Small PC generates big buzz

"The one issue I could see is the screen size - but we will wait and see," he said.

Cellnet NSW state manager, Paulo Mpliokas, also highlighted the K-6 school market as an area of promise. "It's a fantastic opportunity to take a new product into an area where there isn't a real need for fully-blown 15-inch notebooks," he said. Mpliokas could also see potential benefits for users in the commercial sector and compared the Eee PC with UMPC devices.

"The Eee PC has a Linux operating system and it's open, which means the software which could be developed for this device could be quite extensive. I think that will help drive what markets decide to invest in these machines," he said.

Bluechip Infotech managing director, Johnson Hsiung, agreed it could eventually find a broader market.

Synnex networking and systems group product manager, Jason Lee, said sales people who weren't computer literate but were looking for remote email access, Internet surfing and basic office applications were a key target. He cited real estate agents as an example.

Lee said Synnex was also looking at using Eee PCs as a type of thin client in its own call centre environment. City Software managing director, Lorenzo Coppa, saw a definite opportunity because of the low price and pointed out people can spend more on a PDA. "We were surprised a few years ago with the uptake of alternate products to Microsoft Office - we thought no one would use a word processor other than Microsoft's but the fact was that small business did," he said. "If the compatibility and usability is good and the price is right, then there's a market for it."