"Pound for pound, the best value-priced notebook on the planet." Sure, you could stop right there if you'd like, but where's the fun in that?
Laptop Mag was able to get their paws around an Asus
Eee PC 701, and while you may not think a meager 900MHz Intel Celeron processor could stir up all sorts of jubilant emotions, apparently it still can. Reviewers made no bones about the machine's lack of raw horsepower, and it did make sure to knock Asus for releasing a machine with webcam drivers "on the way," but despite the rough edges, the wee 701 was deemed a great choice for the novice PC user or someone scouting a secondary machine. Notably, the Eee PC 701 isn't apt to make just anyone smile, but if you're interested in finding out if such a device would work for you, be sure and give the read link a bit of your time.
posted Oct 25th 2007 9:14PM
I'm going to get one ASAP and my lawyer is already on retainer for when the price drops.
I'm very excited!
My lawyer has a more exciting retainer than your lawyer...
Yeah, I'm confused. Care to clarify?
iPhone joke, and a well played one at that.
aye, made me chuckle too
I cant wait till end of November to get the 8G
http://eeepc.asus.com/en/product.htm
The chart now shows estimated release dates.
And I don't care, I want one. Knock Asus all you want, I will have MY two, one for home, one for my Car. I can't wait!!!
10/16 for the 4G? How come I can't find it goddamned anywhere then?
Shhhh, your not supposed to know it's out. lol
I'd like to atleast hold one, even if not the 8G. Maybe its bulk order only?
I'm somewhat disappointed by them saying it's rushed to market. While I don't want it rushed to market, I freaking want one. As long as software is all thats rushed and the build quality is top notch (as top notch as $400 gets anyway), I'm fine with the perpetual upgrades via firmware. Thats what I got from the article anyway, is driver issues. Fixed via software updates.
Now if they can add wireless charging to it but not bad for the tethered digital life. I'll get one for the house for casual browsing instead of firing up the big rig.
You can leave it in the lounge (along with the wireless keyboard for the HTPC) to use for reading up imdb.com to see if the movie showing on cable is any good and read your favorite news sites like engadget in between the breaks.
Then you can bring it to the kitchen to look up over the recipe for making authentic Mexican Rice.
You can also put it on top of the dresser in front of the mirror while playing a youtube video of how to make a windsor knot tie.
While on bed before going to sleep you can use it to read Manga comics and check up on facebook to see who to call up for drinks the following night.
that makes u sound like you don't have a lot of interaction with other human beings :p
Uhm I am actually one of the robot overlords engadget readers always talk about.
But dont tell the other overlords I like the Eee PC.
Ok, I got 300$.
Should I get a n800 with a case, 8GB SDHC card and good headphones?
Or should I get
A Asus Eee PC with a case and 4GB SDHC card?
Well you aren't getting the Eee PC... it cost $400
I would say the eeePc due to the keyboard, but it's really a personal taste issue. How do you invision yourself using it?
That probably depends how you're planning on using it. If you plan to watch stuff on a bus or that sort of stuff, play music and casual videos and don't care too much about app availability then I'd probably say n800 (though, due to it being so proprietary it's kind of a waste unless you're only looking for internet browsing and music since other options are kinda limited and who know if they will be expandable). If you're looking for a bigger screen, actual keyboard and broader functionality (don't forget that you can put XP on EeePC!) then shoot for EeePC. But like other guys said, either will end up costing more than $400. I really like the idea of EeePC and would have gotten one if not the the lcd, I just really dislike the huge trim around it. I'm thinking of waiting up and see whether a model with bigger screen would come out. Based on functionality, provided you'd be willing to spend a $1000, you may want to take a look at Fujitsu U810, which IMO is about the best UMPC one could get (only thing it lacks is a 3G cell adapter). Still, it beats hands down all other UMPC with awesome specs and simply rock bottom price. I'm still gonna wait and see, I don't have money for U810 and UMPC doesn't quite cut it for my taste yet.
For $300, the best bet is the N800. I just bought mine for $231.xx ($30 off for signing up with buy.com CC) and got a 4GB & a 8GB SDHC cards for $70 after MIR. I have been using it extensively; surfing the internet, watching movies, listening to MP3s, and etc. I'm planning to install the new OS once it's available.
@arthur
you probably meant 'envision'.... :D
get a HP Ipaq hw6945, they are about $300 on eBay.
http://www.mobiletechreview.com/HP-iPAQ-hw6915.htm
wifi, bluetooth, phone, keyboard...
That just what I would prefer, If you want to do serious web surfing get the asus...
Wait and get a Nokia N810!
