ASUS EEPC REVIEWS: Prices, Review, Free Linux, 8GB 4GB and More

I have been waiting for the eee pc since I saw a blurb about it in, of all places, Vogue. They were pushing it as a computer that fits in your clutch, and since I travel a lot, I was salivating.

I am writing on it now, and I am just thrilled with it. It does indeed fit into my purse (it's about the size of a small-ish notebook or journal) and my wifi connection worked right away when I opened it up. I've been using the battery for about 2 hours so far and it's still at 40% power, so that looks promising.

I'm new to linux, and the layout is a bit different for windows users (I think it's a little different for this computer, too). I tried to download a program and had no idea where it went - I felt like a complete dope floundering around opening folders and having no luck. So I guess I'll have to get used to that.

The keyboard is small, obviously, and I'm struggling with typing on it and making my fingers hit all the keys properly! I also tried to download rhapsody with no luck since it doesn't work with linux (boo hoo).

Here's what I love about it, in addition to the size and cuteness: It has three usb ports so I can plug in my portable hard drive. It is incredibly light. It boots up amazingly fast. The speakers are great, especially considering the size. It has a webcam built in. I guess you can put windows on it, so I might try that later. And did I mention how cute it is???

I'm sure a lot of people are going to say the same thing I am - this is a great computer to have when you travel or just as a secondary one to play around on. It probably should not take the place of your primary computer as it just doesn't have enough size for all the programs you'd want. But for playing around on email and skype, typing stuff on the go, etc., it just can't be beat.

(review by actual client)

ASUS EEPC REVIEW: This is the best selling model so far...the Asus Eee 4G-Galaxy 7" PC Mobile Internet Device ( 512 MB RAM, 4 GB Hard Drive, Webcam, Linux Preloaded) Black.

It's also a great choice for young students, with a built-in Dictionary that's great for homework, and it includes two modes of intuitive graphic user interface design to accommodate both experienced and inexperienced PC users. The Eee PC also handles your digital images, movies, and music as well as Internet radio.

No technical manual required with the specially designed, user-friendly, and intuitive graphic interface.
Compact and highly portable at just 32 ounces, the Eee PC 4G has a 7-inch wide color TFT LCD with an 800 x 480-pixel resolution (WXGA). Under the hood is a 900 MHz Intel Mobile CPU with integrated Intel graphics processor, 512 MB of RAM (not expandable), and 4 GB of solid-state flash memory. With the dependable solid-state disk, you get unparalleled shock-protection and reliability. In addition to its wireless LAN, it also offers wired Fast Ethernet connectivity and a 56K modem. The Eee PC includes software for Web browsing (Firefox), email, OpenOffice 2.0 for creating and editing word processing documents and spreadsheets, and a suite of other productivity software to help keep you on track.

You get three USB 2.0 ports, a VGA output for connecting to external monitors, headphone and microphone jacks, and a Secure Digital (SD) memory card slot. The Eee PC measures 8.9 x 6.5 x 1.4 inches, and it weighs 32 ounces. The 4-cell, 5200 mAh battery provides up to 3.5 hours of battery life (depending on usage). It's backed by a 1 year warranty for parts and labor.

This is an ultra-portable laptop with Linux and wireless Internet access.

* Can mount Windows SMB shares.
* Plays DivX, MP3 and YouTube videos. The Firefox already had a MPlayer plugin.
* You can install and run RealPlayer for Linux on it if you want. There are web sites that show you how to add Windows audio and video codecs so you can play WMV or other Windows format audio/video files.
* Mine already had Java 5.0.
* The location of the Right shift key needs some getting used to. Keys are quite small and I can't keep typing on it for an excessively long time.
* Was able to login to using my Skype account and make VoIP calls right out of the box. There are green and pink jacks for the headphones and mic.
* Dictionary was set to Chinese language by default but you can set it display English.
* The E-book reader is able to display Plucker format e-books from Project Gutenberg.
* It displays PDFs using Adobe Acrobat Reader and the displayed text is quite readable especially in Full Screen mode.
* Setting up wireless internet connection was very easy.
* You can plug in a USB stick and it gets automounted. A "Flash disk" window automatically comes up with the contents of the drive.
* The E-Book icon gets lost after you do a Software Update but there are web sites that show you how to put it back.
* Ctrl-Alt-T launches an xterm. Running konqueror gives you a bunch of useful utilities.
* GNU Emacs and MIT scheme both are not installed but they can be installed if you need them and they do run well on it. Read about adding Xandros repositories and pinning repositories first before attempting to install software using apt-get.
Check out the unofficial EeeUser wiki site for photos and a lot of useful info.
* It is possible to NFS mount shared filesystems. Just add nfs entries to /etc/fstab and they'll be mounted when the wifi interface comes up. You'll probably want to unmount them manually though before shutting down the eeepc: sudo umount -t nfs -a.

I got a shopworn 8GB version with 1 GB RAM for $375 or about $125 off normal retail.

Pros:
*Boots in 10 to 15 seconds, or about 1 1/2 minutes quicker than XP
*No bloatware from the factory. You get applications with no nag ads for AOL or some credit card you didn't ask for.
*Except for touchpad, well built
*Recognizes printers, cameras, etc and will even download drivers if necessary, all w/o your interference. Try that with XP (has the driver "find" system ever worked on XP?)
*About 2 pounds
*2 year warranty
*Uses a cell phone style charger instead of the heavy brick
*Voice commands easy to turn on. My IBM Thinkpad doesn't offer that. Talk and activate programs.
*Better speakers than 99% of the laptops, which isn't saying much. Won't outplay your Pioneer stereo, but it will sound better than most MP3 players out there
*Finds network signals I didn't know exist
*Disturbingly quiet. After years of listening to grinding hard drives and fans, it's somewhat disconcerting to hear nothing (and I do mean nothing!).
*Don't let Linux scare you, it's a generic version of Windows and the included O/S is designed for the techologically limited.

Cons:
*2 1/2 hour battery? Ever hear of lithium?
*Runs hot, typical Celeron. Doesn't bog down, though
*Touchpad is useless, fortunately mine came with a mouse
*If the webcam works, it's hiding
*Keypad takes time to get used to. Helps to have paperclip thin fingers. Get a wireless keyboard unless you enjoy cramping.
*Nice that it comes with a neoprene carrying bag, but they forget an area for the charger. Relatively worthless
*Downloading new applications can be a bear if you don't understand Linux. Fortunately, I do.

Overall? You really can't lose. My guess is the HDDs will get larger as time goes on and MS is offering Windows XP as an option in 2008. As long as Vista doesn't creep in there, it's a good deal for those on the go!