Is the Asus Eee PC 900A-WFBB01 Netbook a good choice for Armory /cold storage?

[Capitalism Prevails]

Specifications:
Intel Atom N270 1.60 GHz processor
1 GB DDR2 RAM
Asus customized Linux operating system
802.11b/g Wireless LAN
4 GB SSD (Solid-State Disk) internal storage capacity

Product Description
The Asus Eee PC 900A WFBB01 Refurbished Netbook features a 8.9-inch WSVGA LED-backlit TFT active matrix Display, an Intel Atom N270 1.6GHz processor, 1GB of DDR2 memory, and a 4GB Solid State Drive. Its efficient 4-cell lithium battery delivers extended playing time that will allow you to work or play, even if you’re flying from coast to coast.

I just bought the Asus Eee PC 1005HA-PU1X-BU 10.1-Inch Intel Atom Netbook and i'm getting the feeling it was the wrong decision because the hard drive isn't an SSD.  Shouldn't using an SSD for cold storage be a top priority because they're much less likely to crash?  I know i'd have more peace of mind if i used an SSD instead.  Could i just upgrade the hard drive to an SSD? Linux should also be desirable, right?

[e4xit]

I have one of these which appears to have a very similar spec to yours, and Armory runs fine, although my password is about 60 characters long so signing transactions can take a fair few seconds (although I don't know enough about the workings of armory to guarantee that the two are related!)

Although, I am using the netbook only in Offline mode... You are talking about SSDs, which makes me think that you might be considering downloading bitcoin QT onto the machine, and the entire blockchain, and then using it as an "online" machine.
  If this is the case, I would recommend that you do not do this.

I would recommend that you follow this guide to set your netbook up to be a dedicated offline "transaction signing" machine. This will help reduce the risk of coin theft massively, as your private keys to your addresses never go online or on an online machine. This will also help, in that your netbook does not rquire any other software than armory, and no copy of the blockchain. It does though come with the pre-requisite that you have a second computer which you can use to store the blockchain (using nitcoin QT) and run Armory in "online mode", which requires at least 4GB ram (at the moment).

TL;DR, I use a very similar netbook for Armory in Offline mode with no problems (its perfect) - in online mode, I can't help you with; I don't think it would be suitable.

Hope this helps,

Bill

[picobit]

It would certainly be sufficient for an offline machine - I use a Raspberry Pi for that!  No need for SSDs or anything fancy for that use.  And don't use the machine for anything that will touch the Internet.

SSDs may be less likely to crash, but they can still fail. And your machine may fail in many other ways, including getting stolen.  Do not rely on your offline machine being indestructible, instead keep a number of backups including at least one paper backup.

[e4xit]

I have already required the use of my paper backup once....

I use a password generator (1Pass) to generate stron, unique passwords. Then I save the password and wait for the dropbox file update balloon on my online machine (which means the new pass has been synced with my dropbox backup).

Then I set the password for my armory wallet, using an on-screen display (on iPhone) of the password, in the 1Pass app.

I used the machine for a few transactions no problem, (creating the tx on an online machine and then signing it offline using the armory-only netbook and the password).

Then a few days ago, I go to sign a tx, and: "Password is incorrect". Huh!? So I check CAPS lock, but no joy... Start with small steps; restart the netbook and try again. Still nothing. Check 1Pass backups, in case I somehow managed to edit the password and save a new one (1Pass does iterative backups, in a single file, which is cool). But still nothing.

I swear, if I had'nt had a paper backup, I would have been locked out of all of my bitcoins for no apparent reason.

Make a paper backup, and keep that damn safe! You can never predict what might happen