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| Asus EEE PC review - by Alex Austin (Proud owner of EEE PC) |
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General:
Before a reader reads the review, I have to acknowledge that EEE PC is my very first notebook, plus, I never have run Linux operating system before. A small correction, it is rather awkward to call EEE PC a notebook even if it does perform all PC functions. The EEE PC is ridiculously miniature but unmistakably robust for its unique size. During the years it was my dream for an ultimate notebook to visit Starbucks hotspots, to check websites while TV shows ads, to read in the bed PDF e-books, and listen to streaming radio during breakfast. Unfortunately, with prices imposed on ultra portables I could afford none, not a single notebook that would prove to be small enough to go with me anywhere, maybe but the shower. In real life just a few inches can be a deciding factor for notebook’s usability and its worth. Another important quality for an ultra portable is to be tough; being portable yet fragile would not excite anyone. EEE PC is just that, one can grab it by the screen, turn upside down, shake and bump. It is as physically safe as virtually with my data, thanks to solid state hard drive and shock proof casing. While a reader might be mislead that such a tough notebook might look uninviting as military equipment, well, it is not so. Everyone who held the ASUS EEE PC agreed, it is extremely cute, vastly charming, and a great deal fashionable – even for guys. Holding one in hand surely brings awe from the knowledge that this small package is able to run XP, x86 programs, expandable with 3 USB ports, and has a built in WiFi. Yet, is not a desktop replacement but a necessary tool at those remote places where a regular notebook would be a nuisance because only the EEE PC boldly goes where other notebooks will not fit.
Unpacking:
The box is much smaller than expected and even causes chest pains, is it all there, is the actual notebook in that box or just manuals? Upon closer inspection ASUS was able to securely fit a notebook, a carry case, AC adapter, and manuals with a CD all in one thoughtfully designed box. The notebook has a protective plastic soft sleeve and another layer on the keyboard, there is another protective film on the screen. Overall, the notebook should be safe in the box during shipping and undressing the EEE PC is quiet an experience.
Turning on:
The battery was half charged and a boot up was possible immediately without a lengthy pre-charge. Sliding the battery into the EEE PC did take a few moments, the battery was refusing to cooperate at first. Then, I was greeted by ASUS boot screen and had to agree to the software license, another re-boot and overall under 2 minutes I was already in workable GUI. The experience begins…
AC Adapter:
Looks very nice, curvy and white. It is a kind of an adapter that plugs to the wall, not a brick in between as featured with most notebooks. The EEE PC consumes less than 22W and a small adapter is all it needs. The wire attached is long and hard, yet flexible. It is easy to plug into EEE PC and the plug holds in well. The only problem with the adapter is its portability, there is no way to make the adapter with the wire to take less space, it is simply an annoyance to carry this AC adapter. There is also a tiny irritation with the contacts which go into the AC outlet, they may accidentally fold back when trying to plug the adapter into the outlet, sometimes a few times in a row.
Heat/Fan:
Unfortunately, EEE PC can get hot. Inside it has a kind of a wind tunnel and a single fan that pushes the air from below then through the notebook and out on the left side. When the notebook is used on the lap, the air circulation gets cut off and the fan then roars like an oversized angry bee. It can be heard also with CPU intensive applications, especially in warm environments. The keyboard gets a bit warm from the big heatsink that goes underneath after an hour of use. It may take a little time to warm up but rather a long time to cool down. When overly hot the programs become unresponsive, it is also almost impossible to shutdown the PC then. After running for some time and then put in its protective sleeve, the notebook gets even hotter inside. It would be logical to let your EEE PC to cool down some before hiding it in its carry bag. The information on the internet states that current BIOS has the CPU speed locked to a lower multiplier and the CPU doesn’t run at its native frequency but only 2/3 of its capability. The next BIOS upgrades may bring a new speeds but also make the CPU hotter and the battery life shorter. A question arises whether EEE PC physically can tolerate that extra heat new speed may produce.
Keyboard:
The first general impression is that the keyboard small but cute. Nevertheless, the keys are easy to press and they respond softly when pressed and don't click. I tried typing for an hour and it did take some time to get adjusted. Surely, a full keyboard feels nicer and faster to type on. Yet, to be fair, the EEE PC keyboard is sufficient for light typing or for emergency essay generation, occasional email, and light webpage information entry. There are a few odd key placements. For example, the right ‘shift’ is very small, if you can use the left ‘shift’ then do so, it is easier to hit. The caps lock is also a bit problematic, it is easy to engage unintentionally. In addition, the ‘backspace’ key can be hard to aim and hit while typing fast. Overall, the keyboard is very nicely done, occasional wrong button is triggered but it takes some practice to excel.
Mouse Pad:
The mouse pad is like any other one, the single downside is the silver button, it is way too stiff. What is more, it is somewhat likely with a thumb finger to swipe accidentally on the mouse pad while typing, this action moves a cursor to another random place and confusion ensues since you are no longer typing on the intended line. Besides the negative, the settings allow to adjust all mouse pad sensitivity options. Those users who are unfamiliar with a mouse pad in general, it is a sensitive metallic surface that tracks cursor by mimicking direction of a cursor as your finger slides on the pad. Double or single clicking is as easy as tapping. You may also use an external mouse by plugging one into any USB port. For Firefox to work well with my Logitech MX510 there was a need to adjust configuration file through Linux command line. This editing is not suited for an average user. Yet, after the edit all 8 buttons worked well, including ‘back’ and ‘forward,’ as well as two scrolling buttons.
Operation:
The graphical user interface looks somewhat similar to XP but it is even simpler with less features than a full blown OS. There is a way to access a Linux command line and even KDE desktop but it will not be touched in this review. The very first thing I have performed on my EEE PC has been to open Firefox and enable WiFi. Connecting to a wireless network is fairly easy and my password protected WPA router is a snap to network with, you can also connect to any WEP protected wireless devices. Webpages flew by and loading times are pretty much what I get on my dual core desktop machine. I do prefer to maximize Firefox with F11 to view most of webpages, it gets rid of all toolbars. The websites generally can tolerate 800 pixel width but there are a lot that you have to scroll side to side horizontally to view obstructed information. It is also evident that Linux Firefox by default has some settings unlike the Windows bases Firefox. For example, the ‘backspace’ doesn’t take you back one page. Fortunately, there is a way to configure the Firefox to behave just as in Windows operating system through ‘about:config’ screen. You may also edit the setting for the mice (advanced) to get the ‘back’ button work properly for an external mouse. There is also Open Office installed with similar applications to Word, Excel and Powerpoint, surely they carry different names. What is great about a program that is similar to Powerpoint, it can read MS files and you can connect through VGA out to a projector with up to 1600x1248 resolution to present your slides from this tiny machine. The Adobe PDF reader is also installed. Reading ebooks is effortless, you may even rotate the page 90 degrees and invert your notebook (make sure the exhaust is on the top) and progress through pages with a spacebar. Another way is to maximize the page and scroll down as you read. Among the applications you may also find Thunderbird POP3 email program, then similar to Trillian instant message application, Skype and webcam programs. Moreover, there are file, picture, audio, and video managers, nothing to write home about. Most of software is of no special interest, especially the antivirus which is fun to find on a Linux OS. There are a few games, one of them is somewhat 3D and doesn’t run too smooth. In the end, there are some must have utilities but the rest of software is crude, childish, featureless and simply just taking valuable disk space.
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