far I have used my old Cybook to read free ebooks only because should I forget to keep it charged, I lose all my data as the device reset to factory setting!

So I waited ... perhaps one day I might buy the Gen 3 device. Last week I was pleasantly surprised to learn about Kindle - the wireless ebook device by Amazon.com. But to my great disappointment, this device could not be sold nor used outside of USA. I hope this could change in the future. As an avid reader, I have bought many books from Amazon.com and paid a lot in shipping fees to ship those books all the way to Asia! Then having to wait 2 weeks for delivery was not good experience either.

Kindle would be the ideal device for me if I had lived in the US! So I bought an Asus eee PC instead and is now using that as an eBook device as well as an ultra mobile PC (which I paid an equivalent of USD385). I have bought 2 ebooks from Mobipocket.com and enjoyed reading them on the eee PC very much. However, the battery could only last 3 hours or less. So until I could get a better eBook device - I would be quite happy to use the eee PC as my preferred reader. But I really envy those who are able to own a Kindle!

ASUS Eee PC 4G Notebook PC (7", 512 MB RAM), Pearl White