Itsy Bitys Zesty Systy: The Wifi Touch-screen 3G 20GB Asus Eee PC (now with Leopard)
January 5, 2008 1:30 PM Subscribe
What's better than a wifi-equipped Asus Eee sub-notebook PC with touchscreen? Simple. An Asus Eee sub-notebook PC with touchscreen and 3G HSDPA modem. Still want more? How about an upgrade of on-board storage — from 4 gigabytes to 20gb? And if you're planning on overwriting the Eee's Xandros/pre-installed Linux distribution in the first place (in order to install a non open-source platform) you may want to consider making a complete switch-over and being the first on your block with a (legally iffy) sub-notebook running Macintosh. Previously: 1, 2, 3.
One of these buggers, of course, god help me, hope it comes with a robust grammar/spell check.
posted by Divine_Wino at 2:05 PM on January 5, 2008
posted by Divine_Wino at 2:05 PM on January 5, 2008
Waiting for the new announcements coming in the next few weeks. Latest rumour has it that we'll get a 8.9 inch screen and wimax support sometime in 2008.
posted by furtive at 2:05 PM on January 5, 2008
posted by furtive at 2:05 PM on January 5, 2008
I would rather buy a machine with better capabilities to start with.
posted by a robot made out of meat at 2:07 PM on January 5, 2008 [1 favorite]
posted by a robot made out of meat at 2:07 PM on January 5, 2008 [1 favorite]
There is nothing illegal about running OSX on whatever you want, as long as you pay for it.
posted by delmoi at 2:12 PM on January 5, 2008
posted by delmoi at 2:12 PM on January 5, 2008
Wrong, delmoi: the license agreement expressly forbids running Mac OS X on any non-Apple-labeled hardware, right at the very beginning. Because that same agreement also indicates that the software is licensed, not sold, doing so is not only illegal (i.e., a breach of contract law), but also criminal (i.e., copyright infringement).
Now, that's not to say that either the civil or criminal lawsuit would actually be brought. There's virtually no way one would get caught, especially if you make an image from your own copy rather than downloading a pre-made image via BitTorrent. Nonetheless, it is most certainly illegal, even if you buy a copy of Mac OS X especially for installation on to a non-Apple computer.
posted by jedicus at 2:20 PM on January 5, 2008 [1 favorite]
Now, that's not to say that either the civil or criminal lawsuit would actually be brought. There's virtually no way one would get caught, especially if you make an image from your own copy rather than downloading a pre-made image via BitTorrent. Nonetheless, it is most certainly illegal, even if you buy a copy of Mac OS X especially for installation on to a non-Apple computer.
posted by jedicus at 2:20 PM on January 5, 2008 [1 favorite]
I would rather buy a machine with better capabilities to start with.
posted by a robot made out of meat at 2:07 PM on January 5
I have an Asus EEE and it is perfect for what it is. I have a more powerful laptop but the Asus fills another need I had. For example...
Just recently I went traveling in Mexico but wanted to be able to have a machine to:
1) Be able to connect to wifi (the wifi reception is better than any other machine ive owned) if available and browse the web.
2) Have an image browser so I could look at the photos I had taken (it has an SD card slot so thats a real plus)
3) Have IM to chat with friends.
4) Small and easy to carry around.
On top of that, at a price of $300, if I somehow lost it or it was stolen - a tragedy for sure, but not a large scale one.
This machine, or something like it, was really something I had been looking for for a while.
posted by vacapinta at 2:23 PM on January 5, 2008
posted by a robot made out of meat at 2:07 PM on January 5
I have an Asus EEE and it is perfect for what it is. I have a more powerful laptop but the Asus fills another need I had. For example...
Just recently I went traveling in Mexico but wanted to be able to have a machine to:
1) Be able to connect to wifi (the wifi reception is better than any other machine ive owned) if available and browse the web.
2) Have an image browser so I could look at the photos I had taken (it has an SD card slot so thats a real plus)
3) Have IM to chat with friends.
4) Small and easy to carry around.
On top of that, at a price of $300, if I somehow lost it or it was stolen - a tragedy for sure, but not a large scale one.
This machine, or something like it, was really something I had been looking for for a while.
posted by vacapinta at 2:23 PM on January 5, 2008
I would rather buy a machine with better capabilities to start with.
That is because you are no fun.
See, on its own, an EEE is not actually that exciting. I mean, sure, it's neat and stuff, but at the end of the day it's really just a cool toy. If you own one, you are just another dude who happened to have $400 to spare that day. But when you buy one and hack it up? Destroy it, remake it, put your blood, sweat and solder into it? Then it becomes yours. It is special, because you made it. It doesn't even matter what it cost or what it was. Post mod, it's fucking elite. You can buy a better machine, but you can't buy that.
posted by tracert at 2:50 PM on January 5, 2008 [17 favorites]
That is because you are no fun.
