:-)

LOL Steve, not jokes but I couldn't help laughing a little when I read that you finally bought the toy for your mother-in-law. :)

-Susan

I also love my netbook. I have a Gateway 11.6" LT3111H I purchased back in the summer. I loved it so much that I bought my girlfriend the same one for Christmas (I think it is a newer model by a few months). It runs fast, the screen is large enough, and the keyboard is a good size. It is sleek and does not seem cheaply made like a lot of the netbooks out there... mainly anything by Asus.

- Nathan

p.s.

I use my netbook as my primary computer and I use my HP laptop as a secondary computer. THAT is how impressed I am by it.

i agree - though if you can plug it into a real keyboard at home and at work that solves that prob.

I know people rant about the size, speed, etc.  Yes, they're difficult to type on (my hands get cramped after a short period) however they have their uses. 

Nothing better for accessing your email while on a vacation or trip.  The netbook is small, lightweight, holds gobs of juice -- mine can go 8 hours on a charge.  And gives you access when you need it.

Its a good internet appliance but definitely not the be-all

i just bought a netbook for my mother in law (no jokes please).

I ended up going with an Acer, which was really NOT what i expected to buy. But when i tried them all out at Staples it was one of the only ones that had a workable keyboard. Some of the others were shocking - like, crap.

Acer... I'm still getting over it.

I love my netbook and use it on extended family trips  It fits right inside my handbag and is so light I do not notice I am carrying it. I prefer it to the Blackberry and Iphone because the screen is large enough that I can comfortably use it.

I have a netbook which has made me pretty happy. I am able to work from my favorite café by the sea or from a park in the summer when I feel I need a break from my desk. 

The keyboard is comfortable and sometimes it seems I can write faster. What I appreciate the most is the light weight and battery life. That, and my mobile Internet is all I need to work on the move. My laptop is grateful to get some rest too. 

-Susan

I do not think netbook keyboards are too small.  I actually prefer a smaller keyboard because I can type faster if my fingers can reach the keys quicker.  I don't think I have unusually small hands, I'm statistically average height, 5'10".  I tried the HP netbook keyboard at Office Depot and surprisingly found the keys big and spaced-out more than the keys on my ThinkPad laptop.  Toshiba has an OK netbook keyboard, but not great.

My biggest complaint with netbook keyboards, most of them require a Function key to get to "Home" and "End" which makes Shift-Home and Shift-End into Shift-Function-Home and Shift-Function-End.  That's totally unacceptable in my opinion.

Also, most netbooks screens don't have enough pixels in the vertical--most of them (at least right now) only have 600-800px in the vertical.  Again, not really useful for real work.  My other big complaint: netbook manufacturers don't advertise external display resolution/color-depth specifications.  Sure, I see a port on the back, but does anyone really want 1024x600 pixels again on the big 23" widescreen LCD waiting at home, at the office?

These aren't insurmountable obstacles, technologically speaking.  Some of these netbooks have acceptable screens, some have acceptable keyboards.  None have both.  I think the mistake is consumers and manufacturers see these devices almost like disposable playthings.

Any way you look at it, shrinking laptops or adding features to netbooks, our computers continue to shrink in size while increasing in power.  The ideal then, at least in the short term, is a netbook-size computer you can easily carry with you, that of course comes with the necessary sacrifices while on the go (ex: small screen) that is faster than yesterday's laptop, plugs into that gigantic 1080p (or larger) LCD on your desk, and connects to all your favorite peripherals.  Your favorite wireless mouse, your favorite keyboard, your favorite speakers, etc.

Touchpads and CPU-warmed keyboards were (are) still annoying, but good enough for the era of laptops.  But in 2010, with more cheap netbooks out there (with cheap keyboards, cheap LCDs) we will want keyboards and mice and external displays on our desk again, like we did back before laptops in the 90s.  This is why I think Logitech ($LOGI) looks like a good buy right now.

definitely buying one for my mother in law, then!