Thanks for the product rec. Alex. That looks like it would work well for him... and it's not backordered as long as the other tablet netbook I saw.

Apparently we will be acquiring a netbook in the very near future. The Rat ordered one and it has shipped, but I don't know anything else about it.

It's rather odd - there's a ton of news stories and blog entries about the 99 cent laptop with Sprint and Best Buy and no one knows a thing about it. Further, no one at Sprint will even respond to inquiries about it... which means I actually have to pick up the phone and call repeatedly I guess. I would appreciate an "I don't know" rather then being ignored.

I sense this is going to be a day of people getting on my nerves. Maybe I should try and shake that... blah.

i'm looking forward on going to Best Buy and get an Netbook the US Dollard is still a pretty good deal for Europeans . a NEtbook cost like $250 so in euros it would be like €170 .

Do you think Best Buy is the best place to get an Netbook ?

How is he going to connect to the Internet? A lot of netbooks do not have an express card slot. Some have built in 3G. All have built-in WiFi that would work with a MiFi Card

He's either going to have it built in or use a USB mobile broadband stick.

[Opinion]The 3G-USB sticks are a pain when you are on the go. They stick out too far and are always getting in the way. [/Opinion]

I agree Moonliner. At this point I'm thinking the Best Buy / Sprint version is probably going to be a good deal at $99 for what he's going to use it for.

I'm still getting ignored on the 99 cent deal so I think that's a no-go.

How is Sprint coverage out there? Out here it's, to be kind, rather spotty.

I don't have much of an issue where I use it - but you have a good point.

I know his coverage preference is Verizon over Spring though... probably worth the money just to go with the better cell coverage I suspect.

When it comes down to it, I present him with the info in as succint a way as I can and he makes a decision that I carry out... the 99 cent version was just so hard to pass up - but it's disappeared in a whiff of smoke.

And actually, I don't have Sprint. I'm on the Nextel network that was supposed to be merged with Sprint but never was. The bill is from Sprint but it's not Sprint. However, the netbook would be.