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First Full Review of New Asus Eee PC 900
An anonymous reader writes "After months of rumors, the new 8.9in screen Eee PC is out in the open and the first review is online. As well as the larger screen you get 1GB RAM, 20GB Storage and a multi-touch touchpad. It costs more than the old Eee PC, but it definitely sounds like it's worth the extra cash." I always thought the appeal of the original was the ridiculously low price, coupled with the ease of hacking. Not sure if the sequel will meet that challenge.
If you add a bigger screen, upgrade the processor, double the RAM and quadruple the drive space it cost a bit more. But definitely worth the extra money!
What people like about the Eee is that it does 90% of what a computer does for the price and portability of a cell phone.
Toying with that formula is unwise. Instead, further pare down the bloated Xandros and XP installs so that people can use a 4-8 GB machine.
I thought they were going to install Intel's Atom in the next revision?
Regardless, the Eee is an important step for open source and Linux. See Asus Micro Laptop Brings Linux to the Desktop.
technical writing / development
Thank you, Miss Teen South Carolina.
I had the previous version of the eee and returned it after a few weeks. I bought it to use while traveling and it was functionally fine. But when I tried to use it in my lap (at conferences and on the bus, train, etc.), it had an annoying habit of flopping over onto its back. With the battery in the back undre the the hinge, there is not enough weight under the keyboard. When used at the slightest incline, it flops onto its back (to view the screen well you have to tilt any laptop down a bit when it is resting on your thighs). Hopefully they fixed this problem with the new version. Where did the speakers move to? if they put them up front that might help.
Sorry, but I've USED Windows CE before.
I know just how terribly unresponsively it performs.
I know how terribly limited the selection of available software is
I know how crippled all the "pocket" apps are.
I know just how completely lacking external hardware drivers (eg. printers) are.
If you need more than something that just barely lets you type basic documents and sync them with your desktop, WinCE is a lame duck.
The HPC form-factor is quite nice, but the realities of using one for any length of time is not so pleasant.
Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
I was gonna say that I'm impressed by the fact that we've evolved as a community to the point where no one is automatically imagining Beowulf clusters of these... What paradox is this?!?
When is Slashdot going to add a -1 moderation option for people who actually RTFA?
The real problem is Linux's lack of decent power management, as well as the hardware manufacturers' reluctance to support Linux in any way.
This may have been true in the past, but I'm telling you, I get 3.5h out of this shitty Toshiba U300, without wifi, 2.5h with. Powertop is a wonderful thing, but even without it, turning the screen down and making sure the CPU hits C3 leaves me with what I'd consider acceptable battery life. Windows doesn't far any better on this thing.
If it really was Linux at fault, wouldn't those people running XP on the eee get more battery life out of it?
Are you so fat and lazy that your notebook only weighs 6 to 8lbs? I have an old luggable that weighs 20 lbs. And its carrying case is no larger than a large briefcase.
Luxury. I carry around a full-sized tower under my left arm, an NEC 21" CRT monitor under my right arm, and an IBM model M keyboard on a specially designed carrying attachment on my penis.