Asus Eee review written specially for the ITT forum :)
 

My Asus Eee arrived on Friday, and as promised, here's my review. It's bit long :) My Eee is the 4GB 512MB model.


When I first got my Nokia 770, I was completely smitten. I wanted to track down the designers and give them a big kiss. Here was a device that offered the desktop Internet experience on something that slips into the pocket of a pair of 501s.

Nokia had created an entirely new type of computer form factor. And that doesn't happen every day. They should have been given the Nobel prize or something. But from that day until this, I've believed that pocketable Internet computers will one-day be as ubiquitous as mobile phones are now.

I would like to say that the Asus Eee furthers the revolution. But I can't. The Eee is an achievement, of sorts, but it's not in the same league as the Nokia Internet tablets when it comes to innovation.

While the Nokia tablets are a completely new paradigm, the Eee is little more than a miniature laptop. Note that it's not a small laptop. It's a miniature laptop. Everything is reduced in size by around two thirds, including the keyboard, screen, technical specification when compared to a standard modern laptop, and even the price. No matter how you look at it, Asus deserves a pat on the back for this.

The problem is that a miniature laptop isn't much fun to use. It's exactly as you might imagine. The keyboard is small and, although you can get used to it, your fingers start to ache after more than a few paragraphs. I typed this review on the Eee and my left hand is hurting. Going back to a full-sized keyboard after using the Eee is pure luxury.

The screen is just about practicable but bear in mind two things here. Firstly, the beauty of the Nokia tablet is that you can simply hold it closer to your eyes to read the small but high-resolution screen. The Eee has the same 800x480 resolution as the Nokia tablets, across a slightly larger screen size, but will mostly likely be sitting on your desk or knees, just like any other laptop. Therefore it's much further away from your eyes, unless you hunch over it. Eye strain or back ache – it's your choice!

Secondly, it's only when using the Eee that you realize what an achievement Nokia's Hildon GUI is. It allows applications to not just fit on the tablet screen, but to fit comfortably. By way of contrast, the Eee utilises standard desktop apps. And things get cramped pretty damn quick. Switch on tabbed browsing in Firefox, for example, and you'll lose a significant chunk of desktop real estate. OpenOffice.org fits OK but you won't be using a lot of toolbars, or large font sizes.

The software is rough around the edges in many ways, some critical, partly because desktop Linux tends to be like that anyway, but mostly because this is the first iteration of the Eee OS. It will almost certainly be improved as time goes on (a software update feature is included). Then again, you can install XP on the Eee although you'll need an external USB DVD-ROM drive to get the drivers off the supplied disc. You'll also need one of the WinXP install discs that includes SP2 -- older WinXP install discs won't work.

Ubuntu installs fine but you'll need to use ndiswrapper and the Windows wifi drivers.

And that's the end of my complaints about the Eee. Everything else, including build quality, is pretty good. I don't like white laptops but the Eee is more pearl/cream than white. The speakers are pretty loud, the screen reasonably bright, and the CPU fast enough for practically everything you'd want to do on a computer this small. Programs start about as fast as a standard computer. Flash games work OK.

My complaints about the Eee are more philosophical. In short, I think it's going to damage the Internet tablet marketplace. To work out why, you have to ask yourself who's actually going to use it.

Children under the age of 12 will love it. It's like Asus has taken a standard laptop and scaled it down to their size. Children over the age of 12 might be more demanding -- the inability to play DVD movies might get on their nerves, for example.

Business workers? They've been able to choose Toshiba Librettos for some time. There's some PIM software included (Kontact) but, with its games and education software, the Eee is clearly more of a home user tool.

The nasty truth is that the ordinary people will buy the Eee because they think they're getting a cheap laptop. And the Eee isn't a very good laptop. In fact, it's a crap laptop, when compared to any other laptop out there. However, it's an excellent portable Internet device. It's ideal to have around the house for occasional browsing, watching movies or listening to Internet radio. Just like the N800, it's great to take with you to the coffee shop to check your email.

