What on Earth would they put 2GB of RAM into this box for? Setting aside for a second the fact that this is unashamedly a budget box, how would you ever use that much RAM? I've run Linux for years on 512MB and have almost never started swapping, not even when using the Gimp.

You're not the target market for this box. It's a low-power system that will do the web, email and word processing perfectly well, plus the occasional casual game. (OK, the Via processor's a bit weak but, still, a desktop system for £99? Not bad!)