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Asus Confirms Specs, Price of Eee PC 904 and 1000
Ken E. writes "Asus seems to have completed its Eee PC laptop line-up, at least for the time being. The Taiwanese manufacturer has now confirmed both specifications and UK pricing of the Eee PC 904 and Eee PC 1000 — its two latest models. The Eee PC 904 is essentially an Eee PC 900 in an Eee PC 1000 chassis (big keyboard, 8.9in screen, Celeron-M 900MHz, Windows XP) and will cost £269 inc VAT. The Eee PC 1000 will cost £349 inc VAT for an Intel Atom (1.6GHz) chip, 10in screen, 80Gb HDD and Windows XP. Looks like those early Eee PC 900 adopters (£329 inc VAT, initially) have been stiffed. Still, that's progress, I guess ..."
Someone who wants a small form factor. Like me.
I take two laptops to work every day - my company one, and my Eee (which I'm using to write this post). I don't want to use my company one on the train for various reasons, hence the need for a second one. So, space and weight is at a premium.
Given that most of my time on the train is spent browsing or blogging rather than doing anything *hugely* taxing, I don't mind having a lower power machine.
My current Eee is a 701G, but I may well treat myself to a 1000 some time next year, mostly for the larger screen but also for the improved battery life and more power when I want it.
I agree with the "used" approach.
I spent $100 on a deal for two used Compaq Armada M300 machines (PIII) and a docking station. They're small (barely bigger than an Eee PC in one dimension, because the screen is 4:3 aspect), light (magnesium shell), 1024x768 12" displays, run various version of Linux and PCMCIA wifi with no problems, and even run Windows 2000 fine (I haven't tried XP). What more do I really need for web browsing and e-mail? These things aren't for gaming or heavy-duty stuff anyway. The only downside has been the battery life and the cost of it: ~$100 more for replacement batteries that give only ~2.5hrs, because the batteries that came with the units were dead. Still, 2 laptops for the price of one EeePC ain't bad, and the form factor is fairly similar. Oh, and the wifi sticking out of the PCMCIA slot looks a bit ugly, but so what.
Is it true that the SSD drives are soldered in? It's not just the capacity for upgrading - as someone who's rescued a few unbootable laptops, I'd like to know I can pop the drive into some form of USB box to get the data off.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
I also own a 701. And for me, it has been a wonderful gateway into the World of Linux.
Just over a week ago I installed my *brand* new PC as Ubuntu. My old PC has now been turned into a 2.25TB RAID5 FreeNAS server. With the 701 as my little screen in the living-room, or for when I go away.
10yrs I stuck with Windows. Through thick & thin. I remembered trying Linux in the late 90s, and commented on how it would be the future. I still have my 'old' PC inside a VM. But, it doesn't get much use now.
All of the above is thanks to the 'eee'.