ASUS EEE PC Review

2008-03-21T01:42:00.000-07:00

Asus EEE PC Review

So, finally, after giving it a lot of thought, I decided to go for the EEE PC.
As the black one didn’t appeal much to me, I went for the Pearl White one.
It looks damn cool and sleek.
After getting it, I was waiting to reach home and start some RnD on it.
Got it for 16.7k in Mumbai.

Specs

Model Name- Eee PC 4G
Price (INR)- 16,700.
Memory (RAM) 512 MB (DDR2 SO-DIMM)
Solid-State Drive- 4 GB (soldered
Built-in Webcam-VGA (640×480) @ 30 fps
Battery- 4 Cells: 5200 mAh, 3~3.5hrs*
Storage Expansion- External MMC(plus)/SD(HC) slot
Display- 7”; WVGA (800×480) @ 133.3 PPI
CPU- 900 MHz Intel Celeron M ULV 353 @ 630 MHz
Operating System- Custom Linux OS (Xandros
Wired Networking- 10/100 Mbps Ethernet
Wireless Networking- 802.11b/g Wi-Fi (PCIe)
Internal Modem- External RJ-11 connector present but internal MDC board not populated
USB Ports- 3 external
External Display- VGA D-SUB (up to 1600×1280)
Audio- High Definition Audio with built-in stereo speakers and built-in microphone
Weight- 0.92 kg

First Look

It comes bundled with a customised Xandros distro.
I fiddled with it for quite some time.
It’s very zippy and fast. No lags.
Browsing the web, Playing some mp3s, movies didn’t seem to stress it much.
The TouchPad is quite responsive, again better than many lappy’s I ve used.
The keyboard is also very usable. It’s amazing as to how Asus has crammed a fully functional keyboard in this space.
The sound volume is too good. Better than most lappy’s I ve heard.
The Wi-fi works like a charm, and the Webcam gives a decent FPS of 17-20 when capturing video @ 640*480.
The UI, though babyish, is ideal for beginners to get acquainted with computers.
My Mom, on first seeing it went “Ooooooooooooohh! It’s so cute.” Even though She was never interested in computers, she looked eager to use this one.
The UI is veryyy intuitive (read: N00bish :p) .
Finally I got too bored, (never liked Xandros anyways.) and was thinking whether to try out
Full Desktop Mode in Xandros, or install XP on it.
I decided on the latter as I was curious to see If this baby could handle XP as good as it is made out to be.

Installing XPeee

I had my own apprehensions as how will the EEE run XP on just a 630mhz proccy/512mb RAM.
So I trimmed XP PRO SP2 a bit using NLITE to a 331mb Setup size.
Then, as I didn’t have an external IDE/SATA casing, I used a 1GB Kingston DT to install XP on the EEE.
Followed this guide: http://www.eeeguides.com/2007/11/installing-windows-xp-from-usb-thumb.html
It’s quite easy, So I won’t elaborate on that.
So after about 40 mins I had XP up and running.
Removed the Pagefile, turned off System Restore, and Removed the Recycle Bin to get some extra space on the measly 4GB SSD.
Installed the drivers from the bundled Asus DVD.
So now I had 3.17GB left with just the OS+Drivers installed. That’s quite decent IMO.
Then I installed some Apps like Opera, Firefox, Trillan, Office XP, VLC, Foxit, Winrar, Klite Codec Pack, Relo with Borland, TC, JDK 1.6, Netbeans 5.5.1, Matlab etc.
After all this I had about 2.24 GB left.
Coming back to the performance part, XP runs like makhhan on this. It is so light and zippy that you ll have to see it to believe it.
You can easily Multitask 3-4 apps without any lags.
The Sound quality is loud and clear and Video (Divx/Xvid) playback is light as well. Though don’t expect it to do 720p. :p
The 630mhz proccy does exceptionally good, maybe due to the presence of a SSD.
Netbeans and Matlab, very unexpectedly, runs fast enough on it.
Also when you are on AC, You can OC the proccy to 900mhz using EEECtl/EEEClock to get some extra power without losing battery life.
You can use the AstrayPlus utility to get better resolutions. They are working on 1000*600 currently.
Will try eeeXubuntu and eeeDora on it as soon as I get time.
Can’t wait to see Compiz on this. :D

Final Thoughts.

The Asus EEE PC is a very viable option for students and regular travellers who need a right mix of portability and power at a cheap price.
It is good for casual usage (Movies,MP3s,Browsing,Office,Downloads).
The small SSD may seem to be a hindrance, but it is very manageable. I still have around 1.5gb space left with all my stuff(Some Apps, Flash games, Songs,) in it.
It might be handy to have a 4/8GB Flash Drive/ SDHC around for extra storage.
Will run a few benchmarks on it soon. (Didn’t want to humiliate it by posting the SuperPi 1M score here :p )
PS. Get used to a lot of stares whenever you use it. :D

Pros:
Very Portable
Cheapest Functional Laptop
Shock-Resistant
Sleek and Sexy

Cons:
4GB SSD Size
630mhz proccy (But you don’t expect a beast at this Price/Size, Do you?)

Images:

BTW, Sorry for the Ultra Grainy pics. 1.3MP.

EEE PC, Coming to India 29th Jan.

2008-01-16T07:36:00.000-08:00

Yup.
The wait is over.
Just got a mail from Asus support. They are releasing the EEE on 29th Jan.
No idea about the pricing though.

What is the EEE PC?

2008-01-05T00:59:00.000-08:00

The ASUS Eee PC is a 'sub-notebook' designed by ASUS and Intel. ASUS describes the name Eee as deriving from "the three Es"; an abbreviation of their advertising slogan for the device: "Easy to learn, Easy to work, Easy to play".

Asus EEE PC India

ASUS EEE PC Review

EEE PC, Coming to India 29th Jan.

What is the EEE PC?