See, on its own, an EEE is not actually that exciting. I mean, sure, it's neat and stuff, but at the end of the day it's really just a cool toy. If you own one, you are just another dude who happened to have $400 to spare that day. But when you buy one and hack it up? Destroy it, remake it, put your blood, sweat and solder into it? Then it becomes yours. It is special, because you made it. It doesn't even matter what it cost or what it was. Post mod, it's fucking elite. You can buy a better machine, but you can't buy that.
posted by tracert at 2:50 PM on January 5, 2008 [17 favorites]
I'm writing this on an eee pc right now... Personally, I love this thing. It's not amazing -- just really simple and, yeah, relatively cheap. Cheap enough that you're not gonna completely wig out if something happens to it, the way I might if I somehow damaged a $2,500 sony viao, or whatever. The WiMax / bigger screen version will, I'm sure, be sweet... but if all ya need is wifi access and a super portable linux box, then the eee as it stands now is awesome.
It's got a nice long battery life and a fairly strong wi-fi antenna and supports open office, firefox, etc... all the normal open source stuff people are using these days. For whatever it's worth, I didn't even swap out the OS on mine... xandros is as good as anything -- it's basically debian -- and the "simple mode" loads up nice 'n' fast. For everything else, you can just grab software from the main debian repository or just compile it yourself... just like you would with any linux distribution.
I betcha Ubuntu would look pretty sweet on this thing, but the effort required to make the switch, given that Xandros is perfectly fine, doesn't seem worth it, especially given that there must be some kinda hit, performance-wise.
I also have another laptop... and that thing ain't going away, but I think I'm a lot like vacapinta in saying that this is totally the type of thing I've been waiting for.
posted by ph00dz at 2:54 PM on January 5, 2008
It's got a nice long battery life and a fairly strong wi-fi antenna and supports open office, firefox, etc... all the normal open source stuff people are using these days. For whatever it's worth, I didn't even swap out the OS on mine... xandros is as good as anything -- it's basically debian -- and the "simple mode" loads up nice 'n' fast. For everything else, you can just grab software from the main debian repository or just compile it yourself... just like you would with any linux distribution.
I betcha Ubuntu would look pretty sweet on this thing, but the effort required to make the switch, given that Xandros is perfectly fine, doesn't seem worth it, especially given that there must be some kinda hit, performance-wise.
I also have another laptop... and that thing ain't going away, but I think I'm a lot like vacapinta in saying that this is totally the type of thing I've been waiting for.
posted by ph00dz at 2:54 PM on January 5, 2008
This is definitely on the wish list, especially for business/vacation travel, rather than the nice (but heavy) monster Vaio I have.
posted by carter at 3:26 PM on January 5, 2008 [1 favorite]
posted by carter at 3:26 PM on January 5, 2008 [1 favorite]
I also want one very badly.. Just waiting for CES, to see if the larger screen is announced. Of course, I won't be able to wait for the 3+ months that it takes for them to start selling it anyway.
posted by pete0r at 3:30 PM on January 5, 2008
posted by pete0r at 3:30 PM on January 5, 2008
I love my eee... the lightness is just such a huge plus and you can actually type on it. all other machines that light are $2500, so this was just a great find for me.
but yeah, the trackpad is unusable i got me a teeny-tiny mouse to go with my eeny-weeny eee..
posted by Maias at 4:09 PM on January 5, 2008
but yeah, the trackpad is unusable i got me a teeny-tiny mouse to go with my eeny-weeny eee..
posted by Maias at 4:09 PM on January 5, 2008
Dittoing everything else the other EEE fans have said. It's so good as a second/travel machine that you look at the other suckers on a plane with their eight pound 15.4 inch laptop and feel pity. I love mine. I will buy a larger screen version the day they are released.
And as mentioned above, it does have the best wifi antennae I've ever seen.
posted by Keith Talent at 4:19 PM on January 5, 2008
And as mentioned above, it does have the best wifi antennae I've ever seen.
posted by Keith Talent at 4:19 PM on January 5, 2008
Wow, according to that license agreement, it's a violation of your OSX license to even show someone how to run it on the eee.
posted by bashos_frog at 4:40 PM on January 5, 2008
posted by bashos_frog at 4:40 PM on January 5, 2008
the license agreement expressly forbids running Mac OS X on any non-Apple-labeled hardware, right at the very beginning. Because that same agreement also indicates that the software is licensed, not sold, doing so is not only illegal (i.e., a breach of contract law), but also criminal (i.e., copyright infringement).
Just because Apple says the software is licensed and not sold, doesn't make it true. Furthermore, even if a court did considered it to be licensed, it does not meet the requirements for criminal infringement.
posted by grouse at 4:53 PM on January 5, 2008 [4 favorites]
Just because Apple says the software is licensed and not sold, doesn't make it true. Furthermore, even if a court did considered it to be licensed, it does not meet the requirements for criminal infringement.
posted by grouse at 4:53 PM on January 5, 2008 [4 favorites]
my nokia N800 and I are jealous of the eee.
posted by malaprohibita at 4:54 PM on January 5, 2008
posted by malaprohibita at 4:54 PM on January 5, 2008
I like my Eee a lot. Everyone I show it to oohs and ahs and says they want to get one for their mom.
posted by milquetoast at 5:11 PM on January 5, 2008
posted by milquetoast at 5:11 PM on January 5, 2008
The EEE is definately my next toy, it seems like the perfect fit for the hole that the likes of the Psion 5 left. Battery life sounds like it could be better though.
posted by Artw at 5:37 PM on January 5, 2008
posted by Artw at 5:37 PM on January 5, 2008
If you wait a bit you might be able to get an Asus machine from Apple.
posted by doctor_negative at 5:55 PM on January 5, 2008 [1 favorite]
posted by doctor_negative at 5:55 PM on January 5, 2008 [1 favorite]
That's really not the same thing as we're talking about.
posted by Artw at 5:57 PM on January 5, 2008
posted by Artw at 5:57 PM on January 5, 2008
Zesty Systy ??
