Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I've been using this Asus Netbook for about a month now, so I thought I'd give my initial impression of this device to help future buyers make a informed decision. First of buying a netbook was not my first choice, as I already have a 17" Toshiba laptop. However recently a friend/fellow grad student of mine purchased an Ipad and was showing it off. Out of jealousy I decided to get a tablet as well, but after reading about them online, got diverted to purchasing a netbook instead. I wanted a mobile computing device(since I walk or bike to school, mall, downtown etc, and a 17" laptop is just too heavy) on which to check mail do minor document editing, maybe play a game or too. For these reasons a netbook seemed a nicer, more productive alternative than a tablet. Now that you know the reason I bought this let me get to the pros and cons of the Asus netbook. Pros 1. Its light and small. I had a HP mini back in 2008(which I gave to my sister) and it was at least 35 percent more weighty. The Asus could even fit in my jacket pocket. I feel that it is much easier and less delicate to carry than a tablet. 2. Asus Brand name. Asus is the most reliable company when it comes to making laptops. It even tops Apple in reliability(really! google it), even though all laptops seem to be made by Foxxcon(?). 3. I installed Ubuntu Linux Distro on it and everything worked without any additional work. 4.The battery life. Currently I can squeeze anywhere between 3 to 4 hours out of the battery. However this will go down as the battery ages. 5. Colors. I like the color choices that come with netbook. I went for the blue one. 6. The hardware seems to be robust. I've watched movies online, while editing office documents and having 7-10 tabs open in firefox and the laptop worked great. However I'm looking to upgrade the total RAM to at least 2GB. There were also things that I did not like about the netbook. Cons 1. The Keyboard. They call it the Chiclet keyboard and I feel it is quite small, even for a netbook of this size. As I mentioned earlier I had a HP mini before and it has a much better, roomier Keyboard than this one. The keys also make a "springy" sound that I don't like. It reminds me somehow of the old IBM keyboards. It is difficult but eventually one gets used to typing on this netbook. 2. Windows 7. The windows is the one really bad addition to this netbook. Don't get me wrong, I love windows 7, just don't like the version installed here. With just 1 GB of RAM, windows starts to get sluggish very fast as opposed to Ubuntu. If you are going to use this, I suggest you buy additional RAM to run Windows 7 (even starter) on this machine or do as I did, install a Linux Distro. 3. The power plug. I feel that the power plug and outlet in the netbook are just too fragile and would snap with just a little stress. And since I use this device on my lap and when I'm in bed also, I feel I have to be careful to avoid bending the power plug. 4. Audio input/output. The audio input and output are through the same hole. So I am unable to use my mic whenever I need to skype. And the internal mic is too weak, so that I have to hold the netbook screen next to my face to talk. Will have to purchase a mic/earphone in one combo thing. I hope this will help the reader make a better decision on their purchase. Will update this review after a year.