@eX:
You say the N800 is "being so proprietary"? It runs Maemo, which is a variant of Debian GNU/Linux for such devices. It's quite open, and while that won't help you directly unless you're a UNIX coder type, it does mean there's a lot of apps out there for it from the people who are.
And you said "who know[s] if it will be expandable." If you mean storage, it has 2 SDHC card slots (1 int in the battery compartment, 1 ext) so you can handily run 32 GB of storage when 16 GB cards are available enough.
And finally, since the N810 came out, you can get N800s for $240 -- Google Product search is your friend! Depends on how much storage you need, but you could be running for $300 easy. Even with a (cheap) BT keyboard.
I'd go N800, because you can't get the EEEEEeeeeeeeee for that, but as soon as you got $400 to burn, it becomes a tough question. I've already got a big, bulky, old laptop that is eee level of performance, so at the moment I'm not buying. (I bring it when I want more than N800.) When the price drops, I'll probably retire it completely, and walk around with N810 (which will also have dropped :D and been purchased) on one hip and the Eee on the other. All ready for the geek fashion show!
I'll take mine with Vista Basic or XP Please. I'll pay an additional $100 for more memory and better processor.
Vista?
You're kidding right?
no I am not kidding, Vista is my OS of choice
Vista won't run, I can barely get it to run on my 1.6 Ghz Compaq with a 1 gb of RAM. Go with XP.
I think that his point is that this couldn't handle Vista....
Well, then I'm sorry.
Oh, gosh. This thing runs Linux, right? Keep it that way, man. That's a good thing. Vista? Bah.
Compiz Fusion FTW. Vista is a waste of resources and money.
There's no problem in having choice... but dude... I don't need any more hardware in that thing as far as memory or CPU goes. I am content.
Don't touch vista!
It has turned to the dark side...
linux will run way better on a little 900mhz than vista
I had a Samsung Q1U UMPC running Vista. Similar CPU. What a mistake. I was never so glad to get rid of a computer.
wow thats pretty cool probally has higher perfromance than a macbook
If your making a joke... lame.
If not, then your wrong. MacBooks are really fast and mine runs Vista easily (rates a 3, everything is around a 5 except graphics, which is caused to be a 3 because of the Intel 945G chipset)
@ sam
im not making a joke and thats fairly sad my 1200 dollar custom built machine scores 6s on everything while your 1500 dolalr macbook struggles to perform and if you manage to get that your lucky 2. my pccan beat macs costing 2,3,4 5 times it
Naturally.
...and shouldn't TPM's be illegal? I think so. Class action anyone?
Funny since Asus manufactures most of Apple's laptops.
@fobunited
Please don't remind the iFanboys that Apple is just a marketing company and everything is manufactured for them. It gets them in such a tis, puts them on the offensive (pun also intended) and we never hear the end of how wonderful Apple is in the thread.
bob:
A) How do you know his macbook cost $1500? Macbooks start at $1100.
B) Your custom built PC is a DESKTOP. The Macbook is a LAPTOP. The LAPTOP is, by nature, not as powerful as the DESKTOP. Dumbass.
@ the third mouse
true it is a desktop but even that comparison the mcbook is so much more but ill do it gain for you for the same price you can get a alienware with a 17 inch screen 2hz dual core proccesor a 7600go video card 2 gig ram and vista home premium happy i see you to have been brainwashed by apple all hail apple rite..........
apple a compaany that sells crappie computers in cool boxes
a guy named bob
Vista sucks away resources like a sorority president, seriously it routinely chugged on my X60, what do you think it will do on a 900Mhz Celeron???
Yarr, the edge of Vista's world. Thar be penguins here.
Vista is Ballmer's way of throwing chairs at people he can't reach.
I wonder how Ubuntu runs on this thing.
If it has all the drivers?
Beautifully, as always. But what about Open Solaris, BSD, and Hackint0SX? Meh, nevermind. Hey, anyone know of a gnome panel that behaves like the MacOS taskbar? How about KDE?
ethana2@gmail.com
@ethana
Google "awk", it's like MacOS' dock, for compiz.
kde can be configured to behave like macos but gnome requires some hax....
Its like an mobel I-Opener from the planet Krypton, only better!!!
Cool. Now, how about the release the long forgotten XG Station (look it up)?
I have been thinking about this for a me. Although, my great uncle is living in a senior complex. Hes over 100, but very mobile and as sharp as a tack. We have been toying with the idea of getting him a computer and internet to play with. I think I found the right system...
Besides, then I can play too. If I really like it I can get my own.
Sheesh - did everyone lose 1/2 their braincells and forget about the millions of used and refurbished PIII and PIV laptops floating around for 1/2 the price of this thing with all the power, bigger screen, bigger drives, DVD/CD-RW etc. etc.?
What am I missing?
