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Hands-On With the Windows XP-Based Asus Eee PC
MojoKid writes "Though the Asus Eee PC Windows XP variant isn't due out until sometime in April, HotHardware was able to get their hands on a full retail bundle before they hit store shelves in the US. The standard assortment of accoutrements is included in the bundle, along with a couple of notable upgrades. Asus took the initiative to provide an additional 4GB SD card from Adata, a healthy storage expansion for the system. In addition, an Asus-branded optical mouse was thrown in for good measure. Microsoft's Windows Live messenger, photo gallery and email suite are pre-installed on the the machine for collaborative and social networking capability, in addition to Microsoft Works for word processing, spreadsheets, and calendar functionality."
I thought that Microsoft was withdrawing Windows XP from the market in a couple of months. Are they still going to offer it on these low-end machines?
I never quite understand the comments along the lines of "The only thing this little machine has going for it is size" - isn't that exactly what it needs to have going for it? I'm waiting for the 8.9 screen myself, but as long as the price is not too much more than $600 it's a fair deal in my opinion. The fact that the first iteration was unbelievably cheap (I seem to recall hearing that it was designed for kids, although I may be mistaken) might've done them a disservice; I'm just happy that there now exists an ultraportable that doesn't cost thousands - the fact that it has the small size and is the same price as other laptops (rather than floating around in the clouds with the Vaios and Lifebooks) is perfect for me. I'm glad that there is finally an option to trade off some speed and get an tiny, lightweight machine for "standard basic notebook" money.
At least according to the specs on newegg.com this thing has VGA out. If one can squeeze PowerPoint onto the thing, it would make the ultimate PowerPoint presentation machine. A mere two pounds, ultra-small, and more than capable of giving PowerPoint presentations that aren't overly loaded with multimedia.
Can anyone verify the presence of a VGA port? eeepc.asus.com doesn't specify, though it may be because every other page on its website is down at the moment.
The WinXP version will retail for 399USD. This includes the SD card and an extra mouse. As far as I know the retail price for the 4G linux version is 399USD. So I am struggling to understand the economy here, provided that the Linux is (supposedly) free. Is actually MS paying to get XP in these things? Or is Xandros license actually more expensive than WinXP license? Please, help me to understand...
According to him, the Windows-equipped $499 laptops outsell the Linux-equipped $399 laptops 5 to 1.
That's really amazing considering the XP equipped EEE doesn't go on sale until next month. Oh wait, that's right, you're off topic. Anyhow, I don't doubt you that the Win laptops outsell the Lin laptops. Fact is, most people have no idea what Lin is. On that note, if 20% of his sales are Lin, that's pretty amazing. Combine that with the fact that 20% of the laptop market are Macs, that means that the Win laptop market is in the 60-70% range. I've always said that I'd like to see a 3 way market, Win / Lin / Mac, with none having a share > 50%. The key to avoiding lock in is to have platform diversity. That way everybody wins, except MS that is.
Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws-Plato
According to your friend, "the Windows-equipped $499 laptops outsell the Linux-equipped $399 laptops 5 to 1."
Your friend is coming from the Microsoft centric world, so of course he's going to say that.
But look at whats really happening here.
One out of five laptops that your friend sells now have LINUX on them instead of the Windows operating system.
So it looks to me that Windows is losing market share in this sub group of portable computing.
And for the life of me... I can not understand why anybody would need Windows on an Eee PC, it works just fine out of the box with LINUX.
Five folks that I know have purchased an Eee PC since seeing mine, and all of them were diehard windows users who have adapted quite easily to the Eee PC's "easy" LINUX operating system.
Of course... on mine I've already installed 2 gigs of ram, and enabled the advanced desktop, and BERYL.
Loads of fun, and no Windows involved.
If it don't GO... chrome it. ~ Frank Banks
I'm tired of hearing this. The price is on target because it is not a basic notebook. It is an ultra portable device at an affordable price point compared to other ultra portable devices (read ultra portable does not necessarily mean laptop). People buying the eee don't care that the resolution is low, that the device can't play crysis, or that they can get a bigger brick at the same price. All they care about is: is it portable and does it allow me to do email, internet (yes people think browsing web pages == 'internet'), read documents, and run my little apps (IM, youtube, and mp3s).
Until the eee pc came out, every computer manufacturer failed at getting the requirements right for a laptop. It just so happened that asus got it right and that the tech needed (SSDs, CPU speed increases, ram capacity increases) was cheap enough.
However, I still give the OLPC/XO most of the credit for helping to create the market. If all of the news and media coverage of the OLPC never came to be, Asus and others may never have attempted such a device.
The unfortunate part of this review is that they don't seem to do actual tests on specs themselves. They reported that the Eee PC has a processor clocked at 900 Mhz. This is a lie. The Eee PC does have a 900 Mhz Process; but, the FSB has been clocked down to 70 Mhz. This puts the processor at 630 Mhz. The system has been specially configured to misreport the clock speed. This is well known on the forums at "www.eeeuser.com". Also, the wireless connectivity is poor. The system also misreports percentages. This is most easily tested using Linux. Often the Eee PC reports 100% while other distributions will report about 70% or so. It's rather unfortunate that Asus took this step. Personally, I love my Eee PC. Though, it could really sue some modding. Also, it's troublesome that Asus was so deceitful with their tactics. The original wasn't even completely open-source. A lot of the ACPI had to be implemented through trial and error and some reverse engineering. I think there are still one or two features left to implement on even the most well-developed distributions for it. Though, I'm too lazy to go double-check this. : ) Also the original kernel was compiled to not allow more than 1 gig of RAM to be seen. This is easily fixed with a recompile. Again, it's rather unfortunate that Asus prefers to view this as an appliance rather than a laptop.
What day is it? Could you please tell me?