But as a main computer, in lieu of something else, it's just the wrong choice. Its size means it's annoying to use for more than a few hours. Websites don't fit onto its screen and you have to click and drag the scrollbars to see all of it (there's no click-and-drag here, as with the Internet tablets, and you can't zoom out!).

So people will buy the Eee and come to hate it, because it's only just capable of doing what they want* and can sometimes be very irritating to use. Yet it's unfair to blame the Eee for this.

And while this is happening, the image and reputation of personal and portable internet devices will become more and more tarnished. People will start to see the idea of small Internet devices as a failure when, in fact, it was one particular implementation that caused a misunderstanding.

Will the Eee be a success? I'm not as sure as I was. It's cheap and cheerful, and people are almost bound to flock to it for that reason. But it really should come with a label on the box that says, “WARNING: This is NOT a laptop. Do NOT buy if you require the functionality of a laptop.” Whilst ordering my Eee, I was seriously considering selling my MacBook and using the Eee as my main work computer. Now I can see how naïve I was. I suspect quite a few people will buy an Eee and then sell it on eBay when they realize it just isn't for them.

If you're able to accept the Eee on its own terms, then you'll love it. You might want to wait a few months until the software bugs have been worked out, however. The bug with the constantly spinning fan is particularly annoying.


* If you can get hold of an external monitor, keyboard and mouse, then the Eee could feasibly replace a desktop PC if your computing demands are modest. The Eee includes a VGA out (not a D-SUB digital connection!), as well as three USB ports. Using the Eee in this way makes particular sense for people like students, who could take the Eee to college with them, and turn it into a 'proper' computer when they get home. A word of warning, however. The Eee couldn't run my 1280x1024 LCD monitor at native resolution because it set too high a refresh rate. This might be one more of the bugs that will get fixed over time.

Re: Asus Eee review written specially for the ITT forum :)
 

Nicely done! Thanks for sharing this.

Re: Asus Eee review written specially for the ITT forum :)
 

Yes, quite an interesting review. I had been thinking along much the same lines regarding the laptop replacement (Not that I have a laptop now, or would ever buy one. My NITs and my G5 suite me just fine. ;)), and kinda guessed that it wouldn't quite be up to snuff. While a very interesting concept, I just don't think it has quite as much of a niche as the NITs, there just isn't enough justification for another device below a laptop (although it might be interesting as a children's laptop).

I'd like to see better usage of the available space to include a larger LCD running at least 1024-pixels wide or better. Perhaps even more than that if they could stick resolution-independent UI on there.

For me, the deciding factor for any device in the "walk-around web" category is size—can it fit comfortably in my pocket and still be useful? The Eee fails size, all UMPCs fail size, and cellphones and PDA devices fail "useful". Nokia really managed to find a perfect new device category, let's just hope they stay competitive.

Re: Asus Eee review written specially for the ITT forum :)
 

Very interesting review, thanks :)

My plan was to buy 2 EEs for my younger sisters and replace their desktop PC. Now I've got second thoughts.


I'd be interested in your experiences of XP on the EE, both on the internal screen and say an external screen.

Re: Asus Eee review written specially for the ITT forum :)
 

goto eeeuser.com. XP FL runs smooth on it. And the wifi drivers are available for Ubuntu. The 770 or n800 doesn't fit in your pants pocket(front or back, unless your'e fat), and you can't sit down with the tablets in your pocket like a cellphone. Maybe if you wear a jacket a lot you can fit it there but there is no way comfortable or safe for the 770 or n800 to fit nicely in your pants pocket. Maybe the n810 will.

Ummm... the nokia IT's are just like a pda which have exisited since 1992, main difference is that it has a linux backbone. nothing special.

