First, it's excellent ebook reader. With the screen brightness turned down a few notches, the battery out, and the wifi radio off, it is light, cool, and eminently readable. The print size can be set at any level; the text can be rotated so that the machine can be held like a book. I's weight is somewhat less than that of a typical hard-back. FBReader keeps track of your place in the book so that all one needs to do is open the program to resume reading at the correct place and close it when tired of reading. A simple menu system allows one to have as many books on the computer as one likes, and the program keeps track of your location in each book.
Of course, the same features that make the Eee 900 a superb ebook reader also make it a fine browser. It connects with wifi networks readily. Firefox works as expected with "Noscript" and "Adblocker" add-ons to improve security. Linux is not plagued with viruses so I have not bothered to use the anti-virus software on the machine -- though it is nice to know it's there. Most wifi networks that I'll use will probably not be WPA or WEP protected, but that does not particularly worry me. I've got all open ports locked down tightly so I don't think this is a very vulnerable system--even in an open environment.
The very best features of the machine are its small size, light weight, and rapid boot-up (25 seconds) or shutdown (<10 seconds). The keyboard is tiny, but I find it no more difficult for typing than a full-sized keyboard--just different. All-in-all it continues to meet all of my expectations of the perfect netbook.
Interestingly, the world market for netbooks seems to be rapidly evolving away from the type of machine I prefer. I was able to get such a great deal on my Eee because the market is moving away from 8.9 inch screens to 10 inches or larger, and away from Linux to Windows XP. The $300-400 price point is holding firm, but even that makes my $215 price seem like quite a bargain.
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