Since my post (#12, above) my Aspire One (AO150) died - perhaps as a result of grand kid abuse. Won't boot, screen doesn't light up - nothing.
Good news is, a couple weeks back, I stumbled into a Walmart deal ($199) on a newer model (D255 - Atom 450, 1gB ram, 160 gB HDD, Win XP, 6 cell battery) and I'm even more pleased with it.