EEK! Or to tablet, or not to tablet?

Four years ago I acquired a Netbook, an EEE PC that I named EEK. The original purpose of EEK was primarily for travel but it soon developed a new use-- as the couchsurfing machine. The perfect tool for answering emails, surfing the web after dinner, or snarking with jpsorrow during Project Runway.

Alas EEK has begun showing signs of dementia, as befits its advanced age (in PC years), and while last week's mishaps where it randomly inserted strings of 9s into the midst of everything I tried to type was annoying, now there are a couple of keys that it no longer recognizes, which means the valiant EEK's days are numbered.

I want something similar, a lightweight tool that's the right size for email, websurfing and the occasional writing stint when I'm away from home. I also don't want to spend a fortune. Tablets appear to be all the rage, and you can't beat them for portability, so I stopped by Best Buy yesterday to check out what was there. The tablets are very shiny, but the whole typing on the glass screen experience wasn't a winner for me. I know you can buy auxiliary keypads, but having to lug around accessories defeats the point of buying the compact tablet in the first place.

So, peanut gallery, any thoughts? Netbook? Tablet? Do touch typists eventually get used to typing on that limited keyboard on the flat screen? Or should I go back to the telephone and mailing handwritten letters?