Its been happening. There is nothing awfully special about these so called "IT"'s. I guess thats why everyone's rushing out to get them. right? Its another pda with a worthless linux os, great, it has a bigger screen for good res internet browsing and open source if you know how to port apps. You can rave about it as long as you want but I still see no port of openooffice and I happen to see someone say that its so easy to port things over.. i guess not that easy. But surely older pda's have an office app on it, actually my 4 year old tiny cell phone has it. :)

Re: Asus Eee review (Off Topic remark)
 

I think you are wrong there. IF the IT's had not only Linux but more of a useful user interface, they would actually be useful and fun to use.
Yesterday i installed Penguinbaits KDE and it transformed my otherwise taskless IT into a almost full fledged Linux PC. With the possibility to run PIMs.
Nokia made the mistake here. I hope they will correct it in the future.

Ton.

Re: Asus Eee review written specially for the ITT forum :)
 

I'm sorry but you're just wrong. I just spent a weekend away from home with the 770 in my jeans pocket the whole time. Other times I've had the 770 in one pocket and my folding BT keyboard in the other. This wasn't uncomfortable and I could sit down fine. For the record I'm average height and build.

This is like saying that modern PCs have existed since the late 70s, starting with the Apple I. This is faintly true but computers have evolved significantly. Well, the Nokia tablets have evolved both form and function into something new and exciting. If you can't see this then I feel sorry for you.

This is the point at which I started to think you were a troll. Why on earth do you frequent this forum if you hold this view?

Nearly everybody who owns a Nokia tablet has completely the opposite view to you. There is something special about Nokia tablets, but Nokia has so far marketed them at the geeksphere (just like PCs were first bought by geeks until the ordinary people moved in). The N810 is an attempt to break out from the geeksphere, but it will be followed by two more devices that take the Nokia tablets even more mainstream. All this info has been released via interviews with high-up Nokia people. And as for your last point, well, the Nokia tablets aren't PDAs. If you want a PDA then why don't you buy a PDA?

Re: Asus Eee review written specially for the ITT forum :)
 

stop making this look special by giving it another name..."IT", its a PDA. lets call the iphone something other than a smartphone because it has a different os... no its just a smartphone still. Nokia marketing..."Let's just call it something new". its a pda with a sh*tty linux os thats all.

Re: Asus Eee review (Off Topic remark)
 

and well said.

Re: Asus Eee review written specially for the ITT forum :)
 

Unless you don't sit on your a*s or you wear your jeans like a thug with your entire pants to the ground then I don't see how a huge folded BT keyboard and a thick 770 can be comfortable or not get damage while your entire body sits on it. :) I dunno man, its a long shot... that or you have alot of cushion(fat cells in the a*s) to make it comfy and pad the 770.

Re: Asus Eee review written specially for the ITT forum :)
 

No need to insult people. I wear my N800 regularly in my pants pockets as well. I wouldn't wear it in my back pockets though.

Discussion closed.

Ton.

Re: Asus Eee review written specially for the ITT forum :)
 

Are you a small skinny guy? Seriously, the 770 fits in my pocket just fine. I'm a regular 35 year old guy who wears his jeans like any other 35 year old. Other people here have said that their Nokia tablets are pocketable, and that's one of the reasons why they like them. I think the problems you're having are entirely personal to you.

Re: Asus Eee review written specially for the ITT forum :)
 

Who should buy a Asus Eee:

College students:
I'd advise college students to get a good quality laptop. But if they really want an Eee, then it's not an entirely bad option. On its own the Eee is lacking but if it can be combined with an external monitor plus keyboard and mouse, it offers a reasonable computing platform. Slip the Eee into your backpack for taking notes during seminars and then, when you get back to your dorm room, plug in the monitor, keyboard and mouse. You should be able to run the monitor at its full resolution.

Incidentally, MySpace and FaceBook are just about OK on the small screen. YouTube runs great, as do most video files that might be downloaded (maybe some sound sync problems on WMV files). Some highly personalised MySpace pages can bog-down the browser and are sometimes too wide to fit, but that's true even if you're browsing MySpace using a standard desktop computer :)

Of course, there's no version of iTunes for Linux. The speakers are surprisingly loud but lack bottom-end and are prone to distortion.