Asus makes the best laptops for the money, across the board.
posted by Benny Andajetz at 6:20 PM on January 5, 2008
Asus makes the best laptops for the money, across the board.
posted by Benny Andajetz at 6:20 PM on January 5, 2008
Interesting article on Asus and the Eee here.
posted by Benny Andajetz at 6:23 PM on January 5, 2008 [1 favorite]
posted by Benny Andajetz at 6:23 PM on January 5, 2008 [1 favorite]
I broke down a few days ago and ordered one from Costco online; was surprised that they carried it and that they had both the 4 GB and 8 GB in both colors (now sold out of the 8GB). The program I use most for work is a software as a service and runs on Firefox/ie/Safari but not PDA browsers; for that you need to pay extra. So this saves me from having to pay extras for the substandard version of the program. The keyboard is slightly cramped but miles better than a PDA keyboard plus the solid state drive means that it can take more abuse than your typical laptop hard drive. It has Open Office, WiFi, USB ports, and almost unanimous positive reviews. It's perfect for my needs as long as it isn't my primary PC.
posted by Challahtronix at 6:32 PM on January 5, 2008
posted by Challahtronix at 6:32 PM on January 5, 2008
I'd much rather spend the same amount of money for a new, real laptop that this underpowered, underscreened toy. And I'm sure hipster assholes are already in conspicuous consumption mode with these things at Starbucks, with their iphones also prominently displayed.
posted by aerotive at 7:05 PM on January 5, 2008
posted by aerotive at 7:05 PM on January 5, 2008
jedicus: The license agreement doesn't seem to actually define "Apple-labeled". This must be what the little adhesive apple logos that come with iPods are for.
posted by you at 7:10 PM on January 5, 2008
posted by you at 7:10 PM on January 5, 2008
I'd much rather spend the same amount of money for a new, real laptop that this underpowered, underscreened toy.
$400? Do tell.
posted by Divine_Wino at 7:14 PM on January 5, 2008 [1 favorite]
$400? Do tell.
posted by Divine_Wino at 7:14 PM on January 5, 2008 [1 favorite]
Did we just find the guy who posts all the angry over-the-top negative reviews on Amazon?
posted by Artw at 7:27 PM on January 5, 2008
posted by Artw at 7:27 PM on January 5, 2008
What I mean to say is, (and I've read up on it and I know there are lockdown problems from Asus) but this little jam seems like the anti-iphone (Other than it's not a phone, although they make a point about it running skype out of the box). It's 400 bucks for a tiny little solid state laptop with wifi that runs a flavor of linux and has a decent suite of software installed, it's open(ish), obviously easily hackable and you can cram in a shit-ton more solid state memory for free. I don't really want an iphone (I mean in the abstract, but realistically, I'd druther that new little 99 dollar Palm jam, I'd feel like less of a cock and it has a keyboard and an expansion slot, as handsome as the Iphone is), but if I have the discretionary budget at work I might get one of these little fuckers (for instance it would be nice to have a bang-aroundable little guy to process credit cards in the field and sign people up for the mailing list in a slick way) and just haul it around and see what it can do. I've already got a jumped up Mac laptop and a PC on my desk at work (bookkeeping, God between us and evil). Also I'm a giant hipster and I'm going to dangle this thing from my luxurious sideburns whilst I snort coke off of Ms. Pacman's ass..
posted by Divine_Wino at 7:32 PM on January 5, 2008
posted by Divine_Wino at 7:32 PM on January 5, 2008
Underpowered? I use it to write code, surf the web, and send threatening letters to celebrities. It's just perfect for all that. The damn thing fits in the pocket of my giant vintage army coat, for Thurston's sake.
Seriously, though, the only thing vaguely hipsterish about the Eee is the fact that it's made entirely out of cocaine -- and it frequently has sex with people who it thinks are beneath it, socially speaking.
posted by milquetoast at 7:44 PM on January 5, 2008 [7 favorites]
Seriously, though, the only thing vaguely hipsterish about the Eee is the fact that it's made entirely out of cocaine -- and it frequently has sex with people who it thinks are beneath it, socially speaking.
posted by milquetoast at 7:44 PM on January 5, 2008 [7 favorites]
Maybe we need to get all these enthusiastic Metafilter people together with the Slashdot people who seem generally mystified as to why the hell anybody would want one of these things.
posted by Naberius at 8:08 PM on January 5, 2008 [1 favorite]
posted by Naberius at 8:08 PM on January 5, 2008 [1 favorite]
Slashdot is full of idiots.
posted by Artw at 8:13 PM on January 5, 2008 [1 favorite]
posted by Artw at 8:13 PM on January 5, 2008 [1 favorite]
I bought one on boxing day (sick of waiting for the jerks at OLPC to live up to their own fucking proposal) and quite like it. I had to jump thru a few hoops to get it to do what I want but it really wasn't that hard. I bought it specifically to run Celtx on and it does that very well.
posted by dobbs at 8:27 PM on January 5, 2008
posted by dobbs at 8:27 PM on January 5, 2008
its not under powered. I mean, as one who plays games on a console, and not my PC, there is nothing that I want to do that this thing can't do.
