Robust functionality or "Aaawww, cute laptop"

About a year ago, I was really interested in getting an ultra-mobile computer (UMPC) since I was heading off to Japan for a couple weeks and wanted to check e-mail and update my Web site. I played around with them at electronics stores, but soon realized that, as conveniently portable as they are, the small screen really wouldn't work for me. Also, the price just doesn't justify the weak specifications that these units offer.

Now, the excitement is around these mini-laptops, such as the MSI Wind, Asus Eee PC, and Dell Inspiron Mini 9. I'm not so sure these should be considered the "new" thing because they are just smaller laptops with weaker specs. The price isn't even that attractive, compared to traditional laptops that you can buy nowadays.

C'mon, people... an 8.9-inch screen? Reading anything that you would normally read on a 14-inch or larger computer screen would be so tedious. You shouldn't have to make your icons and text "Large" size just to read them. It's ridiculous. I can't imagine someone who wants to remain productive while on the go wanting one of these mini-laptops.

Having a traditional laptop that is more powerful, has a bigger screen, and is reasonably priced should be much more important for consumers than a mini-laptop that seems to follow today's "cute" trend that appeals to many novice PC users.