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My ASUS 'eee' page
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Introduction.
In December2007 I bought myself an 'eee' computer, and I am delighted
to say it is the first computer since my Atary ST that I have been
excited about. So I decided to add a page for it to my web site.
About the 'eee'.
At the time of wrting there is loads of buzz, but in case you missed it, here's a brief summary.
- It's a small, cheap, portable computer.
- It's about half the size of a normal laptop, and way under half the price of any others near this size.
- It comes with a version of Xandros Linux, not windows.
Some 'eee' wallpapers.
Unless otherwise noted, these are all my own work. You are free to use
them for any personal or private use, and give copies to your friends.
I ask you not to republish them in collections. It will normally be OK
to publish copies on your own web pages provided that:
- You contact me first.
- I get a named credit, and am acknowledged as the creator.
- There is a link back to these pages.
- You place copies on your site rather than hot linking to the copies here.
- They are not published on a web site that is for profit.
A field test of the 'eee' computer.
I've just got back from a long trip to Moldova, with my Asus eee, when
it was my only PC. This is also the first time I have only had access
to a Linux machine, (my Linux experience is pretty basic too). So I
thought it worth putting together a report on my experiences.
So far it is pretty much as straight out of the box, no extra software installed. It's a white, 4Gb model.
I must say I really like this little machine, and the more I try stuff with it, the better I like it.
The
most distinctive physical characteristic is, of course, the size. And
there's no getting away from the small screen and keyboard. I have to
say up front, this is going to be something you are going to have to
live with. If you want a small machine, it's unavoidable, and if you
think this is a problem then you should probably look elsewhere. It's
also important to note that this is in no way a powerful machine, so
forget anything like heavy duty graphics rendering or video editing.
Physically
it is very well built indeed - this was perhaps the biggest surprise
when I got it - I really did not expect a machine that came in at such
a low price to be so sturdy. I fell over on ice a couple of times, and
it is just fine. I also think it looks very nice - and have had some
admiring attention in bars when I have been using it.
One
advantage of the size that is not immediately apparent is that you an
just chuck it into a normal shoulder bag, and no one will know you have
one. It's got to be good to lose that 'mug me' look when traveling.
The
wi-fi worked superbly, and was pretty much idiot proof, at least as far
as this idiot is concerned. There was good wi-fi in my hotel, and it
was very handy to be able to use the net to check local attractions and
airport info at my leisure. Also, owing to some local issues using chip
and pin bank cards, it was very handy to be able to get at online
banking - I felt much more comfortable and secure about using my own
machine for this rather than one in a crowded Internet cafe.
Most
web sites looked a lot better than I expected at this screen size,
though I did have problems with a few, mainly those with the irritating
ads that float over the top of the content. In one case this was bigger
than the screen, and impossible to close! Time to install the ad block
plug-in...
The eee seems well thought out for travel use in
general, not least because it comes with Skype and a built in
microphone and web cam. The web cam did not deliver a good image in the
low light of my hotel room, but otherwise seemed fine - I did not have
occasion to use it in anger.
The power supply is nice and
compact too - more like a bulging plug than a big heavy black brick. It
even has the option built in of switching between flat style 2 pin, and
UK Style 3 pin built in. This is typical of the way the little details
are nicely handled.
I also found it made an excellent media
player - before leaving I had put some films onto a few SD cards, and
it was great for the long flights. Worth considering that although the
screen is small for a PC, it's actually very big for a media player at
this price point! It played pretty much every video file I through at
it, so you are unlikely to need to install extra codecs to get t
going. I also had a chunky USB hard drive powered from the ports, but
I avoided using this when the mains power was not connected. For in the
hotel room, I also found it handy to use for audio without headphones -
the built in speakers were OK for speech, though not up to good music
reproduction.
One thing I was really keen to use the eee for was
checking over my digital photos, and shuffling them around. I like to
take panoramas by stitching together large numbers of images, and this
can seriously stretch the memory card capacity. It was really very good
for this, letting me check the quality of images much more thoroughly
than the screen on the camera allowed, and letting me clear down the
card onto the USB drive every evening. Indeed on the first day it
showed I had accidentally knocked the focus settings to a dodgy
setting, and I was getting slightly soft focus. It would have been
horrible to discover this on every shot after getting home...
Now
at this point I must admit it would have been great to have a seriously
powerful machine, so I could actually try stitching the images. I've
not tried any Linux stitching software, but I think it would have to
struggle with the available memory, and even if it coped with that, I
think the USB hard drive would have slowed it down to unacceptable
levels.
I also used it to take notes with Open Office. This was
fine, and I soon got used to the small keyboard. The included games are
very basic, but even so I found myself enjoying Frozen Bobble. All the
included applications, (and they cover all the basics), ran at
perfectly acceptable speeds.
There were a few niggles.
- MP3 files are by default associated with an application that can't play
MP3's. Silly when there is another program on it that plays them just
fine.
- I could not work out how to turn on the spell checker in
Open Office - particularly important when getting used to the keyboard.
- The layout of the keyboard is a bit unusual, and I did have problems
finding control keys rapidly, though I am sure this will improve with
practice.
- I still absolutely hate the little touch pad, I find it
very fiddly and can't get on with it. A small cheap USB mouse fixed
this.
Overall though it's an absolute bargain. Though it's not
an all round powerhouse machine, it's good enough to be VERY useful in
a lot of areas. It's strong, easy to use, and well thought out for use
by those who travel a lot.
If price or size have stopped you
buying a laptop before, buy this one without hesitation. Its the first
computer I have been excited about since I bought my Atari ST many
years ago!
I will be looking to change a few things in the near future:
- I want to fix the software niggles I mentioned.
- I want to install a nice game emulator, (maybe I can get a megadrive emulator working!)
- I want more levels for frozen bobble!
- I want to buy it a nice case, the Brando leather one looks like it will protect well without bulking things up.
Essential extras you are likely to need from the word go:
- A USB mouse.
- Some SD cards or USB memory sticks, to store files and media, if you
don't have them already. These will also let you try booting from other
operating systems.
I really don't know if I agree with those who
are waiting for a more powerful version... There is a very real danger
that an eee with a big screen and more storage will be expensive enough
to compete with a conventional laptop, and a significantly bigger
screen would also make the whole PC larger, losing the key advantage of
ultra compact. But with a bit of clever design there is room in the
same size lid for a somewhat bigger screen, and that would be cool if
the price doesn't go up too much.
Overall I'm absolutely delighted I got this machine, and I expect it to get a LOT of use in the near future!
A few 'eee' links.
