I have been thinking about getting one of these for a while mainly to have permanently connected to my main TV to watch online services, especially Eurosport Player and Lovefilm rather than getting down on my hands and knees to hook up my laptop when there was something I wanted to watch online.

It occurred to me that I could save a lot of money by getting the cheaper model with less memory, smaller hard disk and with Linux rather than Windows and a wired keyboard. I have a full fat version of Windows Vista I could install and I also already have a wireless keyboard with integral trackpad.

Would this work or does anyone foresee any problems with this?

Ubuntu is dead easy to install on those. I have one and did so, despite never having touched Linux before. There is a really good guide to this which enabled me to do this. It's here :-

www.greenhughes.com/content/how-install-ubuntu-and-boxee-acer-aspire-revo

I use a Revo 3610 for just that purpose. I would recommended 4Gb ram to avoid any chance of using virtual memory.

Too late. The higher-specced W7 version came down in price last week and tempted me to just go for it. MotoGP practise highlights due on later tonight.