I had the same questions you ask when finally just buying the darn thing. For the most part I am impressed but there are definite flaws. This thing does feel really cheap as I am so used to using high end laptops.
I heard to much hype about this unit and all the tech sites saying it is the most wanted gift for men. For the most part it is great, it does what its suppose to, does it very quick, has lots of software built in, modders dream, but I use it exactly what it should be designed for web surfing and emails. Anything else would be to much for the asus eeepc.
I would say for the price it wouldnt hurt to get yourself one to try out. Even if you travel once or twice a year that should be enough to pay for the compactness of the asus.
I ended up purchasing the pearl white 8G model. In conclusion, great unit overall but the WOW factor is not really there even how tiny this laptop is. The next incarnations will probably be a lot better.