I mostly develop on it, write email and surf the web. It can do all that. Its sad, but it boots up faster than my 2.4 ghz XP machine, starts firefox faster, and shuts down faster. Largely owing to the slimmed down OS. The default config is a little fisher-price, but you can get xandros running a proper desktop environment with three shell commands and a reboot.
when the new model with a larger screen comes, I will be in line.
aerotive - FWIW, I am tragically uncool and have never owned an IPod. Also, that same amount of money on a regular laptop will get you a MOSTER machine. This isn't for the guy that wants to carry around a briefcase for their laptop. I can fit mine in my little shoulder bag.
or to say it another way, you've got size, performance, and price, but you can only pick two. This is the machine for people who want size and price. And when you're talking about something that you're going to drag with you every where (dropped, lost, stolen), it makes sense not to drop two months rent on it.
posted by nihlton at 8:44 PM on January 5, 2008
I mostly develop on it, write email and surf the web. It can do all that. Its sad, but it boots up faster than my 2.4 ghz XP machine, starts firefox faster, and shuts down faster. Largely owing to the slimmed down OS. The default config is a little fisher-price, but you can get xandros running a proper desktop environment with three shell commands and a reboot.
when the new model with a larger screen comes, I will be in line.
aerotive - FWIW, I am tragically uncool and have never owned an IPod. Also, that same amount of money on a regular laptop will get you a MOSTER machine. This isn't for the guy that wants to carry around a briefcase for their laptop. I can fit mine in my little shoulder bag.
or to say it another way, you've got size, performance, and price, but you can only pick two. This is the machine for people who want size and price. And when you're talking about something that you're going to drag with you every where (dropped, lost, stolen), it makes sense not to drop two months rent on it.
posted by nihlton at 8:44 PM on January 5, 2008
Divine_WinoL: $400? Do tell.
There were a couple of deals around the end of December where you could get a core 2 duo laptop with 1gb of ram and generally respectable stats otherwise (except for the graphics card, which is trash in nearly all laptops) for about $400. Granted, it was sort of a black-friday-esque sort of thing, but I doubt you'd have had to stay in line.
It's over now, unfortunately.
posted by Mitrovarr at 8:47 PM on January 5, 2008
There were a couple of deals around the end of December where you could get a core 2 duo laptop with 1gb of ram and generally respectable stats otherwise (except for the graphics card, which is trash in nearly all laptops) for about $400. Granted, it was sort of a black-friday-esque sort of thing, but I doubt you'd have had to stay in line.
It's over now, unfortunately.
posted by Mitrovarr at 8:47 PM on January 5, 2008
Ah well, I never do pay attention properly.
posted by Divine_Wino at 9:22 PM on January 5, 2008
posted by Divine_Wino at 9:22 PM on January 5, 2008
There were a couple of deals around the end of December where you could get a core 2 duo laptop with 1gb of ram and generally respectable stats otherwise (except for the graphics card, which is trash in nearly all laptops) for about $400.
The EEE is about portability, not about an oversized clunker on sale. It's about the laptop as an accessory, not something that needs to be lugged around.
posted by null terminated at 9:42 PM on January 5, 2008
The EEE is about portability, not about an oversized clunker on sale. It's about the laptop as an accessory, not something that needs to be lugged around.
posted by null terminated at 9:42 PM on January 5, 2008
Love my eee. I'm a tiny person. I don't need my 7 lb monster unless I'm doing some graphics work or programming that uses a gazillion windows. For IM, typing, browsing, checking my email...it's perfect. I'm paying for portability I know, but my back thanks me. My giant evil "real" laptop can stay at home.
posted by melissam at 9:46 PM on January 5, 2008
posted by melissam at 9:46 PM on January 5, 2008
i'm not a hipster, but I play one when I'm using my green pc with ears -- the XO has to be more of a hipster machine than the eee.
I used the ebook raeder this evening to have my foodtv recipe in the kitchen instaed of walking back and forth to my desktop. its good for couch surfing, and other light usage stuff just like the eee pc. Seems to me that the XO,the EEE, the iphone are where mobile computing is going.
posted by garlic at 9:47 PM on January 5, 2008
I used the ebook raeder this evening to have my foodtv recipe in the kitchen instaed of walking back and forth to my desktop. its good for couch surfing, and other light usage stuff just like the eee pc. Seems to me that the XO,the EEE, the iphone are where mobile computing is going.
posted by garlic at 9:47 PM on January 5, 2008
I'll be buying one. Depending on CES next week, I'll be buying one now or waiting for the supposed-to-be released 8.9 inch screen one.
My laptop is too fucking big to carry around -- so it sits on a shelf until I go on vacation. This will not be a pain to carry around, so it'll be going to my office everyday.
posted by i_am_a_Jedi at 9:55 PM on January 5, 2008
My laptop is too fucking big to carry around -- so it sits on a shelf until I go on vacation. This will not be a pain to carry around, so it'll be going to my office everyday.
posted by i_am_a_Jedi at 9:55 PM on January 5, 2008
null terminated: The EEE is about portability, not about an oversized clunker on sale. It's about the laptop as an accessory, not something that needs to be lugged around.