Beware that I was unable to connect to my WPA network, and had to switch it down to the older and less secure WEP. This issue is fairly typical for current desktop Linux. Also, as far as I can tell, only WPA Pre-shared Key is accepted. I understand that some college networks insist on WPA Enterprise or even WPA2.

School kids:
As mentioned, smaller kids will love this notebook. It's like Mattel created a notebook just for them, taking into account their size. Most kid-orientated sites tend to be built around lower-resolution screens anyway. High school kids will berate the lack of an optical drive (no DVD movies), and, as mentioned, Facebook and MySpace only just fit into the small screen. So they'd be better off with a standard laptop. There's a good selection of educational software preinstalled, however, but mainly aimed at the lower age range.

Sysadmins:
The Eee is a neat network diagnostic tool. It's small enough to fit into a toolbag with other bits and pieces, and you can install just about any x86 OS on it provided you have an external optical drive (bear in mind that you'll need an XP disc with SP2 slipstreamed into it; I guess this means Win2K and NT won't install). So you could even put OpenSolaris on there, for example. The only slight issue might be that the network port is 10/100 and not gigabit; the wifi is b/g but not n, although appeared to get a stronger signal than both my MacBook and 770.

Mobile workers:
There's some modest PIM/calendar software, but no bluetooth, so you can't share contact info from your phone. But for checking emails while out and about, or casual browsing at the coffee shop, the Eee is in its element. Note that I'm unable to test Outlook web access (OWA), but the standard version of Firefox is provided, so it should work (although IIRC you're limited to a cut-down version of OWA). The default mail cilent, Thunderbird, works only with POP or IMAP. Kmail is provided as part of Kontact, the PIM suite, but that too only works with IMAP and POP3. You should be able to install the Outlook Exchange-compatible Evolution if you setup the Xandros package repositories, but this requires quite a lot of knowledge of how Linux works.

The Eee is ideal for the office worker who's prepared to step outside the mainstream and take-on new technology. It's small enough to fit into just about any bag/briefcase (even a large handbag), and also pretty rugged (it's a misnomer to say that the Eee has no moving parts, because it has a fan; it just has no moving hard disk component). Its pearl white case doesn't look very businesslike, however. What have manufacturers got against grey or black nowadays?

Media server:
On my 4GB machine, there was just 1.2GB left. On the other hand, the small power draw is ideal for a media server, and you can plug in an external hard disk via USB. But be aware that the default OS doesn't appear to offer a way to share folders across a network unless you start hacking things. On balance, it's not good value to buy the Eee for use as a media server. You might as well buy a second-hand notebook or even a full PC.

Edit: Actually, the Eee's file manager app lets you share folders for accessing via Windows or Macs. So it's pretty easy. My MacBook had no trouble seeing the shared folder straight away.

Re: Asus Eee review written specially for the ITT forum :)
 

Or NSLU2 or any linux based wi-fi router in ~100$ range with USB ports (like Asus 500gP). Full PC or notebook may be overkill both for price and power consumption.

Re: Asus Eee review written specially for the ITT forum :)
 

Out of interest, what do you see as the key difference between an N800 and, say, a Palm TX? Both have WiFi, bluetooth, pick up e-mail, browse the web, have a wide range of available software, they take SD cards, play music and video... The N800 does some of that a lot better (notably browsing the web on its far superior screen), but it looks much more evolutionary than revolutionary to me.

Re: Asus Eee review written specially for the ITT forum :)
 

Comparing music playing on any Palm/WM device to Kagu/UKMP is like comparing Paint to GIMP. The N800 is surely pocketable, unless you wear tight jeans (it is possible, but don't try to bow).

And it's really annoying to write 2-3-4 sequent posts. When you later think of something new, just hit the Edit button.

