Help with EEE model decision?

Note: apparently i have a rambling issue. feel free to scroll down towards end of post if this is too long?

Hi all. I posted here a while back when i was in need of some notebook purchasing advice and, finding myself once again in a simular situation, i figured i'd try here again. ^^

So some background. I've had my S96J for a while now...near two years in a few months, really. It's served me well, most issues are minor my fault type things, im satisfied enough with it, etc. etc. My one complaint is really one of portability. I bought it with the thought of balancing my desire for a gaming capable and affordable machine with something that wasnt too heavy. I figured I'd be able to lug around the ~7lbs or so that it weighs. Well. Throw that and my books and micellaneous junk in a bag and well. I'm like 95lbs and that aint muscle mostly, unfortunately. my back starts making woe is me noises. my shoulders ache. so it mostly sits on my desk. not a horrible thing, but...i'm a computer addict who would love to have a computer with her at all times. But well, college student who doesnt have the 1-2k a ultraportable typically costs...i made my peace with my less then ideally portable thing.

Then i found out about the eee. it is a beautiful, perfect for my needs type of machine. the tech geek in me drools. i want. and thanks to state and federal government income tax returns that my cool father so nicely files for me i have 300-400$ coming my way from that so...i'll actually have most of the money for it, and with my next paycheck or so.

So now the problem is...what to get? I insist that the color be black because i am silly/shallow about such things. The 400$ 4g EEE, which is cheapest and the only one available immediately but...i'm not sure about the 512 ram, the prospect of possibly voiding warranty replacing it, and how that would all work if i were to decide to install xp pro...im not sure if i will, depends on how i like the linux. the 8g 1gb ram isnt currently available but may be by the time i get all the money together...i like the bigger ram and hd that i dont have to upgrade myself, but not sure if its worth the money? Or there's the prospect of waiting for the 9inch screen. But is the bigger screen really worth it? At 600$ it isnt really so cheap anymore, and well, i dont have all that much money.

I'm using it primarily for writing, school applications, web surfing, that kind of thing. i have my main laptop and my DS for games. im not silly enough to think it could run photoshop but if i were to install xp some simpler freeware program of that type would be nice. i want it to run smooth and fast and be able to handle a bit of multitasking if i ask.

that in mind, which model do yall think is most appropriate for me?

thanks for the input.

 

http://www.gadgetell.com/tech/comment/asus-eee-pc-a-ram-upgrade-will-not-void-the-warranty/

i want to get one of the 4GB w/o the webcam, it is selling for 349 @ j and r (since you live in NYC)

i am debating if i should wait for the 9 inches. some ppl think it will be around 600..IMO it is too much if the only different is just the screen size

 

BTW, Photoshop will most likely run on that, it won't be fast, but it will run.

I had it running on a 650mhz PIII with 384 of ram. Didn't run too shabby, just took a couple of minutes to open.

Greg