Have you checked out the Asus Eee PCs? My blogging buddy Mervyn over at BlogBytes has covered this device a couple of times (see “A Second Laptop” and “Budget Notebooks“).

The attractiveness of the Eee resides in its weight and its price. For $400, you get an XP or Linux notebook that weighs two pounds. A slice of pepperoni pizza from Costco weighs more than that! The display is seven inches on the diagonal — smaller than your desktop flat panel to be sure, but larger than that iPhone screen you squint at every time a new message comes in. RAM is 512 megabytes, a bit on the pokey side if you’re running major apps like Dreamweaver or Microsoft Office; but that’s where you have to think outside the box. The Eee isn’t intended to be a primary computer — it lets you compute on the go.

Storage comes in the form of a solid state drive — from two gigabytes to eight. SSDs tend to be hardier than standard hard drives, which means you can lug them around inside your notebook without being so concerned about the normal dings and dents of a life well-lived. Plus, they’re easy on power. The four-cell batteries in the Eee will give you about three hours of compute usage.

The WiFi 802.11b/g is built in for wireless connection. The system includes a bunch of software for writing (Google Docs), emailing (Web Mail), chatting (Skpe and Messenger) and listening (Internet Radio). It includes a built-in card reader, camera, speakers and microphone.

This is the kind of computer you could take with you on your travels around the world. You can post photos, do blogging, chat with family members, and stop worrying about whether it’ll get ripped off or dented on that crowded bus in Uganda.