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SA Penguin
May 12, 2008 3:13 PM
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One of the things stopping me from buying one is the small keyboard. Whenever I see it, I think of IBM's solution: the "butterfly" keyboard of the Thinkpad back in the 90's.
Comment made about the PC Authority article:
FIRST LOOK: Eee PC 900 head to head - XP vs Linux?
We've put both mini-notebooks through their paces, and while Linux fans may disagree, we think there's one clear winner.
What do you think? Join the discussion. |
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nix
May 12, 2008 3:27 PM
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How easy is it to replace Xandros with Ubuntu? I suspect that would make Linux much more attractive. And OpenOffice kicks seven kinds of crap out of MS Works, by the way... not everyone can afford to almost double the cost of the machine by buying Office. |
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Alex Kidman
May 12, 2008 3:33 PM
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It's also worth noting that Australia is odd -- elsewhere the Linux and XP versions of the Eee 900 sell at the same price. |
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nix
May 12, 2008 4:10 PM
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Also, why on earth do people need to upgrade to Vista? In reality, does it offer you anything at all? I've been forced to use it all week for work and I have found it significantly slower and more difficult to use. Many others I know have found it the same.
As for dual core and more space, what on earth for? Editing photos? Movies? Wouldn't you want a bigger screen for this as well? And all of a sudden we're looking at definite Macbook-level specs... definitely not the market the Eee is looking at.
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Pacman
May 12, 2008 4:28 PM
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I agree, Vista is totally, totally unnecessary. Maybe the editor secretly loves the 'big V'...
Anyway, heres a way for Asus to sell 1 trillion Weee pc's:
1) expand unit size to 10 - 12 inches...while keeping unit light (see sony vaio for proof)
2) expand battery life to a full working day
3) make keyboard bigger
4) repeat steps 1 - 3
5) hire army of accountants to count your trillion dollars! |
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Pacman
May 12, 2008 4:29 PM
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Oh and keep the price the same and you have a market winner! :) |
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William Maher
May 12, 2008 5:35 PM
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Noone needs to upgrade to Vista - but in years to come it's more likely than not that there'll be reasons you'll need Vista (or another version of Windows). Applications are one reason.
Yes, you're right, we're talking about Macbook type specs. The Eees's a great machine, but it's not a desktop replacement, mid-size student/business machine. An 8.9inch machine with limited hard drive space and tiny keyboard is unlikely to takeover the entire notebook market. Perhaps something larger with a few more specs might have wider appeal. |
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eggcarton
May 12, 2008 7:11 PM
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A CPU with a higher clock speed would be nice, but a dual core cpu would be to much to ask for a machine like this. |
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nix
May 13, 2008 1:25 PM
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I don't think they aim to take over the entire notebook market, and if they are, well, ASUS already have machines that fill pretty much the specs mentioned. They do, however, provide an amazingly functional machine at a tiny price, and I think that's the beauty of it. I keep wishing I was still in University and could have one of these fitting comfortably in my bag for taking notes on instead of those cumbersome pen and paper combinations...
As for applications, well, every application I use on a day-to-day basis runs just fine on Windows 2000. I'd struggle to find something (aside from IE7) that doesn't. And I don't think I'll still be using the same model Eee PC in 6 years when I find a few apps that require Vista -- I don't ahve much of a concern replacing something that costs $600. |
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htcs
May 16, 2008 4:07 PM
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Gee I hope you haven't missed the point of the eee...
It's supposed to be basic and small, otherwise go buy a laptop. For around $650 you can buy a laptop after rebate. But if you want something small and light then the Asus eee is the one to go for- a clayton's Vaio. |
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andycowpat
May 16, 2008 4:18 PM
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I agree with htcs, the ASUS EeePC os supposed to be a SUB NOTEBOOK. It is no replacement for another notebook. It was designed to have Linux run on it as a companion to a main Windows XP system. I own a 701 model, and thats all I own it for, a sub system. Also, in regards to 3G broadband, although it isn't built in, I have had Telstra NextG Modems work on the Eee. |
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pitstop
May 16, 2008 5:09 PM
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I can't help but get frustrated at reviews such as this, "we think there's one clear winner." Alright XP probably does run really well on the Eee at present BUT, and it is a but, you as USERS haven't utilised this small platform for any reasonable length of time. The reason I say this is this, like ANY Windows PC it will require software to be installed to keep Malware at bay. That WILL make it far less responsive than it is without the same and as we all know, the requirement to have stacks of software running in the background continuously just to keep malware in check in a proper pain. So before we get all excited about how wonderful the Eee is with XP lets see how those same users feel in a couple of months time after many may have switched from the initial Xandros installation to XP. It will be interesting to see how many swap to Linux OR put the Eee to one side as being too hard.
I use both XP and Linux on my PC and guess which one gets used most these days for exactly the reasons above, Linux.
Keep the reviews coming guys, but lets not get carried away with something just because it is new. Take a look at the picture in total.
Phil |
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SA Penguin
May 18, 2008 9:12 AM
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Pitstop makes an interesting about the need to update XP. With connectivity comes firewalls, antivirus- and they all impact operability. Even under Linux.
But the thing that nobody has mentioned is the decision by M$ to customise and extend the life of XP Home (XP Lite ?), in order to "capture" this market. If you look at what they say will be supported, it becomes easy to speciffy an "XP killer" machine.
XP: max of 1GB RAM? Put in 2GB
XP: 10" screen, not touch? Use an 11" touch screen
XP: 100GB Hard drive? Throw in 250GB
Presto! A Linux machine That puts M$ back behind again.
I'd like to see something using "C" cell rechargeables, and have an RS-232 port- but that's just me I suppose...
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dak
May 24, 2008 5:18 PM
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You didn't happen to mention how much of the 12GB solid state storage would be taken up by AntiVirus and Firewall software (and malware as previously mentioned) and you state that the Linux version has bigger storage and boots / shutsdown faster. Are you sure you know the winner? I know which one I'd buy if I was in the market for a sub-notebook, but then I've been using Linux for quite a while, so it is not "strange" to me. How about getting a Linux fan to review Linux products in future, and someone who prefers Windows to review that model? All it needs is a standard scale to "peg" features and problems to. |