I’m assuming that the employees get paid by commission, so the more expensive [Vista] laptop units they sell, the more money they make. Hence, the EeePC’s — at their ridiculously-low price point compared to the neighboring units — are a threat to their livelihood, and hence there’s no incentive at all to make them look halfway marketable. To say nothing of their sales expertise — I’ve probably answered more EeePC questions for would-be customers than the actual sales reps themselves!

Hopefully I’m wrong, but let’s be realistic. Not everyone is going to be a winner in the coming UMPC revolution, and this I’m sure will affect uptake considerably (at least at first).

You know that many things besides sheer price come into play (hey, give Steve Jobs a call if you don’t believe me!).

The Acer machine could look like a frikkin dog. The software could be as bad as that natively loaded on the Everex CloudBook.

Even *identical specs* can give very different user experiences, based on what’s been done with *software*.

The keyboard could be crap. The screen could be crap. The feel of the plastic could be crap.

Etc, etc.

And here’s something interesting: of the four demo units of EeePC at J&R in NYC, *every single one* has a collapsed and broken power button. 3 of the 4 are missing the trackpad button (on the 4th, it popped off while I was trying it, yesterday; it’s probably gone by now, so up it 4 of 4!).

Now, having said all that, where the hell is that hp 2133 I’ve been lusting after?

The eee is a great machine. Asus needs some competition that isn’t complete junk, though. Hopefully the Acer machine will fit that bill, but I think most of us are pinning our hopes on HP’s offering.