Re: Asus Eee review written specially for the ITT forum :)
 

Does it seem to anybody else like we get more than our fair share of trolls on these forums? It's like disgruntled Palm/WinMobile and iPhone users just register here to bug us because they're unsatisfied with their own devices.

earl00, don't you have something better to do than sit here all day trolling? Like a job, or a family or something? Heck, slashdot is always in need of more trolls, why don't you try your hand over there? :rolleyes:

I disagree here. The fullblown Linux desktop GUI just isn't appropriate for a device of this size or form factor. OS2008 will fix many of the porting issues by bringing Gtk up to date, anyway.

Re: Asus Eee review written specially for the ITT forum :)
 

I believe this is a question that can only be answered by using one, but, trust me, it's a whole new way of looking at mobile computing.

Re: Asus Eee review written specially for the ITT forum :)
 

Ok, so maybe i have to clarify this a bit.
I installed KDE on my N800 and suddenly i noticed that there are a wide range of applications suddenly available to me which weren't available when i was using the N800 out of the box.

Examples are:
Kopeke, KView, KStars, Lots of games, Samba, KGet, KVirc, Mailody, Konqueror, KNewsTicker, Kaboodle, etc, etc

All these apps MIGHT be available or made available using Hildon, but i haven't seen them yet.

Hardware is nice, OS is nice, but it's the applications that make a device useful or not. At for me, Nokia has made the wrong choice to use Hildon instead of something the developers know. Unless the IT is meant to be for geeks/developers, of course.

Ton.

Re: Asus Eee review written specially for the ITT forum :)
 

I completely agree. This is actually a weakness of the Nokia tablet design -- you don't realise how good it is until you actually use one. Until that point it just looks like another gadget. Worse than that, on paper alone it doesn't even look like a very good gadget, especially if you're a fan of PDAs.

It's down to Nokia's marketing department to show people how useful the tablets are. Unfortunately, mobile phone advertisements tend to show beautiful young people running through fields of wheat, rather than actually showing how useful the device is. Apple does a pretty good job of this -- the current iPhone ads show real people showing how they use their phones.

Re: Asus Eee review written specially for the ITT forum :)
 

Incidentally, over on the eeeuser.com forum, they're reporting that the CPU speed of the Eee runs at 667MHz, and not 900MHz. This is because the FSB runs at 66MHz, with a 10x multiplier. The chip itself can do 900MHz but it needs to be run with a 100MHz FSB for that to happen.

Apparently there's a BIOS update available that lets you up to the bus speed but it makes the system unstable to the point of not even booting on occasion.

From what people are saying, ASUS have never said it runs at 900MHz. It's simply the case that reviewers made the claim.

I should point out that it seemed plenty fast to me and it's not really right to judge these machines on clock speed. It's more about what they do, rather than how fast they are.

However, this does mean the Eee is only 266MHz faster than the N810 (or the N800 running OS2008).

Re: Asus Eee review written specially for the ITT forum :)
 

I think Nokia would make more sales if they included basic PDA software and advertised the device as both a PDA and an Internet Tablet... what's the harm in covering both markets? They would attract a lot more interest from the average consumer who already knows what a PDA is and can see themselves needing/using a PDA.

Or does Nokia seriously think people are going to buy a cellphone, a PDA, AND an Internet Tablet??

Re: Asus Eee review written specially for the ITT forum :)
 

I think Nokia expects people to carry a phone and an Internet tablet. This is cool. I do this, and it isn't demanding. You forget that PDAs are only used by a small selection of the population compared to mobile phones.

