Avam from Laptop Magazine just sent me a note pointing out another big problem with the Cloudbook: It doesn't ship with any sort of restore disc. Or at least the press review unit doesn't.

Avram tried to extend the Ubuntu desktop by configuring it to work with an external monitor. And he ran into complications. Serious complications. Like BSOD complications. Now, I'm pretty sure there's a way to bring up a terminal and fix his problem via the command line. But I'm not enough of a Linux guru to talk him through it. If you've got any ideas, make sure to let Avram know.

But since they just got the Cloudbook today, I'm guessing they hadn't spent too much time customizing their system. So I figured the easiest thing to do would be just to restore the operating system using any install disc Everex shipped with the Cloudbook. And that's when he told me that Everex didn't include one.

And that is just ridiculous. Not only does the Eee PC ship with a restore disc (that also happens to have Windows drivers), but there's a protected partition with all of your operating system files. That means novice users who somehow mess up their systems can easily restore their factory default settings in just a few seconds by holding the F9 key during a reboot. While I wouldn't necessarily have expected Everex to go that far, a system restore disc doesn't seem like too much to ask for.

Overall, it seems like the reviewers at Laptop Magazine are having one problem after another with their Cloudbook. And while they seem to have a review unit with an earlier version of the Cloudbook's operating system and software, I'm starting to feel pretty good about my decision not to rush out and buy a Cloudbook for myself. Not yet anyway.