First post here, so go easy.

Leary of buying a laptop/netbook on eBay, I was going to jump on the $449.99 Zipzoomfly deal for the fully loaded ASUS Eee PC 1000H 160G (10" Display, 1.6 GHz Intel ATOM Processor, 1 GB RAM, 160 GB Hard Drive, XP Home, 6 Cell Battery case in black), but tax in California shot the deal to $482.61.

Beach Camera and Amazon have been doing price wars on this same unit this afternoon on Amazon's site. Currently the Beach Camera price (with no tax and free shipping outside NJ) is $469.99 and may go lower. If you have a gift card or promotion code, the deal for you could even get better.

BEACH CAMERA'S link on Amazon
AMAZON LINK

Please note: If you go to Beach Camera's site, it is not the same price.
Remember also that the 1000HA and 1000HD Eee PC models are cheaper, but not the same as the 1000H. The HA leaves out bluetooth and wireless N and the HD has a Celeron CPU and 80GB HDD.

***PLEASE SEE MY 10-7-08 POST BELOW FOR AN UPDATE.***

Nice find, but isn't $479 MSRP on this? If so, none of these is much of a hot deal.

I am in the market for a netbook, but I not sure the 10" 1000H is the one for me. Not having any place local with stock to go lay hands on, it is hard to decide. I want a small netbook to just supplement my T series think pad, not replace it so I thing the 10" S10 (a little smaller and lighter) or one of the 9" models may be more what I want. Smaller, lighter, etc.

Dennis

Why would you be leery of going through eBay?

Huge pc vendors like Excalibur PC and Mwave (both of which are well over 8.0 at reseller ratings) have store fronts on eBay. Use their eBay store to take advantage of the Live CashBack programs. Unless of course, you're adverse to getting 20-30% back on your purchase...

I'm not understanding all these overpriced tiny underpowered laptops. Wait until retailers are begging for customers this holiday season and pick one up for $200 - I wouldn't pay one penny more for such a lacking piece of hardware. Size and convenience just isn't enough of a reason for the price premium - are folks really so picky that they can't lug around a monstrous 12 or 14 inch real laptop.

pdiggity said:I'm not understanding all these overpriced tiny underpowered laptops. Wait until retailers are begging for customers this holiday season and pick one up for $200 - I wouldn't pay one penny more for such a lacking piece of hardware. Size and convenience just isn't enough of a reason for the price premium - are folks really so picky that they can't lug around a monstrous 12 or 14 inch real laptop.

Depends on what you are using these netbooks for. I use mine for simple web browsing, VOIP, IM video chat, youtube, Pandora, and this baby laptop serves me perfectly. I have my desktop PC to handle all the other things. When traveling the 3.2 lb weight will be invaluable to me and the fact that I can run this thing for 6 hours is just icing on the cake. To top it off, I also got it for $335 after MS Live Cash Back and it's almost in the disposable laptop category (almost). If I lost my 12 or 14 inch "real" laptop I would be out $1000 and that would put me in the dog house at home.

KevinH said:Why would you be leery of going through eBay? Huge pc vendors like Excalibur PC and Mwave (both of which are well over 8.0 at reseller ratings) have store fronts on eBay. Use their eBay store to take advantage of the Live CashBack programs. Unless of course, you're adverse to getting 20-30% back on your purchase...Well, time for the OP to weigh back in.

I do not disagree that eBay Live CashBack is great. However, when I was searching, the two vendors you mention were not selling that particular model. There were others who were, and because of the Live CashBack program in effect, most had jacked up their prices and/or were charging shipping and tax. With the Cash Back down to %20, it was making it just about a wash for me. Also troubling is that many right now on SD are posting about eBay sellers who are dropping out of sight and not sending merchandise during this current run of Live.com. My post was meant as an alternative to those who are skittish about current conditions there.

I personally have not jumped on anything yet. I'm still watching and waiting. If the CashBack goes back up to 30% or 35% (like it did apparantly at midnight EST late last night) I may jump on it.

10-08-08 UPDATE: I've been watching eBay and just scored a fully loaded Eee PC 1000H with Live CashBack for just $359.99. Beach Camera's price tonight is $474.99, so theoretically I saved $115. We'll see how things go, though. On Microsoft's site my CashBack shows ZERO pending after the transaction - lame. I hope I don't have to fight for this one, but I do have all the e-mails and screen shots copied showing it was accepted.

namlook said:NimbleQuick said:Lots of 9-inchers (well, 8.9 lol) out there, but the screens and keyboards are even smaller. 10 is better for my eyes....especially like the 7-8 hr battery life.

The battery lasts 4-5 hours in real life use.

kinda like how the 14" one should last 3-4 but only last 2 in real life???