There are some fundamental reasons why Nokia chose not to include PDA functionality. The main one is that they intended to carve out a new niche for themselves upon the release of the 770 -- the Internet tablet niche (I prefer the phrase "Personal Internet Device"). If they'd included PDA stuff then people would have assumed it was a PDA, and thrown it into that camp. People like to categorise things :)

Secondly, if they'd included PDA functionality, people would have reviewed the tablet as a PDA and marked it down accordingly. Magazines would have paid particular attention to handwriting recognition, for example. Several reviews would have moaned about the lack of a dedicated text entry area, as with Palm devices, or shortcut buttons to the main PDA functions. Other reviews would have compared it to Pocket Windows, which is mature, when OS2005 was immature at the time.

Thirdly, the PDA market is already crowded with some major players (Microsoft and Symbian), and at the time Nokia was developing the 770, Palm was going through hell. Launching a new PDA at that time (and even now) would be commercial suicide.

Re: Asus Eee review written specially for the ITT forum :)
 

I still think it's wrong of Nokia to dismiss the PDA functionality. I think it's a trap to think 'use case' (e.g. "before we design and implement: What are you supposed to be doing with this device?") here. It's not a phone, or an MP3 player, or a shaving machine, it's a programmable computing device and should be treated as such. A lot of people will probably end up using the thing for something they didn't have a flicker of an idea of when they bought it. So, I don't really want too much second-guessing of use cases from the vendor's side..

Re: Asus Eee review written specially for the ITT forum :)
 

PDA functionality isn't constrained to form factor; Nokia met that form factor on their first try, the 770. With all the developers out there, why has nobody created a decent software suite? I realize there's a lot of stuff to take into account, but I find it absolutely bizarre it hasn't been done in the community... and by 'done', I mean 'done well'.

So far as Nokia not doing it themselves... they've eluded to it in comments of their 5 step program. They're banking on the future, it's a wired world and eventually we *will* be interconnected everywhere. The lessons they learn by 'reserving' their place in that upcoming market will be ones everyone else will be scrambling to catch up on. Everyone from this point onward will be imitators, not innovators in the internet tablet game. Officially sponsoring PDA functionality will make the N810 a PDA... an already overcrowded market.

Except Apple. Anything Apple does, no matter how similar to others, is 100% original and looks good in a room full of IKEA. When their Internet Tablet comes out the sheep will feast. (From the comfort of their EKTORP couches.)

Re: Asus Eee review written specially for the ITT forum :)
 

Nokia would be wise to use the mechanisms of Software Bounties or Competitions to spawn development in key areas (namely a decent PIM suite), rather than trying to do it all themselves, in-house. This is the beauty of the open model.


}:^)~
YARR!

Capt'n Corrupt

Re: Asus Eee review written specially for the ITT forum :)
 

There's been a lot of talk about installing WinXP on the Eee. This is easily done because the Eee is little more than a miniature x86 notebook, although you'll need an external DVD drive and also one of the recent SP2-enabled XP install CDs because this has a tweaked installer allowing for USB-based install.

The problem is that the Eee has a solid state drive (SSD), which has a limited lifespan because of reduced write cycles compared to a standard hard disk.

Windows is constantly saving temp files, and loves to use that swap file (particularly considering the Eee only has 256/512MB of memory). Linux is arguably simpler in its hard disk use. The default install of Xandros on the Eee doesn't include a swap file or partition. I'm not sure if the logging services are trimmed too, but that would make sense.

There are also dangers in using any kind of indexing service, such as Google Desktop.

The most sensible recommendation if you want to install XP is to increase the memory to 1/2GB (which will invalidate your warranty, btw), and then either switch off the swap file or shift it onto a removable storage card (the Eee has a MMC/SD port built in). You should also shift your /tmp directory onto removable storage.

But the fact of the matter is that Windows XP just isn't optimised for solid state drives. Then again, if the Eee's disk fails in, say, three years, is this likely to be a problem? Will you still be using your Eee in three years or will you have moved onto something newer?

Re: Asus Eee review written specially for the ITT forum :)
 

Which is why it's kinda lame of Asus to have soldered the main SSD onto the motherboard.

