The second generation of the geek friendly ASUS Eee PC mini-laptop will hit Australian shelves this month, but Linux lovers are set for a double blow - not only has the price gone up by $150 dollars to $RRP649, but the XP version of the Eee is actually cheaper!
APC had the rundown on this strange state of affairs - pointing out that the Eee PC 900 loaded with XP will cost only $599, which means that even with the Windows XP license, it's $50 cheaper than the Linux version. The Linux version gets 20GB of storage to compensate, in comparison to the 12GB in the XP version. But still, rather odd.
I'd been hanging out for the 2nd gen Eee because they've kept the same small form factor but increased the screen real estate by about an inch to 8.9 inches by moving the speakers away from the sides of the screen. But I have to admit, I'm wondering whether I should snap up a $500 first gen unit rather than ponying up for the 900.
Here's our original review of the first Eee PC - it rocked our socks. :)
Got an opinion on whether the new Eee will be worth the extra $150 - or whether to go for the cheaper XP version? Let us know in comments.

EDIT: It seems I fail at basic subtraction - the XP version of the Eee 900 is $50 cheaper than the Linux version, not $150 as I originally wrote. Apologies!

Via our friends at Melbourne radio station RRR's computer show, Byte into IT, comes this link with two nice bits of information for fans of the ASUS Eee PC mini-laptop. One - there's an Eee PC blog. And two - some kind soul has customised the popular Linux distro Ubuntu for the Eee PC. The Eee PC blogged about that here, and points interested readers towards the EeeUser Wiki for eeeXubuntu here.
One feature which the eeeXubuntu creators have worked on is simplifying the Eee PC's wireless, which sounds great as it was a stumbling block for me and several other uses I've spoken to.


eeeXubuntu: Ubuntu for the ASUS EeePC [EeePC Blog]

I got an email overnight from ASUS PR letting me know that their Linux based Eee PC mini-laptop has been released in black. In my review of the Eee PC I said I'd fallen for its pearly white iPod looks, but if you're more Vader than iPod, the black one could be for you.