I've finally got my hands on one of the glorious Asus mini notebooks, the snappily titled Eee PC, and so far so good - the little white chap is unlikely ever to be wrested from this grasp.

Sadly though, there is stiff competition out there. I got mine at a briefing with reseller RM and Microsoft where the two discussed how great an educational device it was. Supporting this were videos of teachers and some kids - yeah man, tha' kids! - talking about how much they all liked it too. Well, they'd better get their own, this one is staying put.

If there is one criticism to make, it is that the keyboard makes me feel a bit like Edward Spoonsforfingers - the little known sequel to Edward Scissorhands. The keys are small and close together. But, realistically, that is taking nit-picking to a high art, the keys are supposed to be small, and the Eee is pitched, well it was at Sneak's early morning briefing, as a companion device.

It may require something of a traveling roadshow if a worker is to get the most out of it - a large additional memory source is almost a necessity and in my case an attachable, large keyboard would be a bonus, but otherwise it is a great bridging device and one sure to draw envious stares on the train. There are other great features to. In the words of one of the kids on the video, "Once I get my work done I can play games on it".

Son, you'll go far in business with that attitude, welcome to the world.

Author: David Neal