Finding a netbook

I wrote before somewhere that I could do with a very small and light laptop that at minimum would provide for typing text and storing it for transferring to a serious computer, and beyond that might provide internet for browsing -- maybe email but that’s a lower priority. This would be to take on trips, into libraries, just while out of the house.

And of course you can’t get such a thing without paying for a load of extras like webcams and more power than you need. I was thinking there should be something for up to GBP100 but I'm going to have to pay 250 for what is called a netbook.

Best bet seems the Asus but deciding which version is a nightmare. The thing I think I want is called the Eee 1015 -- but do I want the 1015PE or PX or PEM...? and what difference would the differences make? Then, there’s tracking down where in London I can see and try them, which I'm told is essential with such devices because some keyboards and trackpads don’t feel right, some have screen glare or casing glare...

It’s one of those situations in which I’d like to just send my man out with instructions to come back with the right one. Can’t quite manage that but I am benefiting from expert handholding from an old friend, James. But it’s not convenient for him to come shopping with me (Totten Court Road next week, I reckon) since he’s in Hong Kong, where of course I’d be better off getting it. (No sales tax, he tells me -- I didn’t know that.)

The more I browse on the topic the more complicated it gets. Now I find a forum where it’s stated (in 2009) that tech support for Asus in the UK sucks. But what can you do?