Honestly, I wouldn't speak for all the people. But the people I know don't want stripped down anything, people I know want the fastest CPU ever, as much RAM as possible, 10 to 14 hours of battery life packaged into sub-4 pounds that fits a small backpack or light bag. Not sure if you've seen any of those, they're called developers, project managers, designers, etc. They have larger screens, full-size keyboards at their desks and homes, they just need something portable enough to travel between places, work on train/bus or plane. Now, eeePC sucks for all intends and purposes. Now tell me - does my experience defy yours? How about yours to mine? See what I mean? :)
P.S. Get a good warranty for your laptop. I owned about five IBMs/Lenovos for past 6 years and whenever something broke (usually it happens because I treat equipment mercilessly bad) the replacement was at my door second business day after call to support - for free (as in - warranty paid for it). The longest downtime I ever experienced was when BOTH harddrives died in my laptop at the same time and I had to restore stuff from multiple old backups.