Typing from an eee pc 901...
running Gentoo Linux, I have to ask:
did you try any linux distro on it?
(ubuntu is usually easier for a first check for drivers, h/w support, etc., PCLinuxOS is usually equally easy to run from a live CD-- and faster than ubuntu)
It would be nice to know if Linux runs ok.
Reg h/w reviews often include a paragraph or two reporting on this issue. It may be a little more difficult, since there is no optical drive, but an external one should be OK.
Please consider adding it to your standard review procedures, I think it would be appreciated by your readers.
As for ASUS reliability, etc.:
I have been using this small thing ever since I bought it, 3 years and a couple of months ago (Sep '08) for at least 8 hours every work day, usually continuing at home and on weekends (I usually ssh from it to my desktop machine from my home network) and, apart from some trouble now and then with the left touchpad button, it works extremely smoothly.
I consider it one of my best buys, and I bought it after reading the Reg review.
It may not be a lightning-fast machine, but (with the extra space provided by an external drive) it has compiled quite a few linux kernels, firefox, even OpenOffice, to name a few things.