Portability is the key.
The smaller screen and overall size of the Eee is a plus, buddy.
marketing?
What your missing, Tintin, is that this an ultra-portable. And although all other ultra-portables are much more powerful than this one, the EEE has two things going for it: 1) it is much lighter than the rest, making it a true "lap"top, and 2) much cheaper. All other ultraportables start at thousands of dollars, this one at hundreds. So if you don't need the extra power, the EEE is the first ultra-portable you can buy this cheap.
In November another cheap ultra-portable will become available to the citizens of the USA and Canada, OLPC's XO.
this or the n800. tempting!!
PCS RULE AND UNLIKE APPLE THEY ARE NOT COMPLETLY OVERPRICED AND THEY DONT LIE VIA THEIR COMMERCIALS GO ON YOUTUBE AND LOOK AT ADEADRAT HE MAKES SUM PRETTY COOL FILMS THAT WILL SHOW U ABOUT THIS
http://youtube.com/watch?v=1gJXO3aqGxQ- a particularly good one
http://youtube.com/watch?v=lAkBzVZcFK8
some of his other vids
http://youtube.com/watch?v=lAkBzVZcFK8
OH REEELY?........KEWLL!!!!!!!
Hey bob,, I've noticed a trend with your posts, they're the lowest ranked posts out there. I believe you might want to reconsider posting from your butt...
I get the size, and I get the packaging (well, someone's gotta make a white computer now that Apple's all but abandoned the color).
Put an easy-to-use OS on it that I can hand to my 6 year old daughter or 70 year old father and you have a winner.
It can install Ubuntu 7.10.
But because the screen is only 800*480, many buttons can't show up.
So we can oly "image" (use another PC to see the install guide and guess what is chosed) and use TAB/Enter to complete the install.
Wireless card can't be find after install Ubuntu 7.10.
Someone says that "Ndiswrapper+XP driver" can solve it.
I'll try later.
And it (eee PC) is sold on 10/16 in Taiwan already.
Vista is Ballmer's way of throwing chairs at people he can't reach.
You are now my hero. That has to be the truest statement I have ever read. I don't normally thank people for making me fall out of my chair, but Thank you! haha
Erm... It sounds extremely expensive... O_o
I think I could get something a lot better for that amount of money...
Please don't go on about how you can get a faster laptop with a bigger screen for the same price.
You're beating a dead horse.
you guys are forgetting that this is a response to NicNeg's OLPC. This is the next step to putting a device in the hands of every grade 7-12 student.
@melloncollie I didn't say laptop... just something better xD
and... wasn't the whole idea behind the eee pcs about them being really cheap laptops?
Pass the duct tape. I want on with a USB hard drive, USB GPS and solar panel.
If all you are doing is booting up linux and staring at it i'm sure it will be fast enough.
But seriously, Linux apps aren't that much faster or even slower than windows counterparts on the same hardware.
Try running open office on this shitter, good luck.
They should ship it with a mobile optimized NT 4 with Office 95 or something that could actually perform well.
OOo is great for MSO compatibility, but performance emulates that of MSO as well:
Dead. Slow.
I would not run OOo on here much, if at all. Abiword, Gnumeric get decent compatibility, and are much snappier. And if I need OOo, given a WiFi link, I'll ssh/vnc to my desktop.
For a pc with those specs isnt that a little expensive? With a couple of coupons I can get a cheap vostro from dell for that price.
@Benson
Thanks for the correction. The n800 OS is still proprietary (as with various incompatibilities between all the *nix flavors floating around, that's kind of inevitable when you have open source software and the whole world is adding and changing stuff) and there aren't a lot of apps you can put on it. I know it runs linux but it is no way easy to switch to another os and there's always a chance of bricking. As for the memory, you're absolutely correct as I've missed the fact that n800 does indeed support SDHC (I also had in mind usb ports and vga which come on EeePC). However, processor and memory speed is still a far cry from even EeePC. It's decent enough for handheld internet browsing if you hold it, but using a BT keyboard simply isn't practical. It does make a pretty decent pmp but still not even close to actual usability EeePC would offer in comparison. I don't have anything against n800/810 and I had an older model which was fun but its usefulness replacing a pc or a pda with build in keyboard wasn't very high. Anyways, thanks for a constructive criticism and no flames.
i like this laptop
HEY everyone, I've been hanging out at eeeuser.com following this little beauty.
A couple users uploaded pictures of the interface on the Eee and I built a little Online Test Drive for the Eee.
Check it out at: http://www.honeypothack.com/eee/internet.htm
-Josh
What's the max size memory card (SDHC - i assume this is for ALL EEE models?) one can use in the EEE? I'm new to this whole flash-card thing, sorry.