http://cgi.ebay.com/APPLE-LOGO-STICKER-BRUSHED-METAL-CUSTOM-RARE-DECAL_W0QQitemZ190304148667QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item190304148667&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1234%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318%7C301%3A1%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50

They go for 3000RMB here in China with a legit copy of Windows / 16G Ram / Bluetooth / Webcam

Easier than pie to install OSX. Install the EFI Boot CD to a USB CDRom, boot from my disk imaged install DVD, and ready to use in 30 minutes or so.

You do need to remove the printer drivers to install though, and post install a run through with XSlimmer is recommended to trim the fat. Still, with a 16G drive, I still get 5G free after installing iWorks, and usual software like Firefox, Adium, Skype, etc.

I’m typing this on one now!

Quote:
“I believe your Dell Mini 9 has just a 1024 x 600 resolution making it rather cramped for serious work.”

With a 9″ screen.. much higher resolutions would be pointless. There is also no need to normally have multiple windows open side by side. It’s simple to switch from window to window with a keystroke.

For serious work.. you use a fullsize laptop that is a PITA to carry.

“This would not be a practical substitute for my iPhone because it lacks any sort of wide area G3 communications.”

You COULD get a Dell Mini 9 with an internal 3G card.
Dell sold them in the USA with an AT&T deal and in Europe with a Vodaphone deal.

Many of them for sale via the dell outlet, have the AT&T card, or have just the connector but lack the card.
(new ones are currently shipping without the connector)

My dell mini 9 has:
-an aftermarket 3g card (which can also function as a GPS receiver when required)
-64G of SSD storage (love the shock resistance)
-bluetooth
-2 gigs of ram
-9 inch screen

I use it for marine navigation, skype, checking weather/hurricane forecasts, sending emails while sitting in a bar, coffee shop or outside someplace, reading ebooks, listening to audiobooks, writing documents, and occationally web browsing.

It not even close to my “real” computer in power but for what it is meant to be.. with a few minor complaints, it’s great.

Ben:
you say:
“Factor in that an Apple OS X Netbook would probably be a $600-$750 affair running on the same internals as my $260 Dell and you can see where Apple’s healthy profit margin is.
And despite that margin I know that I would gladly pay $750 for such a unit.”

For the life of me, I can’t see why someone would pay $750 for something you can have for $300.

Heck, for $750 I could have even installed $350 worth of 128G SSD in it.

Am keeping an eye on the HP 2140 as it has the larger screen resolution, which is my one gripe with these netbooks.

And by the way, do you have anything not working OS X on the Mini? I’ve seen in your Seesmic video that anything seems to work smoothly.

Having already said that I think Apple should not do netbooks, perhaps I should also say what I think Apple should do.

The elephant in the room is the AT&T monthly connection charge. It’s about $70 per month for an iPhone including the data plan. If you want another data plan for your laptop that could add another $50 or so (and you’d have to purchase an express modem). I think we’d all like to be ‘just connected all the time’ no matter which device we happen to be carrying at the time. There are many users who would love to have an iPhone but can’t afford that hefty monthly charge. Very few can afford AT&T’s charges for both an iPhone and a laptop. They need to come up with a billing system that is ‘by user’ rather than ‘by device.’ And the rates need to be lower overall. I think this is the big limiting factor on technology as we go forward.

But given the current state of affairs, I’d prefer to have something that I’d call a convergence device. That might be a tablet computer with a pull-out bluetooth headset. It would be more of a computer than the iphone (copy/paste, multiple processes running, real keyboard for high speed typing (probably external via bluetooth), and it would be capable of running any OS X application. I’d see that as a replacement for my iPhone rather than a second laptop. I’d be willing to lug around something a bit larger in order to get the added functionality. But I wouldn’t want it to be so big that I couldn’t pull it out and use it at a restaurant or in the car.

Apple could try to break forthcoming updates – but the mod community seems to be very much on top of that so far. I also don’t technically need to update the laptop with newer versions of OS X if I don’t want to, of course.

For me, it’s my 3rd Mac – and I concur I wouldn’t do any serious work on it. I bought it because I’m getting to a point where I want a computer on me *all the time* and there are times when i don’t want to lug a 15″ MacBook Pro with me.

My Mac Pro at home has 3 24″ screens connected to it, so I share the belief in good screen size for productivity.

Sitting in the coffee shop for 30 mins looking over my news reader and email on the Mini 9 is ideal and it’s sweet spot. In the car, needing to pull over and check Google Maps or open up the attachment a friend sent me via email of where our meeting is – another sweet spot for this.

I can fully understand your points in your comment, however they are actually related to Notebooks in general and not just ones running OS X – and you have to concede that Netbooks have been the hot segment of the computer market for the last year. It doesn’t explain why most people are estimating that netbook sales will account for 50% of sales.