My pink S101 is here! And it’s the perfect shade of pink – silvery and very slightly sparkly in sunlight. It got here all the way from Taiwan in just six days. I’m very pleased with it so far; it was packed very carefully so it’s in perfect shape, and everything’s working fine right out of the box. Even the power plug is US-friendly.
My first impression is that the S101 is a class act all the way. The box is matte black with a subtle “Eee PC” embossed in silver. A far cry from my Blush Pink 701 from last February, the S101 has an equivalent-sized body but a 3″ larger screen. Its SSD hard drive is 3 times larger and the battery life is more than double. But the real difference is in the fit and finish – my 701 looked like a Hello Kitty toy, but the pink S101 is sleek, shiny, and all grown up. The metal parts are not chrome but understated gunmetal, and the crystals embedded in either end of the hinge are subtly sparkly.
The keyboard is unfortunately not pink, but the palm rest and multitouch trackpad are brushed metal and color-matched to the pink cover. Even the case is classier than the 701′s, in brown, padded ultrasuede with matching drawstring bag for the cable and power brick. 
I’d been wondering which version of Linux would be on it, and now I know: It’s standard-issue Eee PC Xandros. It’s supposed to be the English version, but it’s a little quirky — some of the subwindows are in Chinese. It doesn’t really matter because I’ll probably end up loading Win XP on it, although I may try Eeebuntu Netbook Remix first to see if I like it. I have a new RAM module on its way, so in a few days I’ll have an updated report on OS and performance. Until then…well…you know where I’ll be!
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