laptop for travel

[piperman]

We are planning a trip to Australia next year and want to take a laptop capable of wireless internet and e-mail only.  We currently have a laptop but its weight of 10 lbs makes it a nuisance to travel with.  Have done so but this trip is much longer.  We use the laptop to check with elderly family back home and book rooms a day or so ahead so speed is not a problem but wireless is, also cost as this would be just a computer for travel not everyday use.  Any help gratefully accepted.

[soybean]

Well, this might be good choice for your purposes; it only weighs 2 lbs.  The OS is Linux, not Windows.  But, learning to use it for email should not be very difficult.  If you want to use an email client installed in the computer and download your mail to the computer, a popular email program called Thunderbird runs on Linux.  And, the popular web browser, Firefox, runs on Linux. 

Note that this computer is not the normal size of laptop and notebook PCs.  It's quite a bit smaller, with only a 7 inch wide screen.  I believe there's a specific name for the size but I can't think of it now.  The online seller I'm linking to here did put it in among their listings for laptops and notebooks. 

The seller, newegg.com, only ships within the U.S.  I don't know your location.  Here's the computer: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220244   The cost: $400 plus shipping.

[Calum]

I think the word you're looking for is "subnotebook", soybean.

That does look like a tasty laptop, a friend of mine is buying one in the UK soon and it does look good.
Be aware of the fairly small storage space, but you could always buy more storage (it has USB ports so you could use flash drives, or it has an SD/MMC slot so you could get a high capacity SD or MMC memory card).  Also, there is no CD drive.
However, I do still think it's a good choice, it's very portable and has a good battery life.