Asus Eee 7"Laptop

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[Lani]

I recently posted a "wishlist" on my personal blog which included an Asus Eee which, for anyone who hasn't heard of it, is a very lightweight and small laptop, as easy to carry with you as a book.  Andrew mentioned in another thread that he wants one as well and Scotty has one.

They even got a mention on the Blog Herald a couple days ago (Ultraportable Blogging) so I thought it was worth mentioning here as a useful tool.  Especially at the price, which is generally under $500.  I'll leave it to more knowledgeable people to discuss the tech specs but for people like me who would love a laptop but can't justify the expenditure, or hate lugging around expensive and heavy equipment... isn't it a good alternative?

Somone even loves theirs enough to have started a blog about it...  My Asus Eee PC


 

[Nomesque]

I've been eyeing these off a bit, but haven't gotten around to doing the research. They look halfway between a PDA and a laptop... and as long as they don't combine the worst features of each, could well be worth it...

[Evan]

I like the idea very much (and the price).

I'd need to know how people find using the small screen before I seriously considered one.

A laptop is definitely on my wish list.  Looking out for Harvey Norman (aka Hardly Normal) sales.  Last time they an IBM laptop for $397.

[scotty]

They look halfway between a PDA and a laptop... and as long as they don't combine the worst features of each, could well be worth it...

Exactly.

As Lani has mentioned that I had bought an Asus Eee PC (a 701 4G) last month. It is not exactly light weight (920g, comparing to ~200g for a PDA/SmartPhone). It is not exactly a laptop either, with its mini-keyboard and 7" LCD screen displaying *only* 800x480. If you just want a device to surf the web in its full glory (i.e. not on slim down PDA browsers), Nokia's N800/N810 is probably a better choice at less than 500g and Linux/Gnome-based interface. However if you actually need to do some work on it, i.e. blogging, typing up an article, doing some number crunching in spreadsheets, Skype conference calls, Powerpoint-like presentation, etc, ASUS Eee PC is a much better choice for less than 500 bucks.

There are plenty of articles and reviews, but the best site about Eee PC is probably http://wiki.eeeuser.com/ which contains every hack you can find. It is indeed very hackable (not in the sense of exploit in default Samba server Since it is a full blown PC with 677Mhz Celeron processor and 512MB RAM, you can install Windows XP, install many software (open source or properitary), write programs for it, etc.

It has a full QWERTY keyboard so typing up an essay or a blog post is quite possible. The keyboard is small though -- do try them out at Myer or OfficeWorks before buying one as it is not for everyone. Being an Asian and a previous owner of Psion 5 series the small keyboard is fine with me

Screen is small although far bigger than your average smart phone 800x480 is a problem because not a lot of applications are designed to fit into that small space. Sometimes you get a big popup dialogue that you can't see the title bar nor the bottons (but on Linux you can press Alt and drag inside the window to move it around). Browsing in Firefox and typing up an essay in OpenOffice.org are fine, but doing spreadsheets and Thunderbird's 3-pane layout are not. It has a VGA out though so you can connect to an external monitor.

The built-in camera, despite being only 300k pixel, is very useful for Skype calls (need to run update to get Skype 2 though as it only comes with Skype 1 for Linux).

For those who are concerning the size of storage, Eee PC has a SD card slot on the side (plus 3x USB slots). The best accessory you can get for Eee PC is a SDHC card which you can a 8GB class 6 for around $50-$60 on eBay. Eee PC mounts it automatically as extra storage when you pop it in.

[NathanaelB]

Here's mine:



Link on flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/purecaffeine/2215299735/

As Scotty mentioned, the keys on the keyboard are a little small ... but for me nowhere near as tricky to use as my main work keyboard:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/purecaffeine/2086286362/

[Lightening]

They come in pink?????

[scotty]

They come in pink?????

Only the 2G/4G Surf I think. 701 4G is available in Black or White.

There is actually a big accessory market out there for Eee PC where you can buy various full-size stickers to decorate the shell. Example shopping site in Taiwan:

http://www.monday.com.tw/Default.ashx?catitemid=16884

(Sorry it is in Chinese, and for comparison AUD$1 is around NT$28-29)

[AndrewBoyd]

I want an Eee - I had a small play with Nathanael's last week and I think I could use one. I love my MacBook Pro but it is too big to take to many meetings where I am not the presenter. If there was a Mac tablet I would grab one, but there isn't, so for the AUD600 (base price plus upgrade to 1GB RAM) the Eee is a real contender.