Re: Asus Eee review written specially for the ITT forum :)
 

Oh, wow. I can't believe I missed that before; I'd always just assumed... well, thanks. :) I was almost selling myself on one as a walk-around-IRC device (... that is very lame but true), but now I think I will wait for the N810 instead and hope for the best for its thumb keyboard. Thanks!

Re: Asus Eee review written specially for the ITT forum :)
 

You know, just now I picked my 770 up for the first time in a few days (since using my Eee). And I've got to say that I infinitely prefer accessing the web on the 770. It's better designed for the task. The operating system is better, the GUI is better, as is the form factor. I enjoy holding the 770 in my hand. The Eee, on the other hand, must be used like any other laptop. At the moment, as I type this, it's perched on my thighs rather precariously.

That said, for interacting with websites (entries of forums etc), then the Eee is better, because it has a full keyboard and interactive sites tend to use javascript or Flash, and benefit from the increased CPU speed.

But if I really want to interact with websites then I do it from my desktop computer. For example, while I might check emails while out and about, I only really reply to them while at home. Same for website forum postings.

So, really, my internet usage (and probably yours) splits into two types: reading, and interacting -- or passive and interactive. Portable devices tend to be crap at the latter, although Nokia and its competitors may yet pull something out of the bag. But the Eee only takes us a step or two further towards being able to interact with the Web while out and about. It's still a little impractical, and best saved until you get home.

Re: Asus Eee review written specially for the ITT forum :)
 

How come nobody talks about the voice command feature of the EEE, I think its cool. I think it is even more cool for the N800 as there is no keyboard. I would like to yell "E-video center CBS news" and here comes katie Couric on the screen, or "E-full screen, u dumb N800...." things like that. Another really really fun thing I read on the eeeuser.com, there is a thread trying to install opera, and talks about how opera is a better webbrowser than firefox and here in this forum we tried so hard to get microB onto the tablet instead of opera. Grass is always greener the next door. BTW, the video handling in the EEE is superb, it plays Divx, Xvid and streamed nicely with youtube and stage6.com. Other than the resolution of meager 800X480, its physical dimension sucks too. Its case dimension is 8.94" X 6.5" (just from memory, I could be wrong) but the screen has a physical dimension of 1.25" - 1.5 " all around, go figure.

bun

Re: Asus Eee review written specially for the ITT forum :)
 

Installing Opera is easy. Just download the statically linked Linux version. I suspect they want to install it because there's a zoom in/out feature, so you can make sites fit on the screen .... just like on the Nokia tablets!

But it isn't the same because the Nokia tablets have incredibly low dot pitch, so zoomed out sites still look crisp and readable. On the Eee, crappy small point sizes makes the page unreadable. Additionally, while you can move the Nokia tablet closer to your eyes to read the screen, the Eee just isn't designed for this. It's designed to sit on a tablet or on your lap :)

(Incidentally, the eeeuser.com guys don't need to install Opera for website zooming; Konqueror comes installed out of the box and has zoom in/out buttons on the toolbar. Pretty much all of KDE is present on the Eee with the exception of the desktop management software.)

Re: Asus Eee review written specially for the ITT forum :)
 

I've used voice on a lot of platforms, it's an incredibly overrated feature. The N800 just doesn't have the horsepower for voice processing, not mention the fact that it makes you look like a ***** screaming at your computer in public.

A lot of people think Windows is a better OS, too. Either way, it doesn't change the fact that Opera licenses cost money and we're limited to the old broken Opera 8.5 unless Nokia fronts the cash for an upgrade to Opera 9 and the licensing fees to distribute it with the device. MicroB is free, open, and extensible. You can't have GreaseMonkey with Opera.

Re: Asus Eee review written specially for the ITT forum :)
 

I just installed an nLited version of XP onto my EEE and run firefox with the minifox theme and it browses everything perfectly. If I want "fit to screen" I just run Opera. It boots up in a about 12-15 seconds, though I just leave it on standby all the time.

