I took my time before eventually buying one of these and now, with retrospect, I wish I had done it sooner. The A150L is extremely well built and very stylish - these things are becoming almost an IT accessory item à la Apple ..(insert latest gadget here)... I bought one because my work laptop is a 17" widescreen Toshiba - not suitable for carrying around and something that I really do not want to see broken or stolen. The A150L fits well into most small satchels. I've even taken mine to meetings inside an A4 portfolio. I would be upset but not devastated if it was dropped or stolen, given the low price.
The processor is quite fast, and with this stripped-down version of Linux running (Fedora 7-based distro called "Linpus"), it boots up and shuts down in seconds. All of the pre-installed applications (OpenOffice, etc) run quickly and the 1Gb of memory and 120Gb of hard drive are more than enough for anything I'll use it for. The built-in wifi is straight-forward and easy to use.… more »

I took my time before eventually buying one of these and now, with retrospect, I wish I had done it sooner. The A150L is extremely well built and very stylish - these things are becoming almost an IT accessory item à la Apple ..(insert latest gadget here)... I bought one because my work laptop is a 17" widescreen Toshiba - not suitable for carrying around and something that I really do not want to see broken or stolen. The A150L fits well into most small satchels. I've even taken mine to meetings inside an A4 portfolio. I would be upset but not devastated if it was dropped or stolen, given the low price.
The processor is quite fast, and with this stripped-down version of Linux running (Fedora 7-based distro called "Linpus"), it boots up and shuts down in seconds. All of the pre-installed applications (OpenOffice, etc) run quickly and the 1Gb of memory and 120Gb of hard drive are more than enough for anything I'll use it for. The built-in wifi is straight-forward and easy to use. The built-in webcam is of a high quality and works well in low light. They keyboard's keys are almost full-sized and it feels natural to use. The battery life is good, so long as its shut down when its not used and not left in hibernation. Running Linpus apparently also helps the battery life between charges. The screen is very crisp and I don't even notice its small size when using it. There are two SD slots for cards and a few USB slots (I've used these to charge my phone when travelling!).
There are a few things to keep in mind before buying - the Linux operating system is almost fully functional and fine for using this machine for its intended purpose - a netbook where you can surf the net, check email, chat with friends and do a little work. The pre-installed applications provide all of this functionality, except for a few missing items like Skype (internet/phone calls) and VLC Media Player (a much better media player than that installed). You can add these (and a lot more), but you will need to have at least a basic understanding of Linux to do this, and to unlock the Linux features not offered by the A150L's front interface. Its not difficult and there are loads of sites to help, but ultimately Linux is not Microsoft Windows and adding extras to it can be a bit more fidgety and time-consuming. If you think you might want to add loads of software, especially Microsoft-based applications, and if you're not comfortable with Linux, then you might want to buy the version running Microsoft Windows XP.
The buttons on the A150L's mousepad are on either side of the pad to save space and, as such, it takes a bit of getting on to. I was comfortable with it after a few days, but its something to be mindful of.
To summarise, if you're computing on-the-go and you want a well-loaded, well-built, stylish netbook then you can't go far wrong with one of these. The Linux operating system is well-loaded with applications and its very fast and easy to use (also you'll never have to worry about viruses/malware). The battery-life is good and the machine is easy and natural to use. I wouldn't be without it.