I've had this for a month now and have played around with it a lot (including a brief spell with Win7 on it). For what I use it for - email, surfing, skype, iPlayer - it works very well. Battery life around 2 to 3 hours in reality. However, hi-def video or iTunes video is a big NO NO. It would seem the crippling factor is the lack of hardware support on the graphics - the GMA500 is there but the driver isn't - check the forums, it's the number one complaint. Good news, Sony are rumoured to be working on a driver that WILL use the GFX - until then, if video is important to you wait. Otherwise - it is a FANTASTIC little machine if used as a pure netbook. The screen is amazing and you can get rid of the (US only) wirelss software and replace with the European version which is smaller, faster and usable.