Like you I had dabbled with various so called “ultra portable” devices and the latest “ultra thin” laptops. And they all left a naggy feeling that I had been sold short. MacBook Air – too marketing led, Dell Adamo – you what? Voodoo – you have to be kidding!!! all of these seemed to be asthetically driven, form over function – still too big for a ‘take everywhere’ attitude. On the other end of the scale, devices like the OQO and Samsung Q1 were very portable but too compromised to be of real, every day use (apart from watching videos in which case they are better than Archos or iPhones).

I plumbed for a Samsung NC110 in the end because I could wait for the delivery times of the Lenovo and I have to say it rocks. OK, you have to give cut it some slack in the multi-tasking front – like it doesn’t and big files / applications tend to slow life down as well (the Atom is no powerhouse CPU) but then who doesn’t need to slow down a bit in today’s hectic world. The graphics are fine too for most tasks and as you say the battery life is the big selling point! (why can’t normal laptops achieve anywhere near this kind of battery life?). Luckily I can do a whole working day with mine – on all the time only topping up if I want to do something on the train home.

All in all I would recommend people try a Netbook – most normal users should be able to use one without much trouble or conversion. With Intel bring out new low power CPUs I expect this sector of the laptop market to grow big time.