I got my Dell Mini9 for $300 - XP, 8GB SSD, 512MB. I upgraded the RAM to 2GB and the new 16GB SSD will be here next week hopefully. Of course I'm just going to hack it and put OSX on it... =^)

Also, the Mini9 has has BTO Bluetooth option.

Funny you should mention nethack. I've got the original Eee (700?) and I do indeed play nethack on it a lot! This is partly on an installed copy, but more so now just using telnet to nethack.alt.org.

I don't know what the hell your talking about with the SSD being slower. I'm writing this on a Dell Mini 9. It loads Open Office faster than my computer with a standard HD, 3GHz processor, and the same amount of RAM. As for the keyboard its a 9 inch computer, what do expect. Complaining about netbooks being small is kind of missing the point.

Talking about missing the point (even when your intro touches on it) - netbooks' success are a classic case of the marketeers missing their own market ... the first generation were apparently thought of as low cost devices for students etc - hence their abysmal battery life. But the Atom generation brought with it some more serious battery specs ... particularly the Eee 901, creating for the first time a viable low cost alternative to high end sub notebooks. For those of us who have to do serious but simple work on the move (using Office-type tools rather than Photoshop etc) they were a godsend.
I'm with you on the preference for a decent hard disk rather than a cramped SSD. I had a 901 and liked it well enough but when my "proper" Toshiba failed I looked hard at the options and realised that a Samsung NC10 actually did pretty much everything I wanted from a mobile computer - a good keyboard, pleasant screen and more than enough poke to cope with office apps, even from Microsoft (I don't know what you're talking about there).
Netbooks aren't toys for geek modders - they are good, serious tools for work, and a sudden outburst of rational design and specification. In that sense the Samsung is not distinguished by particular features - it's just the best execution of the concept (for the moment).

I think I can speak for Max when I say that we know netbooks aren't just toys for geek modders. As writers, we very much realize the value of these little lunchbox 'puters, and I'm really glad to see that we finally have portable work computers with decent battery life that don't cost $3k.