This is a tough competition. It isn't that the race between the Lenovo Ideapad S10 and Asus Eee PC 900 is close, it is because it is hard to decide which of the dozens of uninspiring Asus netbooks (or UMPC's) I wanted to compare it to. Asus has worked hard to dilute their brand of netbooks into a meaningless pile of clones.

I recommend that you buy the Lenovo Ideapad S10 not the Asus Eee PC. The machine has better specs, it is designed with heat discipating technology, it is a bit cheaper for what you get, you won't get miserable tech support from Asus, and you will be buying a brand that still carries some weight.

With the Ideapad, due out in September, you will get a near (85%) full size keyboard with a multi-touch pad instead of the small Eee PC keys, an 80GB HDD, advanced heat dissipating technology to keep your hands and lap cool, a large 10.2 inch LCD with an Intel integrated chipset, 521 MB of RAM, and integrated wireless 802.11 b/g with bluetooth. This $399 configuration includes Windows XP. There is a $450 unit with more RAM and a bigger a 160 GB HDD.

For the same $399 you get a smaller LCD, smaller keyboard, only 16GB of storage and a hot lap. You also lose the Windows XP option; the base unit is only available with Linux, which you could install in the Ideapad for free. It isn't that the unit is smaller and more convenient, it is the same size as the Lenovo unit, all the useful pieces are just smaller.

If you are looking for a UMPC or a netbook in the next few months, buy the Lenovo Ideapad S10, not the Asus Eee PC anything, let alone the 900.