If considering a Nettop, pay attention to the CPU & GPU in them. Many (N270, N450) are single core but have Hyper-Threading (2 pipelines) - some, like the D510 - are dual-core and have HT on them. The Intel NM10 chipset is much newer than the 945 series - and at half the power draw. Also has a (slightly) better IGP. I ended up grabbing one of these: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16856167041 for a file server/shell box/backup machine. $173 shipped, add 1 or 2 sticks of DDR2 laptop RAM and HD or two of choice. Ubuntu Server 10.04 installed just fine, no hiccups on hardware at all. If you're going to be doing more graphics-heavy stuff, they now have one with an ATI GPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16856167042 Another $20 for a proper GPU, if you're doing web-stuff might be worth it. Adds HDMI and DVI to the VGA outputs, and a "capable" GPU. (Radeon HD 4330 is a slightly beefier version of the HD4200 - AMD's IGP solution) This will handle Youtube quite well, at least on Windows (Haven't tossed Linux on my desktop yet) Also would allow dual displays. (Generally pick two outputs, might be VGA + 1, I'm not sure) No Windows Tax, lets you reuse laptop RAM castoffs from other machines (scavenged or remaining from upgrades), and whatever HD you want (or don't - I know someone else who has the previous machine booting off a CF or SD card - they removed the internal CF slot to add a second RAM slot) My only complaint is that the 50mm fan is a little noisy when I have it sitting out in the open, haven't found its permanent home yet. If anyone knows of a quiet 50mm I'd be terribly interested... (I don't hear the air movement, I hear the high-pitched whine sometimes)