I understand the point of them (and I wish I could throw around $400 like that.) I was merely disputing the idea that one can't get a good laptop for $400. It's tricky, but if you shop around at the right time, sure you can.
posted by Mitrovarr at 10:01 PM on January 5, 2008
I understand the point of them (and I wish I could throw around $400 like that.) I was merely disputing the idea that one can't get a good laptop for $400. It's tricky, but if you shop around at the right time, sure you can.
posted by Mitrovarr at 10:01 PM on January 5, 2008
I was going to buy one recently, but the 7", 800x480 display is just too small. I guess I'll just have to wait for the hinted-at 10" version.
posted by clevershark at 10:15 PM on January 5, 2008
posted by clevershark at 10:15 PM on January 5, 2008
Yeah, I wish I could too. I'm on an 8lb Dell that never leaves the house.
posted by null terminated at 10:17 PM on January 5, 2008
posted by null terminated at 10:17 PM on January 5, 2008
The Asus U2E looks very interesting. I can't find any price information yet though. Has anyone used the U1?
posted by null terminated at 10:19 PM on January 5, 2008
posted by null terminated at 10:19 PM on January 5, 2008
null terminated: Yeah, I wish I could too. I'm on an 8lb Dell that never leaves the house.
Could be worse. I'm on the standard gamer's machine - a large full tower, two monitors (including one large CRT), oversized keyboard, full stereo hooked up for speakers. I'm not sure it's possible to make a less portable system without going to extreme measures.
posted by Mitrovarr at 11:06 PM on January 5, 2008
Could be worse. I'm on the standard gamer's machine - a large full tower, two monitors (including one large CRT), oversized keyboard, full stereo hooked up for speakers. I'm not sure it's possible to make a less portable system without going to extreme measures.
posted by Mitrovarr at 11:06 PM on January 5, 2008
Maybe we need to get all these enthusiastic Metafilter people together with the Slashdot people who seem generally mystified as to why the hell anybody would want one of these things.
The "what on earth could you do with that" quote is from the linked iTWire article. That's why it's in quotes (and blockquoted).
The way to tell what the Slashdotters think is to read the comments below. Looks like they're generally in favor of it. Don't forget that, as one of them stated, "you're speaking to a crowd that busts its ass trying to get Linux running on their microwave."
Just a friendly reminder that a little RTFM goes a long way.
posted by yath at 11:23 PM on January 5, 2008
The "what on earth could you do with that" quote is from the linked iTWire article. That's why it's in quotes (and blockquoted).
The way to tell what the Slashdotters think is to read the comments below. Looks like they're generally in favor of it. Don't forget that, as one of them stated, "you're speaking to a crowd that busts its ass trying to get Linux running on their microwave."
Just a friendly reminder that a little RTFM goes a long way.
posted by yath at 11:23 PM on January 5, 2008
I've installed VLC from debian sources. Combine this with an external drive full of DVDs I've ripped. I have over a 100 hours of video in space scarcely large than a paper notebook. It makes a portable DVD player look like a quaint toy.
I've also gotten it to connect to my cell phone as a modem. No free wifi at the airport? I can easily connect with my phone.
One of the most exciting things about these machines, and part of what I was trying to talk about in this article, is what will come from this. A plateau of sorts has been reached in terms of what most people need in a laptop. MP3s, video, web browsing, and document creation are all within reach on this device. What will the price of a similar device be in 5 years and how large will it be?
In 2002 I was at a career fair, and one of the chotchke given out was portable fm radio the size of a drink coaster. Imagine the day when they can do the same for an x86 pc that will play SD video, edit word documents, and browse the web.
posted by zabuni at 1:16 AM on January 6, 2008
I've also gotten it to connect to my cell phone as a modem. No free wifi at the airport? I can easily connect with my phone.
One of the most exciting things about these machines, and part of what I was trying to talk about in this article, is what will come from this. A plateau of sorts has been reached in terms of what most people need in a laptop. MP3s, video, web browsing, and document creation are all within reach on this device. What will the price of a similar device be in 5 years and how large will it be?
In 2002 I was at a career fair, and one of the chotchke given out was portable fm radio the size of a drink coaster. Imagine the day when they can do the same for an x86 pc that will play SD video, edit word documents, and browse the web.
posted by zabuni at 1:16 AM on January 6, 2008
So people are sitting around and hankering for larger version. You get big enough revisions and and how does that differ from most of today's offerings? Isn't that kinda missing the point?
posted by sourwookie at 2:05 AM on January 6, 2008
posted by sourwookie at 2:05 AM on January 6, 2008
They're hankering for one that doesn't have a cheapo DVD-player screen with big black bars around the sides.
posted by blasdelf at 4:22 AM on January 6, 2008
posted by blasdelf at 4:22 AM on January 6, 2008
Right... a bigger screen wouldn't necessarily increase the size of the thing, since there are "speakers" on either side...
zabuni -- how'd you tether it to your cell phone?
You know, you guys are totally right, by the way. The wi-fi antenna on the eee is just ridiculously good. That, combined with a nice solid battery life, makes for pretty good potential for all kinds of mayhem.
I'll be curious to see the XO, see how it compares. I have yet to actually see one "in the wild," but there are some clever ideas in that thing. I mean... how awesome would it be if you could put the eee into black 'n' white mode to save battery power?
posted by ph00dz at 7:43 AM on January 6, 2008
zabuni -- how'd you tether it to your cell phone?
