getting sick and tired of my behemoth laptop, I spied one of these in the store the other day. Small, and light weight. Fantastic. So my question is; Is it practical? is the keyboard workable? How goes it with battery life? What about file compatability? So anyone out there with a Eee PC?
(i looked for an Eee PC thread, but couldn't find one. My search-fu could be lacking though. Mods feel free to scrap this if you wish)
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You have to take into consideration its tiny keyboard (which if I remember correctly reviewers did complain about) and its minuscule 7" screen with a resolution of 800x480.
If you can go to a store that allows you to use it then give it a go, my local pc world has various pc's and laptops on display that you can play around with.
Also, you're limited application wise unless you want to familiarise yourself with apt-get.
I suppose you could install windows on it, but you wouldn't be left for much breathing room unless you got the highest end eeepc model. (lower end model memory and the SSD is soldered on)
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8gb for $31
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820211180
Sure you could find a better deal if you looked around more.
Edit: Oh my that thing can run beryl. I wasn't expecting that.
If the hardest thing i have to do is modify xorg.conf, it's no big thang.
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6gb of the 8gb is taken up by the OS and preloaded apps.
keyboard is small and takes a bit of getting used to.
We cracked it open and put 2gb of ram into it, made a pretty noticeable improvement.
He got it because he is going on a trip to japan for 3 months and needed something small that could be used to sent/receive email, IM, update his blog, store photos and just general interbuts use.
It seems perfect for what he needs it for.
On the model he had, we just ripped off the "warranty void if removed" sticker (it's illegal to enforce in Australia), opened it up, pulled out the 512mb dimm and connected the 2gb.
Simple.
However with some of the cheaper models (this one was $499 AUD) i believe the chip is soldered in.
Asus has already said it was pretty much a 'mistake' anyways:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eeepc#Criticism
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It's also helpful to note that if you intend to install XP on it, there are websites that'll tell you how to do it, and the manual itself also comes with the proper instructions on installing and getting XP optimized.
I'm still not sure if I'd put Windows on it. I think I'd want to experiment with Linux for a while.
I know there's an 8GB SSD/1GB RAM model available, but the last time I checked, they were hard to find. Don't know when the 10 inch model will be coming out, though.
I think they're preparing one. Or was that for the CloudBook...
Should have impressions in by the end of the week.
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The CloudBook is supposed to have five hours of battery life. It's currently scheduled to be released for sale on Feb. 15.
I would probably boot XP though.
I look forward to your impressions, Recoil.
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Unfortunately, I can no longer find the link to the PDF manuals available directly from Asus Support.
See it?
Yeah.
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Here's a forum I've been reading through on EEE PC ins and outs: http://forum.eeeuser.com/
It's got some useful information on general use and some in depth stuff on software and hardware configuration.
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Doubt it, or they would have just used a pivot hinge. As it is, that hinge definitely won't fold backwards.
I think it's just a design decision, I assume the bulge at the top of the keyboard, for which the gap accommodates, is where the battery is stored.
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The only issue is storage space, but really how much do you need? If you have a desktop this isn't an issue.
EDIT: And one EEE PC ordered. Should be seeing it early next week.
Eee + WC3?!
Edit: Possibly fake :/
That and a handy iPod, SD card, or something for space requirements...
Especially in screen size or battery life.
No word on battery life, though having a larger screen would hurt that. Larger screen later this year.
It's great as is now though.