Upgraded the ram to 1gb for $21 from newegg and disabled the swap. Everything runs perfectly, and I even do some questing in World of Warcraft (off an 8gb SD card).

Admittedly, I have only one problem with it. I'd like the screen to be 9" and reach the edges of the device. Things like streaming and youtube are a non-issue and run at full speed. I have iTunes installed and it streams from my NAS.

I wouldn't really consider it an "Internet Device"... its a computer. The OP seems to have a misconception of what the EEE was and it just shows disappointment in his writing. It works perfectly, and isn't really comparable to an N810/800.

If you want a "real" but small computer, then you get a 2lb EEE. If you want "pocketable" internet then you get an iPhone or Nokia Internet Tablet.

Re: Asus Eee review written specially for the ITT forum :)
 

It looks like there is enough room in the existing case for an 8.9" 1024x600 screen.

ASUS struggled to keep the price down and I read that the price of the display is what drove it up to where it is today so I guess that adding another $50-$100 to the launch price for a bigger display was simply not on.

I am going to wait for next year's model. If ASUS establish this as a new market segment then there will be lots of machines to choose from in future.

Re: Asus Eee review written specially for the ITT forum :)
 

I'm the original poster :) Bear in mind my original review was written for owners of Nokia Internet tablets. Many guys on these forums have said they want to buy an Eee and I wanted to let them know what to expect.

It's amusing that you say I'm disappointed. I tend not to take technology personally :) but I would have returned the Eee if I didn't like it. Right now it's a perfect mobile word processing device for me, that also happens to browse the web very effectively. I probably won't install XP for the reasons mentioned above, plus the fact that I only use OpenOffice and Firefox, both of which are identical on Windows/Linux.

So when will I be using a Nokia tablet, Eee or my laptop?

If I'm leaving for a weekend away and won't be working then I take my Nokia tablet. It lets me check the web during quiet moments and is also a good media player.

If I'm going to the coffee shop to work for a few hours then I'll take the Eee. I'd like to take the Nokia tablet but it lacks a decent word processor (as I've mentioned before :rolleyes:). I have a bluetooth keyboard and if Abiword proves to be stable on OS2008 when I *might* end-up selling my Eee. I think a Nokia tablet + BT keyboard is a much neater and more portable solution.

If I'm going to work for a week at a remote office then I'll take my laptop computer. It's unthinkable that I'd take my Eee because, if I use it for more than a few hours, I'll be turned into a homicidal maniac because of frustration. It's just too small to be usable for actual work across that length of time. My hands will ache, my eyes will be sore.

Re: Asus Eee review written specially for the ITT forum :)
 

The Nokia's horsepower is a good point. I do not know how good the voice recognition of the EEE, just kind of curious that NOT a soul talks about it. Overrated? I guess different folks, different stroke. I kind of like it if it indeed perform what it advertise, I do have reservation about how refine it is. I do conceit the horsepower may render it useless, like, uh, the utube thing on Nokia?


bun

Re: Asus Eee review written specially for the ITT forum :)
 

Is the EEE's screen a touchscreen or simply a small laptop-type?

Re: Asus Eee review written specially for the ITT forum :)
 

It's a regular screen, not a touch screen. Oh, and it's matte (as opposed to glossy like most laptops are these days) which is a bit of a disappointment from the POV of video watchers (glossy makes the colors of a movie seem more vibrant).

Re: Asus Eee review written specially for the ITT forum :)
 

I got an Eee too. No way it's a replacement for my 800 (or soon to be 810, whenever those puppies become available). But it's a cool little device, and it shows a lot of potential.

I'm excited by it because of the possibilities it raises for a very small, solid state based, Linux based UMPC. I use my UMPC's for very simple things like internet browsing and looking at basic office docs. The Eee goes to show that Linux can handle that just fine, as well as video and music.

Fatten the N810 some and you have the potential for a much more multifaceted device that is smaller and lighter than the current UMPCs, and with a much longer battery life.