You know, you guys are totally right, by the way. The wi-fi antenna on the eee is just ridiculously good. That, combined with a nice solid battery life, makes for pretty good potential for all kinds of mayhem.
I'll be curious to see the XO, see how it compares. I have yet to actually see one "in the wild," but there are some clever ideas in that thing. I mean... how awesome would it be if you could put the eee into black 'n' white mode to save battery power?
posted by ph00dz at 7:43 AM on January 6, 2008
The XO's battery life, at least while actively browsing, is about 3 hours. Lame compared to what they marketed it as, but they're still working on the software to run all the hardware power use optimizations.
The XO is about 1 lb heavier, and half as fast as the EEE. It's more durable than the EEE and about 1/2 the cost for 1, except you could only buy it in batches of 2 and give one of those away. The GUI (sugar) is new, and takes some getting used to, or you could ditch it and install a small linux of your choice.
posted by garlic at 8:04 AM on January 6, 2008
The XO is about 1 lb heavier, and half as fast as the EEE. It's more durable than the EEE and about 1/2 the cost for 1, except you could only buy it in batches of 2 and give one of those away. The GUI (sugar) is new, and takes some getting used to, or you could ditch it and install a small linux of your choice.
posted by garlic at 8:04 AM on January 6, 2008
I'm doubting that they will announce one with a bigger screen officially at CES. Maybe I'm saying this because I bought one and would feel like a sucker, but these things started shipping 2 months ago. They best way to kill their own sales would be to announce a better one shipping in another 6-9 months.
posted by Lazlo Hollyfeld at 8:07 AM on January 6, 2008
posted by Lazlo Hollyfeld at 8:07 AM on January 6, 2008
ph00dz -- usb bluetooth dongle + smartphone + eee = 3G love
posted by Lazlo Hollyfeld at 8:08 AM on January 6, 2008
posted by Lazlo Hollyfeld at 8:08 AM on January 6, 2008
They best way to kill their own sales would be to announce a better one shipping in another 6-9 months.
The best way to improve their own sales would be to watch what the hacker community does, and continually improve their product.
I'm capable of improving these little beasts, but I don't want to spend my time doing that when I can be doing other things more important to me or to work.
They introduced a beefed-up version with the right features, though, and I'll have a purchase order for two dozen of them within the week. There are some damn neat things I could do with these as an information/communication appliance at work.
posted by five fresh fish at 9:15 AM on January 6, 2008
The best way to improve their own sales would be to watch what the hacker community does, and continually improve their product.
I'm capable of improving these little beasts, but I don't want to spend my time doing that when I can be doing other things more important to me or to work.
They introduced a beefed-up version with the right features, though, and I'll have a purchase order for two dozen of them within the week. There are some damn neat things I could do with these as an information/communication appliance at work.
posted by five fresh fish at 9:15 AM on January 6, 2008
Got one for my daughter just before Christmas - she loves it. I am seriously thinking about increasing the storage as per these hacks and adding bluetooth.
For adults - if you have larger hands, it's hard to type - but overall it's solidly built.
posted by jkaczor at 9:50 AM on January 6, 2008
For adults - if you have larger hands, it's hard to type - but overall it's solidly built.
posted by jkaczor at 9:50 AM on January 6, 2008
You develop on it? I want a full-sized keyboard. I also am typically working on software that needs way more memory available in debugging, and sometimes on compiled languages. I imagine recompiling during bug fixing on this to take 8000 years. I suppose that I could use it as a thin terminal to do actual work on a server, but then you have a battery life of 3 hours.
It's true, when I spend money on computer hardware I want things that are good for what I'm doing and not legos to play with. There are obviously applications (there are applications for mobiles and pdas).
posted by a robot made out of meat at 9:56 AM on January 6, 2008
It's true, when I spend money on computer hardware I want things that are good for what I'm doing and not legos to play with. There are obviously applications (there are applications for mobiles and pdas).
posted by a robot made out of meat at 9:56 AM on January 6, 2008
Oh and BTW - my daughter is 9 - as an experiment I left the OS alone (in theory you can install XP (on 4gb? ha.)) and taught her nothing. I loaded some of her school projects (PowerPoint, Word files, etc.) and only showed her how to load the document into the correct program.
Everything else she figured out on her own - including audio recording/playback, video recording/playback - embedding video into a presentation, etc.
Methinks my employer should begin to be seriously concerned about desktop Linux.
posted by jkaczor at 9:58 AM on January 6, 2008
Everything else she figured out on her own - including audio recording/playback, video recording/playback - embedding video into a presentation, etc.
Methinks my employer should begin to be seriously concerned about desktop Linux.
posted by jkaczor at 9:58 AM on January 6, 2008
I bought an Eee yesterday and am now using it to write this post on the bus. Its a little tricky to type with at first (keys are small) but a complete order of magnitude compared to a mobile phone or pda. It's brilliant as a portable movie player, the screen is fantastic, and I've yet to find the size too small to do anything.
That said, I can't imagine using Eclipse on this thing. Ever. There's an application that needs a 22" screen, minimum.