Cheers, Andrew

[Lightening]

Well, how awesome would it be if my pink blog could earn me enough $$ to buy myself a pink laptop????  Even if it is a mini one!!!

When you say a 2G/4G surf comes in pink - what's the difference between that and the 701 4G?  Remember, you're talking to a very non-tech head here.   

[scotty]

When you say a 2G/4G surf comes in pink - what's the difference between that and the 701 4G?  Remember, you're talking to a very non-tech head here.   

The difference between 2G and 4G is obvious -- 4G has more space and in some sense the extra space is essential.

The differences between 2G/4G "Surf" and 4G "701" are (I think)

- 4G 701 has a small web cam
- 4G 701/Surf has socketed memory which is upgradable, whereas 2G Surf's memory is soldered on.

Another important difference is -- only 4G 701 is imported through official distributor thus having proper warranty. If you want the official Australian version but in pink, it is easy to buy something like this.

[Lightening]

Thanks Scotty. I feel like a whole new world is opening up to me 

[ShadowKnight]

I think I shall stick with my silver 17" MacBook Pro hehe

[Lani]

Thanks Scotty for all the extra info, (and the info you gave me on my blog).  I am insanely jealous of you and Nathanael.

And Nathanael, how are you finding the half keyboard now that you've had it a while? It's a crazy looking little thing.

[NathanaelB]

And Nathanael, how are you finding the half keyboard now that you've had it a while? It's a crazy looking little thing.

It's the bane of my life. I only use it at work ... it'd drive me crazy using it full time. Slowly getting better though - it's only bad when I'm consciously trying to type; if I can distract myself and let my unconscious take over it's better. But frequently when I hit the wrong key I'll then end up hitting the same combination or other wrong keys like 5 or 6 times until I go "Whoa hang on a minute - you're clearly not getting it".

But I can see the advantage of it and I'm going to keep at it until I get the hang of it. It really is quite handy being able to type one-handed, even if you don't have a bung right wrist like me. You can keep your right on the mouse full-time, hold documents, use the phone, write notes ... plus it takes up a lot less space on the desk. And it means you don't have to worry about locking your computer and co-workers sending emails from your computer ... because they can't use your keyboard :-)

[AndrewBoyd]

The Eee has landed

The vendor was a little naughty - it came from Hong Kong (not Perth as advertised) so I expected an Australian AC adaptor, but the item description does say UK AC adaptor (so I'll find my own, it was cheap enough, no biggie).

It is simply... beautiful. The keyboard is small, I know it will take a lot of getting used to. It is a little clunky.

At the price ($580) for an 8G, I've also ordered a 16GB SD card to expand onboard storage. It is exciting - I still have work to do this afternoon, so I'll play again (and take/post photos) through the weekend.

Cheers, Andrew

 

[scotty]

The Eee has landed

Have fun!

Mine now runs eeeXubuntu Gutsy so it feels more like a proper Linux distribution (without the overlay filesystem crap on the original Eee Xandros), and I can actually code on it.

[AndrewBoyd]

Hi Scott,

downloading Gutsy Gibbon now - looking forward to the real thing (albeit that I was way impressed with how Xandros just worked).

Best regards, Andrew

[NathanaelB]

Got a Vodafone 3G USB modem working on my Eee last night - easy as. Breaks easily, but easily fixed - once you figure it out. Just don't play around with config if you don't have to :-)

All blogged: http://www.purecaffeine.com/2008/03/problems-with-my-vodafone-3g-usb-modem/

[Nomesque]

I thought I'd resurrect this thread, because I noticed that there's a new Eee out soon... the PC900. *drooool* Same as the old one but with bigger screen, more memory, etc... and 70g heavier.

Anyone wanna buy one and sell me their old Eee cheap?

[Kin]

Is there a price on the new one yet? Dad's 7" is just that bit too small for the amount of typing I do

[Lightening]

I've seen a preorder price of $649

No idea if that'll be cheaper once they're released.

It doesn't seem to take very long for the price to drop a bit

[Lightening]

And while the screen is bigger, it doesn't sound like the keyboard is.   

[MarkSBurgunder]

I've seen a preorder price of $649 ...

I have just checked with my wholesaler and yep, RRP is $649 and should be available on 18 May 2008.

I could probably shave of a few dollars from the RRP but there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of margin in it for retailers.

Cheers
Mark