- Lightweight
- Compact
- Easy to use
- Can be overclocked
- 7" screen becomes irritating
- Keyboard quality isn't the best, and it's small
It's a common theme with UMPC companies that the more convenient a device is, i.e. smaller and lighter, the heftier the price tag must be which accompanies it. Regardless, ASUS have created the worlds cheapest UMPC on the market at a tidy $500RRP (now as low as $300), significantly cheaper than its closest competition.
The Eee PC sports a SSD, or Solid State Drive, which is resistant to shock unlike the typical magnetic HDDs found in most consumer laptops. The advantage is a quick storage solution without the risk of damage when those unexpected accidents do happen.
Unlike typical UMPCs, there are many ports available. The three USB ports allow easy connectivity with flash drives, Bluetooth dongles, and other common items of interest. The SD/MMC reader on the right hand side allows easy migration of photos from a digital camera to the Eee PC, great for showing off your latest happy snaps on the 7"? LCD. Microphone and stereo headset jacks are conveniently placed on the left hand side alongside the exhaust fan and included Ethernet port. Lastly, there is a VGA port on right side which allows an external monitor to be connected.
Structurally, the Eee PC is very solid. The barrel hinge is very sturdy and closes with a satisfying snap. Due to the small nature of the unit, no clips or lock mechanisms are used - it's just a matter of lifting the lid when ready. The plastic construction of the unit is quite strong, and would survive being dropped on a hard floor with no more than light cosmetic damage. The overall size of the UMPC is 225x165x35mm.
The performance of the system is anything but short of 'wow'. Despite being clocked at 630MHz, this little fighter boots in under 20 seconds and comes with an array of open source applications. All run very well, the only exception being the included 3D game 'Penguin Racer' which stuttered during game play; this no doubt due to the integrated graphics solution. Wireless networking was easy to set up, and I had Internet access via my router within minutes. The Internet experience was very smooth apart from the restrictive resolution of 800x480 - the LCDs native resolution.
Upgrading the unit is limited. The provided 4GB of storage can only be enlarged via USB and/or SD(HC) storage facilities. In addition to this, the provided 512GB of DDR2 SO-DIMM RAM can also be replaced with a 1GB or 2GB module. Changing the OS is quite complicated without a portable optical drive, the small frame and price of the Eee PC could not cater for an optical drive, and was therefore omitted. Nevertheless, I successfully managed to install XP Pro onto the unit. The performance with XP installed is nothing to poke a stick at, it boots reasonably fast and the performance is more than enough for basic Internet, word processing and multimedia tasks.
Battery longevity is approximately 3 hours with moderate use, and 24 hours on standby. This clearly shows a lack of power management when put into standby, perhaps something to be fixed in a later revision. Despite this drawback, 3 hours of constant use is reasonably sound compared to laptops at a similar price range.
Video conferencing is made easier with the included 0.3MP webcam on the top of the screen; the latest Skype client provided seamless video chat. The thick black bezel frame around the LCD houses the webcam along with stereo speakers. The quality of the speakers is fairly good considering their size, but a headset is preferred for high quality sound reproduction. On the underside of the Eee PC is a microphone which is fine for chatting with friends, but not of high quality, especially when the internal cooling fan kicks into gear.
All in all, while sporting a tiny footprint of 225x165x35mm, a tough and speedy SSD, and a choice of many exuberant colours, the new ASUS Eee PC is a must have for any travelling blogger. It's also well suited to the odd lounge room Internet surfing session.