The linux install works exceptionally well, it's super-hackable and (somewhat) affordable even if just as a toy.
posted by iso_bars at 10:11 AM on January 6, 2008
That said, I can't imagine using Eclipse on this thing. Ever. There's an application that needs a 22" screen, minimum.
The linux install works exceptionally well, it's super-hackable and (somewhat) affordable even if just as a toy.
posted by iso_bars at 10:11 AM on January 6, 2008
Don't get me wrong: I think they should totally update it so it has a 9" screen, bluetooth built in, WiMax and whatever else. I just think they should have that ready to ship before the announce it. I don't want to see them shoot themselves in the foot (like they kinda when they announced in June that it would be $199 and available in August).
posted by Lazlo Hollyfeld at 10:17 AM on January 6, 2008
posted by Lazlo Hollyfeld at 10:17 AM on January 6, 2008
But if it's stripped down simplicity you're after, look no further than the AlphaSmart Neo PepsiBlue (Really though, a very nice word processor, and cheap to boot!)
posted by iamck at 10:27 AM on January 6, 2008
posted by iamck at 10:27 AM on January 6, 2008
My 4 pound Lenovo Thinkpad x61 cost me 1300 bucks new (that's including taxes). I get 10 hours of battery life, wifi, a 100 gig hard drive, a gig of ram, and sd card reader, 3 usb ports and one firewire port, plus a cardbus slot.
2 years ago I bought a used x22 online for 300 dollars. It weighed 3 pounds, had a pentium 3 800mhz processors, 3 hours of battery life and a 40 gig hard drive, plus 512 megs of ram.
So why would anybody want to spend 300-400 dollars on these things? You can buy laptops that weigh just as little but with much better specs for the same price.
posted by I-baLL at 10:27 AM on January 6, 2008
2 years ago I bought a used x22 online for 300 dollars. It weighed 3 pounds, had a pentium 3 800mhz processors, 3 hours of battery life and a 40 gig hard drive, plus 512 megs of ram.
So why would anybody want to spend 300-400 dollars on these things? You can buy laptops that weigh just as little but with much better specs for the same price.
posted by I-baLL at 10:27 AM on January 6, 2008
thinkpad x60s: cheap, 7+ hr battery life, big screen, weighs nowt. Can run OS X too. Beezer.
posted by bonaldi at 10:41 AM on January 6, 2008
posted by bonaldi at 10:41 AM on January 6, 2008
I'm sorry, but my used Thinkpad I have sitting on my shelf (the monitor is broken) doesn't fit in my purse the way the eee does.
posted by melissam at 11:12 AM on January 6, 2008
posted by melissam at 11:12 AM on January 6, 2008
So why would anybody want to spend 300-400 dollars on these things? You can buy laptops that weigh just as little but with much better specs for the same price.
posted by I-baLL at 10:27 AM
Assuming, this is a serious question. Firstly, the Asus weighs 2 lbs which is much lighter than the laptops you mentioned. If you know the world of ultra-portables, every fraction of a pound that can be shaved off is desirable and usually comes at an *additional cost*. That last pound is important when we're talking about something you really want to be able to just throw in a small bag and carry around all day with you.
In other words, I'd pay *extra* for the portability. In this case, I dont have to.
Now, regarding features. For the same price (about $300) I could also get an Ipod or a variety of PDAs. But these have no keyboard and arent running a usable OS. So, they havent been sufficient.
So, what do I need? What do I really need in a super-ultra-portable? I listed these things above. And the Asus delivers on these points. More hard drive? Not necessary - I dont want this to be my main machine. Bigger screen? Yeah, slightly bigger would be good. More processing power? Not really. Its powerful enough for the intended use.
So...why pay $300 for this? I wont if you can find me another laptop that:
1. Weighs no more than 2 lbs. And hopefully not much bigger than a paperback.
2. Has a full keyboard.
3. Is New (comparing the price of used stuff is unfair)
4. Can do Firefox, OpenOffice, IM, Wifi enabled.
None of the examples that I-ball and bonaldi mention meet all these criteria. Thats why Asus got my three hundred bucks.
posted by vacapinta at 11:16 AM on January 6, 2008 [2 favorites]
posted by I-baLL at 10:27 AM
Assuming, this is a serious question. Firstly, the Asus weighs 2 lbs which is much lighter than the laptops you mentioned. If you know the world of ultra-portables, every fraction of a pound that can be shaved off is desirable and usually comes at an *additional cost*. That last pound is important when we're talking about something you really want to be able to just throw in a small bag and carry around all day with you.
In other words, I'd pay *extra* for the portability. In this case, I dont have to.
Now, regarding features. For the same price (about $300) I could also get an Ipod or a variety of PDAs. But these have no keyboard and arent running a usable OS. So, they havent been sufficient.
So, what do I need? What do I really need in a super-ultra-portable? I listed these things above. And the Asus delivers on these points. More hard drive? Not necessary - I dont want this to be my main machine. Bigger screen? Yeah, slightly bigger would be good. More processing power? Not really. Its powerful enough for the intended use.
So...why pay $300 for this? I wont if you can find me another laptop that:
1. Weighs no more than 2 lbs. And hopefully not much bigger than a paperback.
2. Has a full keyboard.
3. Is New (comparing the price of used stuff is unfair)
4. Can do Firefox, OpenOffice, IM, Wifi enabled.
None of the examples that I-ball and bonaldi mention meet all these criteria. Thats why Asus got my three hundred bucks.
posted by vacapinta at 11:16 AM on January 6, 2008 [2 favorites]
zabuni -- how'd you tether it to your cell phone?
