yes, I almost decided to buy netbook plus external DVD drive. main thing for me was not a price (though it will be cheaper than to buy normal laptop) but weight - only 1.2 kg (with adapter) + 200 gr (DVD-rom) and time its battery works. My old Acer traveler weighted almost 4 kg with adapter and battery worked in the beginning for only 3-4 hours. Airlines now charge mercilessly for every pound of luggage, while new 6-cell batteries allegedly work for 8 hours non-stop. About external memory - I did not see pendrives of good capacity yet, maximum of 32 GB. For the same money (100 dollars) I can buy external hard drive of 1TB or ultralight Transcend 500 GB in special case claimed to be developed for American military.