Hi There,
Has anyone got one of those little Asus- EEPC's?
If you have what do you think of it? I'm not worried about Linux or the Open office stuff.
Just want to know if you think it's solid and VFM?
The other thing I'm wondering is if it will run with my USB '3' Broad band modem?
Cheers
Tim
I have one, and use it a lot. I replaced Xandos with straight Debian, and added 1GB of RAM, and a 16GB SD card (the latter two increasing the cost, a bit). It is a great size, since it can be carried around quite easily. I don't know about the modem. Best to do a search to see if it is supported by the OS you will be using. The wifi works fine for me.
Best wishes,
Bob
PS
RLF
I've got the original 701 model and it's pretty good for work on the move. The keyboard and screen are cramped, but it's less than a kilo and you can chuck it in your bag without worrying too much about damaging it.
You can install MS Windows on them, but the screen size becomes an issue as some dialog boxes won't fit on screen.
There is a newer model (900) with a bigger 9" (1024x600) screen and more storage now for around £330 quid that may be a better buy (although the battery life isn't as good - in the UK it comes with a lower rated battery than the USA. Typical!)
There's also one coming out in a month or two with a better processor (atom). So as with all things IT, there's always something better around the corner...
For now though, I think all the available models are pretty good value for what they are.
Oh, and tz-uk.com renders just fine in their Firefox browser :wink:
Tim, I have sold 30+ of these to my customer base and not had any issues with them.
Don't go for the 2gb one though as it also loses out on a few other things.
Don't know about the modem issue , but can't see why it would'nt work,
other than if it clashed with the built in Wi Fi ( should'nt though,)
The new 9" version looks good, but seems abit pricey £300+ I think.
Frank
I have the 4GB model, only change I made was to unlock the advanced mode, essentially a windows like desktop. It's a great second computer in addition to my mac laptop. Perfect for browsing and email. took it on holiday with no worries. WiFi seems to eat battery life though and the keyboard is a bit cramped.
Will get round to buying extra ram and a SD card.
Also thinking about changing the OS after reading some comments here.
Definitely recommend picking one up.
Dave
I've been thinking about getting one, prob the standard 4GB one, add some memory and possibly change to Ubuntu or similar. I can't really see the point in the larger £300 model - for £100 more you could get a functioning conventional laptop, or for the same price a new-ish 2nd hand one. The smaller one looks great for what I'd need it for, which would be for travel and for web access away from the office.
Bob - how does Debian compare to Ubuntu? I was thinking of Ubuntu as my girlfriend would be able to set everything up for me
I got the 701 too (4Gig HD, 512k RAM) - it was a steal at around 133 English pounds equivalent on a sale here. Whilst I don't really need it, at that price it was too good to pass up.
It comes with a neoprene sleeve which is good and fits in my bumbag with all my normal stuff. It'll fit in the leg pocket of most older NATO army pants.
I loaded the Linux beta video skype (maybe standard by now) and as it has camera, mic and speakers you need nothing else. I loaded Minicom so I can console into Cisco/Juniper etc routers. The USB to serial dongle I have was detected with no issues.
The screen is small, but the issue is not the size per se, but the fact that it's only 800 pixels wide. If you do a lot of surfing then the new one at 1024 will be better. The track-pad is small and I feel too sensitive even at lowest sensivity.
Wireless is great, detects more than my relatively expensive Fujitsu Lifebook.
The only other minor gripe is the power feeds in the back and the cable and plug are in a straight line. So if you have it on your lap and it's tipping backwards you could eventually cause the wire to break where it enters the plug. A right angled plug would be better, but like I say, nit-picking, and you could re-terminate if you wanted to avoid. Power supply is a wall wart with a generous cable hanging off it.
Regards,
Rob.
I have been thinking of a affordable ultra-portable laptop, so the Asus has been on my list. However, I came across this review yesterday for a new HP mini laptop.
review is here: http://www.trustedreviews.com/notebo...nux-Edition/p1
At this time though, and since I already have one laptop, I decided to go for a Nokia N810 internet tablet, interesting little machine.
:)
VA
Cheers Fellas,
It would seem in general thats a TZ thumbs up :) I'll hunt one down.
Ubuntu, is that the Feisty Faun version?, I think I have it on a disk somewhere.
Yet to try it, but a chap I know thinks its fantastic.
The only issue with XP I could think of is that for the sake of a long and happy Eeepc you should probably disable
any sort of Swap file as it will decrease the memory life quite a bit.
Thanks for all the replys.
T
I have one.
Fantastic little machine. The only thing I have changed is to enable the advanced mode. You can add a 8Gb SD card from play.com for £15.
My "3" broadband modem works perfectly - make sure you get the Huawei E220 one.
Pete
I have logging, swap and journalling file system all turned on. Modern SSDs don't lose bits that fast, and the software for putting them aside is pretty good, so they should last about as long as a standard hard drive (with no significant loss of capacity). Given that I'm only looking to get 3 or 4 years out of it, I don't think there is any problem. (But, we'll see.)Originally Posted by Timw
Best wishes,
Bob
At the prices we have to pay for them in the UK, they're not particularly good value for money. Even now, with the 'old' models being sold off to make way for the larger screen versions, they are not cheap. In today's paper, there was a £299 laptop (Acer) being advertised, which is about the same price as the newer EEPC's; so I think they're about to price themselves out of the market. Other manufacturers are now jumping on this particular bandwagon, so I wouldn't restrict your choice to the EEPC.
I'm still waiting for the $100 laptop that all the fuss was made about... :roll:
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote