Conclusions
We loved the original Eee PC and even gave it an Editor's Choice award back in January. One of the reasons for the award was the fact that the Eee could run Windows, making it an honest-to-goodness mobile PC rather than a glorified Internet appliance. At the time, you had to provide and install Windows yourself. Now the Eee PC is available with Windows XP right out of the box, and to our surprise, the cost of the operating system hasn't been passed along in the final price. As long as you avoid the $469 memory card and mouse bundle, the base Eee PC 4G XP model sells for $400, just like its Linux-based twin. Windows, for once, is free.

The inclusion of Windows XP makes this latest Eee PC an even better value than the original and much more appealing for mainstream users who are unfamiliar with or simply uninterested in Linux. It's no surprise, then, that the Eee PC 4G XP is now available at electronics giant Best Buy.

As much as we love Windows on the Eee PC, the fact that the system's hardware remains unchanged means that there are still compromises to endure. Limited screen real estate is the big one, and at least for now, it's something we're willing to forgive. We've yet to see a rival sub-notebook match the Eee PC's price with a larger, higher resolution display. Asus is working on an updated Eee with a larger screen, but it's not on the market yet and there's no guarantee its price won't drift beyond $400.

If you've been itching for a budget sub-notebook and can afford to wait a month or two, it's probably best to see what the Eee's successor looks like and how upcoming rivals based on Intel's new Atom processor compare. However, if you're looking for something now, the Eee PC 4G XP is easily the best budget sub-notebook on the market—and another Editor's Choice award winner.