USB. I have a tmobile mda, and just tether it using these instructions. I'm sure if I wanted to add the bluetooth dongle that would work as well, but usb only takes editing several text files.
posted by zabuni at 11:36 AM on January 6, 2008
USB. I have a tmobile mda, and just tether it using these instructions. I'm sure if I wanted to add the bluetooth dongle that would work as well, but usb only takes editing several text files.
posted by zabuni at 11:36 AM on January 6, 2008
3. Is New (comparing the price of used stuff is unfair)
No, it's really not unfair. We've been at a seriously usable point of PCs for the past six or seven years. New is now very much competing with old -- especially when the key specs of new are worse than old!
I think the key things that let the Thinkpad beat the Asus for me are:
1. Battery life
2. Typable keyboard.
I haven't seen anything, anywhere, at any size that beats the IBM on both these counts and can still claim to be an ultra-light. I'll take the extra lb of weight (especially since I'm coming out of Mac-land, which continues to be 5+lbs all the way) gladly, especially since the PC can also run Lightroom.
posted by bonaldi at 11:43 AM on January 6, 2008
No, it's really not unfair. We've been at a seriously usable point of PCs for the past six or seven years. New is now very much competing with old -- especially when the key specs of new are worse than old!
I think the key things that let the Thinkpad beat the Asus for me are:
1. Battery life
2. Typable keyboard.
I haven't seen anything, anywhere, at any size that beats the IBM on both these counts and can still claim to be an ultra-light. I'll take the extra lb of weight (especially since I'm coming out of Mac-land, which continues to be 5+lbs all the way) gladly, especially since the PC can also run Lightroom.
posted by bonaldi at 11:43 AM on January 6, 2008
Thinkpad is the light notebook for your briefcase. It's appropriate for work, it can be displayed during business meetings without humiliation, etc.
EEE is the light notebook for your purse or carry-on bag. I can type on it OK...but it's not a workhorse, and I'm kind of glad for that.
I like to be modular. I know I'm not going to get much work done on my eee. But for watching a movie at the airport, checking my e-mail at the coffee shop, looking up a concert...it's great.
posted by melissam at 1:15 PM on January 6, 2008
EEE is the light notebook for your purse or carry-on bag. I can type on it OK...but it's not a workhorse, and I'm kind of glad for that.
I like to be modular. I know I'm not going to get much work done on my eee. But for watching a movie at the airport, checking my e-mail at the coffee shop, looking up a concert...it's great.
posted by melissam at 1:15 PM on January 6, 2008
Dude, this is awesome.
I am fully prepared to pay for one of these hacked machines! Any bored and impoverished hobbyists out there want to hook me up?
posted by AngerBoy at 6:57 PM on January 6, 2008
I am fully prepared to pay for one of these hacked machines! Any bored and impoverished hobbyists out there want to hook me up?
posted by AngerBoy at 6:57 PM on January 6, 2008
My 4 pound Lenovo Thinkpad x61 cost me 1300 bucks new (that's including taxes). I get 10 hours of battery life...
OK, time out: When people say "I get x hours of battery life", they usually mean while they're using it. Just so we're all on the same page, here.
So why would anybody want to spend 300-400 dollars on these things? You can buy laptops that weigh just as little but with much better specs for the same price.
Just a guess, but maybe because they can't? You do actually have a concept of the size and weight of this device, yes? You know that hardcover copy of Dr. Phil's latest that's on the front table at Barnes & Noble? This is smaller and weighs less.
posted by lodurr at 5:43 AM on January 8, 2008
OK, time out: When people say "I get x hours of battery life", they usually mean while they're using it. Just so we're all on the same page, here.
So why would anybody want to spend 300-400 dollars on these things? You can buy laptops that weigh just as little but with much better specs for the same price.
Just a guess, but maybe because they can't? You do actually have a concept of the size and weight of this device, yes? You know that hardcover copy of Dr. Phil's latest that's on the front table at Barnes & Noble? This is smaller and weighs less.
posted by lodurr at 5:43 AM on January 8, 2008
I'll take the extra lb of weight (especially since I'm coming out of Mac-land, which continues to be 5+lbs all the way)...
Which is kind of criminal, considering that they made a really nice small, elegant and powerful notebook (the 12" PowerBook) for years, but elected not to carry the form factor forward. Presumably because they're more interested in margin than volume, which is cool, I suppose, but annoying.
posted by lodurr at 5:46 AM on January 8, 2008
Which is kind of criminal, considering that they made a really nice small, elegant and powerful notebook (the 12" PowerBook) for years, but elected not to carry the form factor forward. Presumably because they're more interested in margin than volume, which is cool, I suppose, but annoying.
posted by lodurr at 5:46 AM on January 8, 2008
... as for you folks who are dismissing the idea of doing real work on it because the screen and keyboard aren't big enough: The thing has a standard VGA port and four USB ports. You can do whatever the hell you want with it, once you get it home from the coffee shop.
posted by lodurr at 5:49 AM on January 8, 2008
posted by lodurr at 5:49 AM on January 8, 2008
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posted by Divine_Wino at 2:03 PM on January 5, 2008